Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
Developer Snoozy Kazoo Publisher Graffiti Games Format PC (tested), Switch Release Out now
PC, Switch
What do an anthropomorphic vegetable and Doomguy have in common? Both have ‘rip and tear’ on their to-do list – though only one of them has hands. Still, that’s not enough to stop Turnip Boy, who understands that the best way to avoid the attentions of a corrupt government’s HMRC equivalent is to get rid of the evidence. He’s not taking any chances, either: anything from autographs to lunch receipts, diary entries to old newspapers, handed to him by a range of sentient foodstuffs, is fair game. At a time when videogames are presenting us with increasing amounts of expositional lore, there’s something cathartic about pressing a large button to dismiss it. It’s sometimes used to amusingly cruel ends, too, such as when an enthusiastic artist presents you with a personalised manga drawing and you have no option but to shred it in their face.
Destroying that paper trail is just one of your goals in this cheerfully disposable top-down Zelda-lite adventure. Over the course of three hours minus, it provides a stream of gags and twists, without relying too much on Internet-style humour – even with one character losing their phone due to an errant clifftop dab from a friend. It’s a game of simplistic combat and straightforward environmental puzzles, where watering cans and shovels prove more useful than swords – in the latter case, replacing your blade and coming in handy for a spot of impromptu gravedigging. You’ll grow square watermelons to push into conveniently shaped holes, and water bomb plants before booting their explosive fruits at enemies, while obtaining objects and abilities that let you progress farther through its compact map.
None of it is deep enough to take root in the memory, though an amusing verbal tirade from a macaroni Mafiosi has taken up residence in our screenshots folder. Even so, you’ll be royally entertained (if never really challenged) for its short runtime. Developer Snoozy Kazoo sprinkles self-referential humour sparingly (a “specifically placed box collection” poking fun at arbitrary roadblocks, for example) rather than constantly nodding and winking at the player. And it’s not afraid to get dark: one sidequest involving a rent-dodging snail wraps up with a delightfully horrible punchline, while there are moments of genuine horror and strangeness besides.
If the real villain of the piece is obvious from the start, you’re unlikely to guess how the final confrontation plays out – though a certain buried secret might clue in sharp-eyed players beforehand. That discovery is Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion in microcosm: a breezy adventure ripe with offbeat surprises. Dig beneath its cutesy surface and you’ll find a small but tasty crop that’s well worth harvesting.