Dorfromantik is a city-building puzzle video game developed and published by Toukana Interactive. In the game, players place hexagonal tiles composed of various biomes to create an idyllic landscape. The game was released in March 2021 for Windows via early access and had its full release on April 28, 2022. A version for Nintendo Switch was released on September 29, 2022.

Gameplay

The game involves placing hexagonal tiles that contain a combination of one or more of the following land uses, forest, barren, village, water, railroad, and field, with one land use along each side. The game begins with a barren tile and 40 random tiles to be placed. New tiles can be rotated before placing and must touch at least one side to an existing tile. Once a tile is placed it cannot be moved. (I wished for this a few times after making some less than optimal placement decisions.) Completing quests grants additional tiles to continue gameplay.

The game ends when the player runs out of tiles or when they cannot place a new tile without breaking the rules. The player’s score is based on the number of tiles placed, the number of different land uses utilized, and the beauty of their landscape.

Lovely Vibe

Dorfromantik has a beautiful, relaxing vibe. The game’s art style is simple but meshes into a lovely landscape as you connect the various biomes. The music is calming and atmospheric in style. I felt I could listen. The game’s visuals are also very pleasing to the eye, with a variety of different biomes to explore and a wide range of different tile types to use.

Gameplay

Dorfromantik’s gameplay is pretty simple. A quick game can be enjoyed by playing the generated tiles granted at the start and not focusing on strategies to extend the game. However, there is a lot of satisfaction to be found in creating a well-functioning landscape that is optimized for successfully completing quests, including potential future quests. Engaging in this challenging aspect of the game can be very satisfying. (Getting that next set of tiles added to your stack just in time to extend the game is a fun thrill.)

Replayability

Dorfromantik lends itself strongly to replay. The game’s quests and tiles are procedurally generated, so each game is different. The variety of different challenges to complete along with the variation in the biomes on the tiles grants this game a high degree of replayability.

Shiny Things:

• A relaxing way to chill and unwind
• A nice level of complexity in terms of completing challenges, granting additional tiles to extend your game
• Fun to replay over and over as the tiles are procedurally generated and the challenges vary each time
• Cute and lovely graphics
• A pleasant and relaxing soundtrack (I think I commented on the soundtrack multiple times in my first playthrough.. it really is very peaceful!)

Not So Shiny Things:

• The variation in field biome colors confused me slightly (like yellow fields and purple fields.. they seemed to be their own thing sometimes but also sometimes seemed to work together, which befuddled me a little) – I think I would have benefitted from a little more explanation, but this is a super minor quibble as I’m mostly sure I got the hang of it by my 3rd game

Overall

I have really enjoyed playing Dorfromantik. It is a nice blend of relaxing gameplay with a touch of strategy. The biome optimizing city-building aspect makes for a lovely puzzle game that is easy to get wrapped up in. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys city-building, puzzle games, or just vibing with a cozy landscape and chill soundtrack.