Hokko Life has loads in common with Animal Crossing. Number one: it’s cute. Plus it has talking animals that tell you useful things about the town, as well as seasonal changes, gardening and decorating features and tons more.
In some areas, though, it’s a little more detailed than Nintendo’s charming life sim. For example, Hokko Life’s crafting system lets you edit and hand-design furniture, then place your creations wherever you want, and (crucially) at whatever angle you want. It might not sound like a huge deal, but when you’re trying to decorate your perfect town, it’s nice not to be limited to perfect right-angles all the time. While it doesn’t look like the game will have any form of multiplayer just yet, you will be able to share your crafting designs with other players.
Judging from the new trailer, it seems like you furry villagers will have little quests for you here and there as well. I’ve always liked that sort of thing in these cutesy sims, as I get bored when all there is to do is go fishing (not to knock fishing, of course, as it can have the best minigames).
Hokko Life is being developed by Wonderscope Games, a one-person team lead by Robert Tatnell, and published by Team17. Tatnell plans on keeping Hokko Life in early access until “it is deemed to be a complete and solid experience”. When the game is released in full, it’ll have town events, more clothing and items, a “deeper” fishing and gardening experience, and a bunch more.
I have to say, I’m excited for this one. I can already see it sparking the sort of creativity that Animal Crossing: New Horizons did last year, and I’m very ready for some more homely village life.
You can check out the Steam page for Hokko Life right now. It arrives in early access on June 2nd.
