Berry Bury Berry

On the 'incremental' genre

Much like licorice, when it comes to incremental games, you either love them or you don't get it at all. I'm firmly in the first camp and I think most people are too, even if they don't know it. There's something innately satisfying about accumulating mass or power or money or any other metric that can be boiled down to a number. In fact, to borrow a term from game developer Tyler Glaiel, the main mechanic powering any incremental game is simply "make number go up." When number go up, it scratches some itch in your caveman brain that keeps you coming back to make number go up even more. This game does just that, and it does it perfectly.

The game loop

Throw berries in the hole to earn money. Go to sleep to start the next day. Buy upgrades to grow berries faster. Throw more berries in the hole to make the hole bigger. Make the hole bigger to consume more berries. Earn more money to buy even more upgrades. What makes this game extra special is the transition from throwing individual berries in a hole to vacuuming up dozens of berries and expelling them into a hole, and finally, moving the hole itself to swallow up hundreds of berries in Katamari-like fashion.

Then, repeat until you get bored or uncover one of the 4 unique endings. Though you're much more likely to do the latter, because the game loop is so satisfying and the game can be 'finished' in just 4-6 hours. There's plenty more to enjoy after that, though. Discover all of the endings, collect all of the hidden cassette tapes, or go for any of the time-consuming yet not-impossible achievements. The game is finite, which is a good thing. Like an addiction, infinite incremental games always run into a wall where they become compulsory yet are no longer satisfying. This game is not that. In fact, it's easy to stop whenever you want. It's got an addictive game loop, but it won't take over your life.

Fun upgrades

The one barrier to my complete enjoyment of this game is that the beginning feels a bit too slow, likely in part due to my ineptitude using the joysticks on the Steam Deck to navigate the 3D space. I imagine I'd have an easier time with mouse and keyboard controls. But this is a small complaint since you achieve upgrades that make throwing berries irrelevant pretty quickly. Picking up coins one by one is annoying at first, but once you unlock the "Auto Pickup Nearby Coins" it becomes a non-issue too.

I'll try to spoil as little as possible because I think the revelations uncovered by the wacky unlockable tools and the secrets in the environment are fantastic fun.

Creepy undertones

Strange characters bring an eerie tone to the otherwise vivid and cheery world of colorful fruits and magical stars. When daytime ends, the game gets dark and a little ominous as a star-headed woman tells you to deposit your coins and not to "stay up too late." I suppose there's a story to go along with it, but it felt too non-sequitur for me to put together. The result is more of a haunted vibe than a linear story, which is fine by me. I'm not a story person. I only came here to make number go up.

Recommendations

One other great thing about this game is that for a small indie game (possibly by a solo dev? I couldn't find much info) it has great accessibility preferences. It has options for subtitles, remappable controls, sensitivity adjustments, and gameplay that lends itself well to playing at your own pace. If you're already into incremental games, this is a fantastic addition to your collection. If you've never played one, give this one a shot -- it's short, it's silly, and it will teach you a thing or two about how to most effectively throw berries in a hole (an important life skill).