Happy Puppy Review (PC)

I’m floating between two core memories, one that brings me back to the golden age of Viva Piñata, and a second that shares ties with Animal Crossing. In between these two adolescent dreamscapes, I have Happy Puppy, yet another cozy allotment sim that centers its world around wholesome memories and agricultural adventures on a bite-sized scale. Suffice it to say, it’s a concept that I’ve seen before. Scratch that, I’ve seen it hundreds, if not thousands of times before. Yet, I always find myself returning to sport the latex gloves and shovel, because unlike your action-focused RPG, farming sims have a form of therapeutic value to them, and honestly, Happy Puppy is no different.

Although Happy Puppy doesn’t sprout the most in-depth agricultural system on the field, it does find a good balance between being an entry-level build ‘em up à la Minami Lane and an organically wholesome chore core sim that effectively hosts creature comforts and a trove of floral delights. At the heart of all of this is a simple sandbox that’s incredibly easy to navigate. Sure enough, there are flowers to plant, puppies to adopt, gardeners to employ, and a whole bunch of crops to grow. A bit like your average homage to the tropical bouquet that befalls your favorite farming sim — but with a few extra pets to cater for, I suppose.

To state the obvious, Happy Puppy is a game that pours its heart and soul into creating an organic world that revolves around two basic things: companionship and growth. With that mantra in mind, you have an important role to fill—a responsibility to transform a vibrant backyard into a blossoming haven of pristine embellishments and idyllic gardens, floral spaces and ornamental sandboxes. Oh, and puppies, naturally.

Flowers & Fur

Happy Puppy doubles up as a two-for-one farming and critter collector sim. For the most part, your job is to create a communal space for puppies—a job that primarily consists of adding flair to a backyard and installing thematic features to help its crops grow and its population thrive. Of course, there is a whole litter of extra things for you to do, like employing gardeners and adopting pets, maintaining happiness levels and keeping the yard in check with various upgrades and other useful improvements. But these are all small things. Oh, Happy Puppy isn’t a strenuous exercise; it’s a soothing endeavor that grants you the freedom to make small but meaningful decisions and prosper in your own way. And to give credit where it’s due, it captures that wholesome energy and care-free spirit incredibly well.

The good news here is that, despite there being little to no storyline for you to tackle, Happy Puppy does have a good selection of cosmetics and upgrades to shovel through and experiment with. Sure, it’s a little on the simple side, but it all comes neatly packaged in a vibrant art style that’s both easy on the eye and a lot of fun to animate. The dogs are cute, as are the pets and other intricate details that flesh out its small but idyllic universe. I can’t complain about any of that. In fact, I don’t have much to complain about here. That said, Happy Puppy does feature its share of burdens and baggage, which is a crying shame, given that the base game has some good bones to it.

Room to Grow

The bad news is that Happy Puppy does fall short in a lot of crucial areas. For instance, the decorations that you add to your allotment have an annoying tendency of resetting once you reboot the game. Moreover, after a set amount of time, the frames tend to drop and the world loses a lot of its custom touches. Perhaps these are minor problems, and things that could quite easily be restored with a lick of elbow grease and fine tuning. Even still, there are some teething issues here, and sadly, they do sully an otherwise enjoyable and cozy experience.

Happy Puppy isn’t the sort of game that you would naturally return to once all of the bells and whistles have been implemented in your yard. While there are plenty of options to choose from and scenarios to work with, it doesn’t necessarily incentivize the final portion of the game with anything particularly special. It’s a one-and-done sort of ordeal, if anything. And while that may be a good thing for those who’d soon rather dip their toes into a quick bout of agricultural goodness than disintegrate in a bulky RPG, it doesn’t change the fact that, for the admission price, there isn’t an enormous deal for you to do. A double-edged sword, I guess.

Verdict

Happy Puppy certainly hits the nail on the head with its cozy aesthetics and wholesome charm, but sadly falls short with its presentation and general lack of finesse in its overall design. Visually, it’s all there, and it rounds out nicely with a lot of great features and creature comforts. But from a technical standpoint, it still has a long way to go before it reaches its peak and is able to finally capitalize on its strengths. With that, it’s almost a shame to discard it, and it truly does have the potential to become a cult staple in the cozy space. But the bugs — eh, they’re too prominent to ignore.

With all of the above said, I wouldn’t give Happy Puppy the cold shoulder just yet. Surely, if it can iron over a few technical mishaps and elevate its weakest points, then it will, at least at some point, become a strong contender in its chosen space. But when all’s said and done, it just isn’t ready to bloom yet; it’s still in the process of finding its roots and learning how to flourish on its own without being bogged down by its weighty insecurities. But it’ll come in time. I’m just not sure when.

If I were you, I would definitely keep Happy Puppy on your radar, especially if you’ve a general love of pet care and farmyard antics. I wouldn’t recommend it in its current state, but if you have the patience to hang fire until it remediates its deepest flaws, then you should consider checking it out at a later time. Give it a month, and hopefully it’ll blossom into something beautiful. Fingers crossed, anyway.