Go-Go Town! - Switch Review

Coming home to the console it was always destined to be on. Prideful Sloth’s Go-Go Town! has finally been released on the Switch 1 and 2. This game combines automation elements with town building, taking fishing and farming cues from games like Stardew Valley and Story of Seasons, with a sprinkle of Animal Crossing’s ability to collect and display treasures from the area. This is all wrapped up with Prideful Sloth’s unique Aussie sense of humour, leading to an original style of gameplay.

The Good

I have to confess that I have played Go-Go Town! before; heck, I’ve played it multiple times during the play tests on Steam. It’s unusual for me to play a game over and over and still be enamoured with it. Its replayability is on point. The game gives players the tools and a blank canvas before telling them to go nuts. This allows players the freedom to change and shape the town to their whims, almost becoming an extension of their personality. 

At first, players are required to do everything to get the town running on their own, but this can quickly become overwhelming. That’s where automation comes into play! The townies who are recruited to live in the town can perform tasks in the player's place. They can sell items, collect resources, remove garbage and deliver goods, all while the player is busy building the town. If things get too hectic, though, the train station can be shut down, stopping tourists so that the player can catch up or take their time working on designs without worrying.

The ability to collect treasures is a relatively new addition, but it’s one that I really enjoy. It shows off Prideful Sloth’s silly sense of humour that is throughout the game. Extra treasures can be sold off for gold, and the ones you want to keep can be displayed in the town hall. Another addition that wasn’t in the game last time I played was the ability to create a house for the player and decorate it. This can be done in the town hall as well, allowing players to add walls inside. Prideful Sloth did not have to go this hard, but go they did. Players can buy interior and exterior items from sellers who visit the town. One of which is Ted Selly from another Aussie-made game, Dinkum. It’s a great way to make and spend extra money.

Go-Go Town! features both local and online cooperative play. The nice thing about this is that the hosting player can limit the amount of control the other player has. So, for example, when playing with kids, you can limit their building abilities or their capability to unlock things so they don’t end up spending your precious money or ego. However, if friends want to play together, they can set it so the Vice-Mayor, as they’re called, can have the same freedoms as the Mayor. Cooperative play is left to the players' devices, allowing them to come up with their own plans and play in ways that they find fun. For example, I showed one of the other Switchaboo writers, Paddy, the incomplete racetrack in the desert area. Players can create a go-kart track and race each other around it. We chose not to do this and instead resumed just driving around for the fun of it. 

I could probably go on and on about what I love about Go-Go Town!, and this review would turn into an essay of gushing. One last thing I wanted to highlight, though, was the music of the game. Unlike other games, Go-Go Town! found music from artists that suited the game and requested their permission to use it. Not all music is copyright-free, though, so there’s a safe streaming mode that lets streamers still have music without running the risk of a video takedown. It’s a different idea that will lead to people discovering new artists that they may not have paid attention to otherwise. My favourite song is 'Electro Swing Classic' by Michael Nikolas. Players are also able to adjust what music they hear via the in-game mobile app “Sloth Tunes". So if there are certain songs they dislike, they can remove them from the playlist, but personally, I like all of them, so I don’t bother much.

TL;DR

• Plenty of replayability
• Automation mechanics helps to establish great game flow
• Wonderful design options with healthy economy
• Multiplayer to share with friends
• A great soundtrack

The Bad

I’ve tried hard to think of the negatives of this game, but honestly, I’m struggling to come up with anything. Any issues I had with the game during its early access phase have been addressed and fixed. It took the team two years of player feedback to get the game to the stage it is now.

… I thought of one! Multiplayer on Switch only has 2 players instead of 4.

TL;DR

• Only 2 players on Switch

Final Score: 9/10

It may have taken a while for Go-Go Town! to release, as I first saw it at PAX Aus several years ago, but it was worth the wait. It is the sort of game that players can truly become absorbed in and for different reasons. By allowing players to focus on what they enjoy, it gives the game flexibility to appeal to a wider audience. I personally love designing the town, but others may prefer to make automation as efficient as possible. This leads to towns which should all look the same, looking as different as the people who are running them.

Thank you for checking out our Go-Go Town! Switch review, thank you to Prideful Sloth for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

• Andrew Caluzzi (Inca Studios / Camped Out)
• Bel Cubitt
• Bobby Jack
• Jack Caven
• Nintendo Maniacs
• RedHero