A Game About Chopping Trees Review (PC)

It seems that I’ve mistakenly embodied the Once-ler, and that my afternoons are suddenly filled, not with traditional rewards beyond my wildest dreams, but with seeds, trees and the great spoils of deforestation. Thanks to A Game About Chopping Trees (this isn’t a play on words, by the way), I can finally do the one thing I had no intention of doing in the first place: spending several hours hacking at trees with an axe. I don’t know how I reached this point, but I get it. It’s a means to an end—a cheap way of letting off steam without having to break the bank. It is, quite simply, A Game About Chopping Trees.

It goes without saying at this point, but you can pretty much just leave your imagination at home if you are planning on spending a few hours in this forest. Given that the assignment is as simple as, well, abolishing the great outdoors with an axe, there isn’t much here for you to think about. Like an open book with a single chapter, A Game About Chopping Trees keeps to the single page, and at no point does it flex the binder or broaden the index to include more than the one subject. There are no twists or turns, and there are no post-page morals for you to critique. It’s just you, the woods, and a shedload of trees. You can do the math.

Designed as a pocket-sized sandbox for aiding your ever-lingering quest for satisfying the senses, A Game About Chopping Trees grants you the opportunity to branch out from the world and dabble in the art of deforestation. It hands you a meager axe, a cluster of trees, and a simple motive: to remove the trees from their root, and to plant new seeds that can ultimately produce the foundation for a wondrous future. But as far as gamification goes, it doesn’t do a lot to pique your curiosity. An axe upgrade here or there, for sure — but that’s about as far as it’s willing to take it.

There’s an incredibly straightforward gameplay loop here that doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Like A Game About Digging a Hole, it’s unapologetically reliant on a lot of the same generic incremental steps. More trees equals better tools, and better tools equals more trees. You get the idea. It’s chopping down trees for a quick buck and a chance to remove yourself from the hustle and bustle of the world. If you were hoping for something more than that, then you might want to plant your axe in a different trunk, because you won’t find anything particularly bushy here.

It’s easier to take A Game About Chopping Trees with a grain of salt. Oh, it looks charming enough to make the endless graft seem worth the effort. But it’s also a game that proudly wears its heart on its sleeve and its warts on its forehead. It doesn’t promise you the weight of the world and serve you a stack of paper; it tells you what it is and how it operates, and then it hands you the axe in the hopes that you’ll choose to stick around for the long haul.

If not for the upgrades and the therapeutic benefits, then I personally would have had a hard time sticking with A Game About Chopping Trees. The truth, however, is that I enjoyed the few shorts hours that I eventually plugged into it. I can’t say that I was over the moon about the concept, or even that I hungered for another round of deforestation after the final seed had been planted. That said, I did often see the perks of being a woodsman in a lonely, lonely world. It was quiet—peaceful, even, and other than the crackling sounds of the falling trees, there was little to intrude on the atmosphere. It was a monotonous experience, yet one that I actually enjoyed, weirdly.

While there isn’t much of a point to A Game About Chopping Trees, it does provide you with a sense of purpose. With each tree that you chop down, you earn the right to grow new branches and restore the roots of an idyllic natural homestead. You earn more of the in-game currency, and with it, a chance to expand your toolset to unlock more effective upgrades. For example, enough cash can buy you an axe that’s more powerful. Elsewhere, you can purchase an ability that allows you to swing for the skies and earn a greater yield. It’s all simple canon fodder I’ll admit, yet it works under the circumstances.

If you’re not out dicing through trees and upgrading your gear in A Game About Chopping Trees, then you’re aboard your handcar, searching for new areas to explore and plots of land to sow your seeds. Again, simple things, but things that work all the same. It’s best not to overthink it, to be honest. It might not find or flaunt lightning in a bottle, but it serves its purpose as a quick and easy fix for fledgling tree surgeons.

Verdict

A Game About Chopping Trees plants its hatchet in the trunk of a simple, compact experience that, while quite clearly without the depth and the complexity of a natural environment, thankfully delivers a calm and satisfying interactive ode to the art of deforestation. It doesn’t do a lot to push the boat out, nor does it excel in any one particular area. It simply exists as its own vile of affordable therapy. And for the asking price, I’d say that justifies it, if only just.

Of course, if you do happen to enjoy incremental chore games similar to the likes of A Game About Digging a Hole and PowerWash Simulator, then there’s a good chance that you’ll get a kick out of hacking at the tree line in this bite-sized deforestation sim. With that in mind, it’s best not to overcomplicate it. It’s exactly what it says it is on the box, and at no point does it hide its true identity. It might not be to everyone’s liking, but I can guarantee that it’ll suit the niche demographic.