Urban Jungle’s demo is currently free to download on Steam.
Even the coziest of games go through changes as new subgenres are discovered, and the tidy comforts of games like Unpacking have awakened something needy in us. Having intuitive gameplay and small goals easily within reach can sometimes soothe those of us with ADHD, with a pleasant serotonin hit when things find their right place.
A new game in production, Urban Jungle, is looking to capture that gentle rhythm that comes with small spaces and an instinctive need to pretty it up. The developers, Kylyk Games, have just released a bite-sized demo containing the first two rooms, which I was happy to check out over a quiet weekend.
For those of us who need to know, of course, you can pet the cat!
Urban Jungle Puts a Nursery in Your Home
Urban Jungle’s minimalism makes its intent easy to grasp, even on a Steam Deck, which sometimes requires a little extra prep to handle a brand-new demo. But this game works smoothly out of the box, with a basic mouse cursor and a single button click for both your menu and game controls. On starting the game, a young kid’s diary tells us how excited they are to get their first plants for their bedroom.
From there, it’s as simple as selecting the bar at the bottom of the screen to pick the plants you want to place. Sections of the room are bordered by color when you pick a plant to decorate with, indicating what zones are best for your new leafy friend. There’s no way to hurt the plant and no watering mechanic, so all putting a cactus in its red zone will do is reduce your possible room score by a few points. Gradually increasing your score will add new types of plants to your place and, eventually, move you to the next room.
The First Two Rooms of Urban Jungle
Like Unpacking, there’s a story unfolding as you decorate rooms with greenery, and it’s found by glancing in the diary and absorbing the details of the cute rooms our protagonist lives in. The first room is a small child’s room with a desk, a tiny bed, and limited space for the plants our diarist is excited to bring home. Unlocking new plants, which happens at score checkpoints, puts a sticker in the diary. Silhouettes hint at more plants to come, and you can’t skip ahead to peek at our young friend’s future.
At this stage of development, there’s really no difficulty in hitting score goals, and figuring out an aesthetic is up to you. While there are a few shelves and desk spaces that look eager to be filled with the right succulent or snake plant, there’s also nothing stopping you from shoving half a dozen clay pots next to the bed, lined up like the Terracotta Army of the first Chinese Emperor. Don’t like that? Pick up the plants one by one and rearrange them to your liking until you’re ready to move on.
The second room is bigger, but not by much. Yet our protagonist has clearly moved up the world, graduating and working successfully enough to afford a bright loft apartment with a small but sprightly balcony view. Hints continue to emerge that our girl has a tough relationship with her brother. Still, mostly, we’re figuring out how to wedge a Monstera into the place without blocking an important thoroughfare.
Meanwhile, an orange cat (based on the developers’ real-life feline employee, Rufus, who looks like he hasn’t had a thought in his head since he was a kitten) dozes peacefully on a slightly larger bed. Pet him, and he takes it with that ‘Moooom, I’m sleeping’ aplomb every cat parent is used to.
Pet the Cat
With just two rooms that could be cleared in under twenty minutes, I still found myself going back to nudge plants around and to see if any other secrets lurked in the rooms. In the loft, a cat-faced plant mister (it can’t be turned off and on; I tried, but it’d be neat if there were more item interactions) became the focal point for a cluster of basil plants and other leafy buddies that I would then, occasionally, move back to the window despite knowing that’s not actually going to improve an implied pesto harvest.
Even though all the plants thus far are limited in offering colorful flowers, their varied pops of green liven up the already bright living spaces a ton, reminding us that there’s something real and comforting in at least trying to keep an aloe or something else sturdy enough to survive our forgetfulness alive in our homes.
It’s just nice, and that’s enough to keep me watching to see how the final game turns out. I want our unnamed protagonist to succeed. And maybe get a Hoya to latch onto an internal trellis.
What I’d Love to See
While I definitely think Kylyk is on the right course with Urban Jungle, from simple controls to a scoring system that allows a lot more freedom than its popular cousin, Unpacking, there are a couple of tweaks I hope they have in mind for the future.
Primarily, I’d love to see the diary entries include clickable plant stickers that offer just a little information about the greens we’re putting down. No need to get too detailed, maybe enough to know if they’re easy to care for in real life, maybe if they’re pet (or at least cat) safe, or other bits of trivia that might get us interested in adopting a plant of our own.
Final Thoughts
I’d also enjoy, but by no means required, a little more interactivity with the rooms. Tap the microwave to open it, tap the plant mister, and do small things to make the place feel more alive. But that’s a late production decision, and it’s totally up to Kylyk to see if that’s something that would add to the game in the long run.
Right now, Urban Jungle is a charmer with enough leafy greens in its demo to prove that it’s going to be something to watch. The full game, with a tentative release date of sometime in 2024, can be Wishlisted on Steam right now. You know what? I’m going to. I highly recommend trying out the demo for yourself, and seeing if you’ll join me in that decision.