Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers

Dorfromantik Review

Game: Dorfromantik
Genre: Puzzle, Strategy
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam for Windows)
Developer|Publisher: Toukana Interactive
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US Everyone
Price: US $14.99 | UK £12.99 | EU € 14,99
Release Date: September 29th, 2022

Review code provided with many thanks to Toukana Interactive.

Dorfromantik is a strategic puzzle game that challenges players to build an ever-expanding map while getting as many points as possible. While the game was originally released on Steam last year, it is finally available for the Nintendo Switch.

The Game of Dorfromantik

I have to say that I am a huge fan of the original Dorfromantik, and I played almost 100 hours of the Steam version of this title. There is something really soothing about this cozy little game that made me just want to keep playing it forever.

Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
This game allows players to city-build with puzzle pieces.

So when I got the opportunity to play the Switch port, I was of two minds. I deeply love this little strategy puzzle game, and I will take literally an excuse to play some more of it. On the other hand, I was really worried. I have played some amazing games that have had some absolutely terrible Switch ports.

The Nintendo Switch itself is unique; I tend not to purchase games for it that weren’t designed specifically to work on its hardware. It has less memory, less computing power, and a completely different layout of controllers and buttons than any other current or previous generation platform that still has games being produced for it. Thankfully, Dorfromantik appears to be one of the few ports that really seems well done.

Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
Challenges can be unlocked by completing them.

How to Play Dorfromantik

Dorfromantik is a game played with six-sided tiles. Players have to place each of these tiles in such a way that earns them the most possible points. There are also quests that you can complete to earn more tiles and therefore earn more points. Points are awarded when a tile’s side matches up to the side of another tile they are matched up against.

For example, if a player has an empty space with a forest on every edge, placing a forest tile in that spot would earn them the most possible points for playing it, which is 60. There are several different types of possible things that can appear on each tile.

Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
Creative mode allows you to make whatever you want with unlimited tiles.

The types that can appear are Forests, Houses, Fields, Grasslands, Waterways and Railways.

Most tiles will have more than one of these on it, but each edge will have a clear feature. As much as possible, field edges should be matched with other field edges, forests with other forest edges, etc. Waterways and railways are unique in that non-matching items cannot be placed against them for the most part.

Dorfromantik Quests

Quests appear over the tile before it is placed; quests come in two varieties: exact and plus. Plus quests have a number with a plus next to it above the feature while exact has a number only. In order to complete an exact quest, players must put a tile of the same kind of item together. For example, if there is a tile with a 10 over the houses, players must add 10 houses to the house edge or edges of that tile.

Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
Cute and cartoony graphics make this game so pretty.

Plus quests work in a similar way, except players don’t have to get the number exactly; it can be anything on or above that number. Placing tiles earns players points while finishing quests give players additional tiles to their unused stack in the bottom right corner.

Another way to get more points and more tiles is to complete flag quests. When an area gets a flag, players must close that kind of feature off from everything else on the board.

Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
This is the Lavender biome in Dorfromantik.

The Button Layout for Dorfromantik on Switch

The layout for Dorfromantik on Steam is fairly easy and intuitive. I really loved playing the game with its controls on the PC. I was worried that the Nintendo Switch version would have less easy manoeuvring, but the developers surprised me with their ingenuity with the positioning of the buttons which work great.

Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
Look at these cute little skins for some of the tiles!

While I still prefer to play Dorfromantik on the PC, I really was very happy with the ease in which tiles could be placed and moved on the Switch.

Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
The background of this game is dynamic colors depending on what season and time of day it is.

The Beauty of the Game

Describing how the game works is all well and good, but it really doesn’t describe how absolutely beautiful this game is. It’s got so many little details that the developers didn’t have to bother with, but they did, and it makes the game feel so alive. There are little critters that live and move around the forests and grasslands. The little homes always match the theme and the season of the surrounding tiles. The lights in the houses come on at night, and the little trains and boats move along the paths of the surrounding water or railways.

Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
The Drofromantik hard mode is no joke.

Players can unlock and choose different biomes to build in. This changes the seasons, the times of day, the look of the flora and fauna, and even the look of the homes. One of my favourite of these is the Sakura look; it changes the homes to Japanese-style houses and some of the springtime tiles have pink trees on them. This game is so well polished, it seems to belong on the Nintendo Switch.

I was deeply worried that massive maps would lag on this system, but they didn’t seem to lag at all for me. There was no awkwardness at all in the transition between PC and Switch, and that made me incredibly happy.

Different Playstyles of Dorfromantik

The last time I played Dorfromantik, it was September of 2021 according to my Steam account. There have been a lot of changes since then. For anyone else who hasn’t been in the Dorfromantik loop, developers Toukana Interactive added new ways to play. Some of the updates that I love are:

Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
The new water tile in all of its possible positions.
  • There is a new water tile that can be closed off with land on any side, which makes a cute little pond if you close it off.
  • There are new game modes including a hard mode and a unique mode with rules that change once a month.
  • They added a creative mode with ENDLESS tiles that you can shift through, redesign, and throw away. You can build forever without worrying about points or anything!
  • Some new themes were added.
Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
Creative mode has so many features!

A Couple of Downsides

There are, as always, a few things I would change about Dorfromantik if I could. I don’t like how hard it is to move back and forth between one of the maps and the other when it starts to get really huge. This is true on both the PC and the Switch versions. There is also this problem I have with white text on a pale-coloured background; it’s very difficult to read sometimes.

Dorfromantik Review Switch LadiesGamers
You can read it, I just wish it was a little easier to read.

There is also a matter of how “Perfectly” placed tiles are calculated. I’m not always sure what will be a perfect tile placement; I think in part that is just me not really understanding, however. I am smart in some ways, but this game kind of makes me feel dumb.

Also, there is the matter of the RNG of the tiles. While randomness is a big part of games like this, some of it is really irritating. Sometimes, when I’m looking to finish up the only quest I have on the board (especially in hard mode), I don’t get ANY tiles of that kind even in the massive stack of tiles I have. Sometimes, instead of seeing the two railway tiles I need, I’ll end up with like four grasslands-only tiles which are essentially blanked in Dorfromantik.

Conclusion

I love this game so much. I know that it’s challenging and has a couple of problems, but I can’t sing the praises of Dorfromantik enough. Additionally, I would recommend this game to almost anyone, and I am happy that they created a wonderful port for the Nintendo Switch.

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up: 
Two thumbs up

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