Well, as I look at this blank page, I immediately want to fill the void with hole puns, because I’m the type of person to never do anything halfway. Donut County began as somewhat of a pun, a joke within itself. During the credits it’s revealed that it was born from a Peter Molydeux tweet, the famed Twitter account parodying real-life game designer Peter Molyneux by tweeting out bizarre and unrealistic game ideas. Clearly not too unrealistic, because Donut County’s creator, Ben Esposito, was able to shape that idea into a addictively engaging game. Somehow, Donut County also manages to find a heart and present compelling themes for players to think about.
In Donut County, you play as a hole. Well, kind of. You play most of the game as BK, a raccoon with access to an app that controls holes that swallow an entire county. Whenever anybody in Donut County orders a donut from the local shop, they are sent this ground donut instead, also known as a “hole” in most circles. Rather than getting a delicious doughy confection, it eats them, their stuff, and everything around them. Starting off small, the hole may consume some grass, bricks, or other pieces of trash. With each object it consumes, it grows bigger and bigger until it’s large enough to eat entire buildings, enormous boulders, and even a roller coaster.
The idea of consuming to increase the size of the void is an inverse to mechanics that exist in games like Katamari Damacy and Tales ...