If you were looking for a simple relaxing game with no urgency, or consequences, Trash Goblin is the right choice for you. Although it is obviously in the early phase of early access, the game offers a pleasant atmosphere and a few hours of relaxing gameplay.
You are in the role of a goblin who is employed in a store where he discovers various items and cleans and reassembles them depending on the needs of the customers. The game is a simple casual game that has elements of puzzle games and visual novels, although it does not have any fail states and the only choices are to reject the customers' requests and their stingy offers.
The game is very simple with no movement in the space other than turning in four directions where you can interact with the owner's desk where you buy the currently limited upgrades for your tools, a window facing the road where the occasional customer comes to you, your work station with tools and items and your small charming and very uncomfortable bed. In each part of the store you can buy various upgrades that are aesthetic, or give you more space to accumulate various things and parts.
You will spend most of your time at the work station where you will use a material removal tool to clean objects from accumulations of soil, stones and other materials. After which you can clean them with a sponge, but it is not crucial as only some customers are picky and demand that the things they buy be neat. In a short time, you will also unlock a tool with which you can assemble parts of objects, connect objects and disassemble everything you have connected. Each time you dig, clean, or combine items, time passes, and when the day is over, you can no longer be productive at your workstation, you can only move or store everything you already own. At the end of the day, you turn to your questionably comfortable bed and rest until the next day, where if you had a customer at the window, he is still there waiting for his order.
Although the workstation is the focus of the game, seemingly the most important part of the game is the customers, at least the ones that have names, different personalities and stories. By interacting with them, you get to know various parts of their personalities, lives and world, but unfortunately there aren't too many questions you can ask. Those few unique customers are always fun, but unfortunately the rest of the generic customers just come with simple repeatable requests and no additional information, or personality.
The complexity of the game is very low and, as I have already stated, there are no consequences. You don't have the option to bargain with customers, you only have the option to refuse and chase random customers if you don't like what they are asking for, or offering.
At the time of writing this review, the game is in Early Access on Steam, receiving regular patches and a plan for the near future, and we should see new game elements very soon. Although it is not stated, I most hope that it will add complexity, more dialogue and more interactions for unique customers.
With all the current features, the game is very interesting, fun and relaxed, but unfortunately there is not much content and variety of options, and it can feel linear at times. While the scavenging, crafting and selling process itself is fun, the game has a very simple trajectory and lacks a sense of freedom in choices or actions. I recommend the game to everyone who likes relaxed games and simple problems that can be solved with a little time and clicking.
A copy of the game was provided by the development studio Spilt Milk Studios for review purposes
