Drago Noka offers quite a bit of freedom

The publication of Playism means that everyone on Switch has the opportunity to experience a variety of doujin and indie games that might not have made the leap from PC. This means yes, a game probably won’t quite fit the system. Still, it would be interesting to see it there and take a chance with a smaller title. Dragon Noka is a game with elements of farming, building and simulation that is not really perfect or easy, but unique and interesting enough.

You are basically thrown in Dragon Noka with little fanfare. The player avatar lands on the back of the dragon Grand Tortoise (Grant). As a typical game with farming and village management, you are an amnesiac. As soon as she wakes up, Nona asks you to help push her father’s coffin out of the dragon. She is a nun who lives alone with her father there. When government agent Mimimi arrives, the player is given the responsibility to Grant because Nona doesn’t want the job. Your goal is to build homes for potential villagers, grow crops, raise livestock and develop the area, while also exploring occasional ruins and facing other dragons.

From there, it is either sink or swim. Trying to start a farm wasn’t even discussed initially. (It also doesn’t explain how to leave food for the villagers in Nona’s hut so they don’t get sick.) You’re tasked with building viable houses out of crumbling ruins on Grant or pine. through initial construction. You have tools like axes and hammers to start getting wood and stones, and there are plants to collect on Grants’ backs. The items gradually reappeared, and a wyvern rider named Yuni stopped daily to collect goods that you might be shipping, acting as a merchant that you could purchase and take up residence. new people after you have a home for them. As GeSei unkan built it in WOLF . RPG EditorThis doujin game has a definite Role-playing game maker feel it, though with a rudiment Star Valley or Seasonal story approach.

Things in general can be quite liberal. After establishing a village with a few houses and starting an initial farm, you can start doing what you want. That could mean gathering resources for crafting, so you can add more furniture or engage in more customization. You can direct Grant to move around the map, so it will change the current “season”. This affects materials and weather. It can also cause enemies to appear or lead to a dragon encounter. That means you need to feed your dragon first to prepare for that situation or be ready to defend the houses behind Grant from any enemies that land there. Finally, you can also form relationships with different villagers,

A good way to describe Dragon Noka is faltering. This is a game that takes its time. From the hours I’ve spent on it, it doesn’t seem like I’m penalized for pursuing a laid-back approach. Even if you haven’t cultivated, some plants have food, so I can spend my time without worrying about Nona starving. The only time limit I’ve noticed involves decorating the villagers’ homes after recruiting them. However, waiting to start the process until I started getting houses and some items for them together did a little help with that.

However, since this is an indie game, that means Dragon Noka suffering from not regularly telling you what to do. For example, setting things up is very liberating. It doesn’t teach you how to build a house. You need to install the floor, walls, windows, doors and roof yourself. (Fortunately, working with a dilapidated house will give you the framework you need to learn.) Learning how to interact with villagers is a process of trial and error, although it may seem like asking them something. That’s the best way to get them to work toward their goals. target. It took me a while to figure out how to leave food for Nona, since I accidentally cleaned the original supply at first. But given the nature of the game, one needs to expect that to be rudimentary. Also, while short, there is a steam demo that allows someone to get a sense of succinctness about things.

Dragon Noka not the first farm and village life simulation I would recommend. It’s definitely the kind of game you should try first, to see if it’s right for you. But it offers a very relaxed approach and does some interesting things, with everything placed on the back of a dragon. Having the opportunity to see an independent interpretation of a genre is always interesting. You will not get the same level of investment as in a Star Valley or Seasonal storybut it can be fun to build a village for what it looks like and spend a few evenings farming and exploring.

Dragon Noka available for Nintendo Switch and PC.