After the release of Summer in Mara back in 2020, Chibig is back with their release Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition where you take care of your very own tiny planet. It is a relaxing farming game where you jump in the shows of a little boy called Arco and take care of your little planet. You expand the planet from an empty land to a self-sustaining planet and also explore the universe for different resources not found on your own planet. It is a very cute adventure that is huge in its scale. This is our review of Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition in which we take care of a small, pocket-sized planet and explore the universe for finding secrets.
In most farming adventures, you get your own farmland, a forest, or just a barren wasteland but in Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition you get yourself a tiny planet owned by the little boy Arco. There is little to no story as to how come a little boy came to the planet or why is he all alone on the planet but the game does not need any because the tiny planet is there for you and it holds its secret that you have to uncover in the form of various quests. At its core, Deiland Pocket Planet Edition is a farming simulator that will not even care if you follow its story because what it really wants you to do is relax and take care of your planet by making it self-sustaining.
To be honest, the planet can sustain itself. You have to make it self-sustaining for yourself by growing food, creating tools, and looking after your planet. You start off from the basics when a traveler named Mun arrives on your planet and gives you a heads up for creating your own tools and starting farming. You then start collecting resources and make some tools before you grow your very first production of carrots. After a short introduction to basics, you are left on your own to create, craft, and sustain. Arco has just two needs which are eating and sleeping.
You have your tent in the middle of the planet where you can sleep to rest. You can only work as long as you have energy left. Once your energy is drained, you must sleep to restore your energy. Some of the food that you harvest also grant you health and food and you can use the harvest to plant more fields as well. The planet has limited resources for you and you have to balance them out. You need wood for construction but the planet only has a limited supply of trees so you must plant them for seeds and then cut them down for wood. Deiland Pocket Planet Edition is not just about the exploitation of the planet. You must keep a decent balance between what you take from the planet and what you give it back.
Apart from sleeping at your tent, you can access your forge here where you can craft different tools such as your axe, fishing rod, pickaxe, and many others if you have the recipe and the right resources. Apart from this, you can also build your workshop here where you can get access to different handcrafted objects. There is not too much base building in the game however you can upgrade everything that you have on your planet to improve them. After certain progression in the main story of the game, you can also visit other planets for quests and collect resources that are not available on your own planet opening up new ways to upgrade and expand your own planet.
One of the best aspects of Deiland Pocket Planet Edition is that your planet actually feels alive. It has its own seasons of 7 days each. You get 7 days to enjoy all four seasons before the season changes and then you must adapt to the new season. Each season is accurately depicted in the game and you must prepare for upcoming seasons as well for example, in the rainy season, you must store water in wells so that you can use it to water your fields when there are little to no rains. Some of the vegetables and fruits can only be planted in their correct season as well.
Apart from seasons, the day and night cycle also play a big role on the planet. Different elements of nature depend on a particular time of the game such as rain, meteor showers, or even shooting stars. Quite often, your planet will come in the path of a meteor and you will need to revolve your planet around to minimize damage. These meteors bring unique resources from around the world that are not present on your planet. In certain events like rain or storms, you can even rotate your planet around to store water in your wells and make sure that the rain falls on your fields. It is quite a sneaky tactic to take advantage of the weather in the game.
Since your planet is rather tiny, you can move around all over its axis in a short amount of time, and one of the reasons why most of the resources must be obtained from different travelers that visit you often. The travelers come randomly and stay for around 60 seconds at a time. They keep shuffling and revisiting you and each of them brings different unique items for them. However, not all travelers are friendly as well and quite often your planet is invaded by different monsters and you must fight all of them and make your planet safe. You also need to make sure that you leave some space for the travelers because you land their ships yourself which is a really cool mechanic of the game.
These travelers give you different resources and quests for you to complete which plan out the story of the game. These quests are pretty basic and most of the time simply unlock a new recipe or mechanic for you to explore at your pace. Despite the travelers leaving your planet in just 60 seconds, they keep coming back and bring new supplies to you. If you fail to complete a mission during their initial visit, you can have the items ready for them and complete their quest when they visit your planet next time. The only time-constraining mechanic that you have to look out for in the game is your own stamina and your food. Apart from that, it is the ultimate zen game that you can take your time with.
Deiland was originally released back in 2016 however the Nintendo Switch version is the most fitting for the title. It fits the portable console just fine and fits perfectly with the many similar farming titles available on Nintendo Switch. While Nintendo’s flagship has plenty of similar farming and sandbox RPG titles available on it. Deiland comes with plenty of mechanics and gameplay elements that sets itself apart from the crowd and make it stand on its own making it a must-buy title for players who love building sandboxes and RPG titles with no constraints.
Final Verdict:
Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition is a solid addition to the Nintendo Switch library of any fan of similar titles. It offers you farming, crafting, and adventure in a package that appears small, but it is actually massive in scale. There is little handholding in the game and under its core, it is still a pretty good sandbox title that emphasizes player’s own pace and how they want to proceed in the game. Everything ranging from visuals, level design, soundtrack, and animations of the game are excellent and greatly compliment Chibig’s traditional style of game development. For burning hours, Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition is excellent and even if played in short spans of time, it has great gameplay and mechanics to keep you glued to the screen. A must-play for players who love RPGs with sandbox elements and space exploration.
Final Score: 8.0/10
