Doloc Town 1.0 filled the dystopian farming sim-shaped hole in my heart

Farming simulator games are, generally, cute and cozy, with a light-hearted world and sunny color palette. While these games can be enjoyable, it felt like a breath of fresh air checking out Doloc Town and getting to explore its darker, heavier world.

Doloc Town is a dystopian farming sim that revolves around recycling, vertical farming, and restoring a desolate wasteland into its formerly thriving self. I got the chance to check out the 1.0 build ahead of its early access exit, and was impressed with the beautiful experience that the game had on offer.

A vibrant world that begs to be explored

In Doloc Town, you play as a young scavenger who’s hoping to find their own way in the world and survive despite its harsh conditions.

Fate leads the protagonist to the titular town, where they end up making themselves at home on a farm and getting to know the local townsfolk, becoming part of the town’s ecosystem. It’s a simple premise but it works well, and allows the player to insert some of their own narrative into the game while playing.

Doloc Town initially came out in May of 2025 in early access, and it’s finally leaving early access on August 6, 2026. I didn’t play the early access iteration of Doloc Town, so this is a real first look at the game for me.

The core gameplay in Doloc Town revolves around farming and growing crops, selling products to make cash, and interacting with townsfolk to complete quests.

Farming is quite futuristic in Doloc Town, with your character unlocking the ability to use drones to help them on their daily rounds. Farms are also largely vertical, making use of the clear airspace and avoiding the cluttered grounds of the overworld.

The story unfolds while you take part in the core gameplay loop of fishing, farming, and scavenging, with the town still celebrating old-world festivals and each other’s birthdays, giving you the chance to get to know each character and learn more about their personal history.

I loved the variety of characters in Doloc Town and found them to be well-written, for the most part. A few snippets of dialogue were a little wooden in places – the example that comes to mind is the initial interaction with the Mayor – but largely, the characters felt vibrant and lively. They all had delightfully intricate sprites, too.

Celebrating character birthdays has always been a highlight for me in similar cozy games, like Moonlight Peaks or Stardew Valley, so I was delighted to see this feature here, complete with a cute little calendar function to track key dates. It makes the town feel alive and encourages more regular play sessions.

Intuitive and easy to get into

The main gameplay in Doloc Town is intuitive and makes sense for the genre. If you’ve played other cozy farming sims before, you’ll know what to expect here, and shouldn’t run into any hurdles picking up the main controls. I found the inventory system a little fiddly, but other than this, it made perfect sense.

You’ll need to build out your farm, using gathered resources, planting seeds and watering them to keep them alive. You can also forage, fish, and care for animals, while also taking part in more futuristic tasks like gene modification, combat, and drone enhancement.

I felt completely immersed in the fantasy of Doloc Town while playing. The world is both beautiful and in a state of disrepair, and it was immensely satisfying being able to build up the world during my time with it.

The world felt like it was brimming with hope, despite being post-apocalyptic in nature. The townsfolk are struggling, sure, as is the main character, but there’s still a glowing community at the core of Doloc Town, with a refusal to give up on the waste-strewn world and a bitter determination to keep living.

I appreciated the environmental themes that Doloc Town touches on; I felt like it highlighted the importance of caring for the world and your personal environment.

Farming games and cozy life sims have the chance to make some genuine commentary on environmentalism and the value of treating the world kindly, but it still feels quite rare to see these themes being poked at or portrayed in a meaningful way. I was glad to see these notes in Doloc Town.

The art style in Doloc Town was a highlight, too. I’m a sucker for pixel art games, and the artwork in this title felt delightful from start to finish. The character sprites are expressive, the world is beautiful, and each individual item sprite has been crafted with care and attention to detail.

I found Doloc Town’s performance to be smooth during my playthrough, with no notable bugs, quirks, or glitches to report. I found some of the wiggling text in speech bubbles to be a little hard to read, particularly the rainbow colored text, but outside of this, there were no major complaints.

Overall, Doloc Town is looking stellar in its 1.0 form, and if you’re a fan of the cozy gaming world who wants to try something new, this game is worth your time. It’s both dystopian and cute at the same time, with a vast world that feels rewarding to explore, and some interesting stories interwoven with its pixels.

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