Call of Boba Review (PC)

Who’d have thought that a quick spot of boba tea would also be capable of doubling up as a versatile liquified petrol bomb? Well, as it turns out, boba can also do a lot more than sizzle the tastebuds of a bubble-loving cafe goer. In Call of Boba, specifically, it can do just about anything; naturally, it can transform itself into a bubbling cauldron of high-powered projectiles for potential combat encounters, and miraculously replenish the local patrons’ combined gluttony with a little extra sprinkle of milk and sugar. Oh, bubble tea controls just about everything in this world, and as luck would have it, it’s entirely yours to manipulate and deploy. Go figure.

Call of Boba brings the best of two worlds to a family-friendly, pixel-centric experience. In the day, players can explore a quaint village and source a collection of ingredients for a delicious boba tea elixir—a versatile concoction that, for some reason that’s beyond the realm of logic, can thwart nocturnal enemies and even illuminate or, provided that the correct ingredients are in the recipe, elevate their most desired qualities. In the night, fledgling curators of boba can venture into the darker side of the town—a place that spouts all variations of creatures and backyard foes—and fend off any potential threats to the local community. And at the heart of all of this is a business—a failing boba tea shop that you, the proud assistant, must build from the ground up and establish as the go-to village hangout.

If you’re interested in learning more about the limitless benefits of supplementing a semi-automatic rifle with *sigh* boba, then be sure to read on for a complete rundown of Call of Boba. Care to join us for a quick beverage? Then let’s get to work.

For the Love of Boba

Call of Boba is a top-down pixel art adventure game that invites players to the quaint and sleepy hollow of a small husk of a town, a town in which its centerpiece—a failing boba tea shop—is the bread and butter source of the local culture. As the new arrival in this fantastical realm of cutesy critters and nocturnal creatures, you have the opportunity to mold this bubble tea business into something truly special—a feat that you can only overcome by forming ironclad relationships with local townsfolk, embarking on various side quests and mini-games, waging war against mysterious foes that gather during the twilight hours, and gathering particular ingredients to formulate better boosters for your boba brands back in the shop.

The game itself consists of a simple day-and-night cycle, with the daytime cycle being rife with things like fishing mini-games, opportunities to mingle and form friendships with other characters, business evolution trees and what have you, and the nighttime cycle with events like boba-based battles with—you guessed it—boba weaponry and other quirky items. At the heart of all of this is a simple motive for you to build your life around: to establish the roots for a profitable and, more importantly, booming boba business that has the potential to grow into a culinary staple in the town. There are recipes to unlock, enemies to help inspire your creations, NPCs to converse with, and, if you can believe it, love interests to peruse and shape. So, quite a lot to onboard, all things considered.

Popping Bubbles

As luck would have it, you don’t need to be a natural-born connoisseur of boba-infused produce to enjoy the ins and outs of Call of Boba. It’s a lot like a traditional farming and village simulation game, if anything, which means, if you have ever taken the plunge into the likes of, well, anything that touts an agricultural mini-game or basic crafting system, then you’ll no doubt have the skills needed to fashion a good and wholesome cup of bubble tea and tackle the lion’s share of the obstacles here. And to be fair, it isn’t a difficult game; it more or less prides itself on being as cozy as they come, with NPCs being friendly, welcoming, and often willing to assist when necessary. To that end, Call of Boba is more of a walk through the woods than a mindless sprint through the tunnels of a monster-infested cavern. 

Of course, the daytime is just one side of the coin; the nighttime develops its own narrative and series of obstacles for you to conquer. In addition to being solely responsible for the fulfillment of your boba-based dreams, the game also tasks you with venturing out into the outskirts of the town to tackle enemies with Bobas—customized weapons that you can build with the ingredients found in your shop. It’s a neat system, and while it doesn’t prove to be much of a challenge, it does help to diversify the gameplay experience and create additional incentives for you to pursue alongside your daily business activities.

Verdict

Call of Boba is an enchantingly diverse and seriously entertaining pixel-crafted hybrid with a lot of heart to spare and bubbling recipes to bathe in. It bears a solid mixture of two different styles, too, with one of its halves providing a homely feel and a substantial amount of genuinely lovable characters and side stories to unravel, and the other producing a darker, albeit forgiving combat-focused experience that is, in all honesty, capable of generating some great tidbits and additional captivating moments to soak up on the outside of the usual daily chores. And the art style, well, let’s just say it doesn’t take much to entice me. With a generous amount of locations to explore, set pieces to interact with, and eccentric personalities to befriend and evolve, it’s an easy one to recommend.

To put it simply, if you’re the sort of gamer who enjoys crafting, farming, or conversing with overtly friendly woodland critters, then I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll get a good kick out of Call of Boba. If the vibrant textures and serene atmosphere don’t do it for you, then chances are you’ll enjoy the simpler things, like fishing out on the dock, exploring vast open areas, and completing handfuls of quests and recipes. And if all else fails, you’ll always have the boba. You can’t go wrong with boba, apparently. Granted, there are still a few technical errors that could do with a little extra time in the oven, but for the most part, Call of Boba does a lot of things right, and when all’s said and done, that’s a heck of a lot better than what some half-baked farming and simulation games hack out.