Do You Even Forklift? Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

As a certified forklift operator, I’d argue that the only logical solution for a kei car being in your parking spot would be to simply dump it in a river. It isn’t a morally acceptable response to an otherwise ordinary situation, but it is a lot quicker. Plus, it immediately removes the whole hassle of needing to exchange credentials and inform the local authorities. With a forklift, you can just about get away with anything — even murder, probably. But, that’s not what Do You Even Forklift? is all about. The sweet Ghibli aesthetic suggests otherwise. Or does it?

Honestly, I couldn’t get into Forklift Simulator, for it lacked a certain lovable quality that would make me want to spend countless hours shoveling pallets into tight warehouse crevices. Do You Even Forklift, on the other hand, gives me a reason to operate the forks. It doesn’t ask me to repeat the same monotonous cycle over and over again; it presents me with a challenge, and it tells me to, well, deal with it — in a forklift. A car, disgracefully parked in the wrong bay? Move it. A tree, unacceptably close to a busy highway? Shift it.

While Do You Even Forklift? might lack the authentic style of a forklift-powered simulation game, it does, thankfully, provide a stupidly engaging physics-based sandbox experience to fool around in. With as little as a matchbox-like forklift and a Ghibli-inspired world, it invites you to take Japan by the horns and, with the power of two flimsy forks, complete sixty-plus puzzles—a task that, for the most part, involves bumping, breaking, and rampaging through quaint cloisters of an incredibly brightly colored world. And if you think this sounds a little, well, silly — that’s because it is. It isn’t a masterclass in forklift driving, is the general consensus here.

With a neatly packed cluster of levels to work through, Do You Even Forklift? provides an excellent chance to whet your appetite for physics-based mayhem and mindless destruction. While most of the stages are relatively straightforward—move component A to B, naturally—there are several areas that require a firm commitment to the wheel. Take the environmental puzzles, for example. In several cases you have the monumental task of outmaneuvering parked cars, some of which come with alarms—a separate issue that you also need to deal with alongside gates and other inconveniently placed objects.

If you’re a fan of soapbox-like driving games like You Suck at Parking, then you’re probably going to enjoy scooting around in a forklift here. Similar in taste, the gameplay mostly consists of mindlessly driving back and forth between obstacles, pronging various items, and occasionally causing a bit of mischief out on the asphalt. It isn’t a serious game by any means, and it isn’t one that you need to be experienced with in order to shovel through. It’s accessible, is what I’m getting at here. Silly, nonsensical, forklift mayhem.

While I would have enjoyed a little extra variety in the stages themselves, the general act of lifting, moving, and parking little kei cars was a lot more fun than I initially expected it would be. Challenging, too, at times, given that several of the stages not only tasked me with evading obstacles—narrow passageways, gates, and interwoven riverbeds, for example—but also with handling malfunctioning vehicles, some of which would be in balls of smoke, others of which would be locked in annoyingly inconvenient spots.

To be perfectly honest with you, at no point did Do You Even Forklift? ever pose as an overly aggressive game. Tricky, at times, sure, but never impossible. It was a bit like You Suck at Parking, or at least, any other matchbox game with light puzzle elements; the more you practiced bay parking, the easier the routine became. And I suppose, for the most part, that’s all that the game was: learning how to park cars in bays whilst actively avoiding minor inconveniences — with a forklift, of all things. Simple, yet also surprisingly enjoyable, weirdly.

Suffice it to say that, for a smaller indie game that doesn’t offer much more than a forklift and a niche idea, Do You Even Forklift? has a surprising amount of weight to it. Alongside a hearty banquet of stages, the game also offers a stylized version of Japan that is as easy on the eyes as it is bursting with wholesome touches that radiate sickeningly sweet Ghibli energy. The gameplay loop might be simple and somewhat predictable, but to give credit where it’s due, it does keep you invested for the long haul, if not with its logical puzzles, then with its cozy atmosphere and its bite-sized environmental details.

With all of the above out in the open, I’d say that there is a quirky little indie here with a lot of heart and soul to exhume from the bones of an otherwise textbook parking sim. A brilliant game, no — but a game that has the ability to keep you smiling from ear to ear for an hour or so, yes. Maybe that’s worth the asking price, maybe it isn’t. Either way, you can expect to find a charming place to plant your forks here, if only for a short while. For something with a little extra depth, though, I’d recommend opting for another parking lot to swagger your forklifting skills around.

Verdict

Do You Even Forklift? strives to parallel park in the field of automotive screams with a handsomely drawn Ghibli-inspired look and a simple yet oftentimes challenging physics-based design that’s as equally ridiculous as it is entertaining. For die-hard fans of all things utterly bonkers, it’s a fork in the road—a junction that, if you’re lucky, you might just enjoy pulling out of. But for fans who want to squeeze a little more out of their provisional license, the game might not hit home in the same way as Forklift Simulator. Either way, there’s a joyful experience here that you should take the time to explore as and when the mood strikes.