Pawsome Resort Preview

Welcome to Pebble Town: a quiet, beautiful town with tons of animals that are in desperate need of tender love and care. In Pawsome Resort, you play as its newest resident, who has taken it upon themselves to create a perfect resort for all types of fauna — from cats and dogs to kangaroos and lions. The game is currently in Early Access, with developer Pixel Puffs and publisher GameDev.ist working hard to make sure it's ready for a 1.0 release, so let's check it out and see what this town has to offer.

The beginning of this cosy life simulator sees you dreaming of a more peaceful life away from the humdrum existence of the city. However, that dream soon becomes reality, quite literally, as you suddenly wake up in an all-new town with a pet by your side. That's… confusing, and makes me think this is all a dream (or that you're dead), but you might as well make the most of it.

You, surprisingly, start out with a lot of stuff. Not only do you have all the basic tools you'll need (like an axe, a pickaxe, a sickle, and a fishing rod), but also a decently-sized house with a kitchen and a scooter that'll help get you around places faster (your pet can ride in it too, which is really, really darn cute). Anything else you may want either has to be crafted, farmed, or simply bought from the store. Seriously, I don't think I've ever come across a farming game where sprinklers are so easily accessible from the start (well, as long as you have the money). However, there is still plenty to unlock as you live your new peaceful life.

Your basic duties involve caring for animals. Customers will come by and ask for you to keep their animals for a while. As long as you have the right habitats and can feed them, they'll leave them to you for a couple of days. Once those days are up, they'll come back, pay for your service, and leave a rating on the quality of their stay. It's fairly easy to grasp, but it soon gets complicated, as you have to take care of several animals at once, which need specific types of care, while also tending to any other chores you set yourself.

Of course, like any good life simulator that takes several cues from Stardew Valley, there are many other pursuits for you to enjoy. Why not start a farm to grow crops, and then use the produce to cook up animal feed? How about making your own stuff by collecting materials to craft with? Or do you want to grow your bonds with the townspeople, doing quests for them for whatever they may need, and maybe gain enough affection to marry them and have kids? There are all sorts of things to do, which can feel a little overwhelming once the training wheels are off. There's also a big mystery affecting the town involving the local witch, and it'll be up to you to solve it.

This is all restricted by the amount of time you have in the day. Time passes with every second, and life stops for no one, as each NPC has their own schedule. However, at least there's no stamina system to limit your actions per day, which tends to be a little annoying in the early game.

That being said, it does feel a little… unfinished in plenty of places. I know it's in Early Access, and it does have a small development team of four people, but it didn't exactly show me its full potential. The overarching mystery is vague and uninteresting, NPCs are freakishly quick to warm up to you (it only takes two interactions on different days to reach two out of five hearts), it's missing a few key features, like the ability to close your resort to pursue other things, and just… the gameplay loop feels a little hollow at the end of the day.

Pawsome Resort is expected to stay in Early Access for a year, getting updated with new story content, more animals to take care of, additional gameplay systems, and some much-needed quality-of-life features. Should you buy yourself into the Early Access, try out the demo, wait for the full release, or avoid it altogether? Well, I'd personally recommend trying out the demo first or waiting because Pawsome Resort, at the time of writing, is pretty underbaked.