Donut County

 PC
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. We Got This Covered
    Aug 27, 2018
    100
    Donut County is a singular experience that transcends its simple, but potent core mechanic thanks to its idiosyncratic humor, clever gameplay twists, and a gleeful sense of what makes swallowing the world into a hole so cathartic.
  2. GameGrin
    Dec 8, 2023
    90
    Witness the catastrophic events that transpire over the course of Donut County as you wreak havoc by taking control of BK’s all-devouring hole in a surprisingly enjoyable title I didn’t expect to love this much.
  3. Hardcore Gamer
    Sep 10, 2018
    90
    Donut County presents a simple concept to players: collect objects to make a hole larger until the entire stage is clear. Done poorly, no one would remember the experience whatsoever. Developer Ben Esposito turns something mechanically simplistic into a joy via smart design. The adorable world inhabited by colorful characters is something we desperately need more of in games. Donut County might not be a long experience, but it’s one that players can’t help but cherish.
  5. Worth Playing
    Oct 4, 2018
    85
    Although it's a short experience, Donut County is enjoyable. The base desire to see everything destroyed by a simple, ever-expanding hole overtakes the lack of complicated mechanics, and the story is fun, whether you want something with or without some meaning attached. At the very least, Donut County is an experience that will stick with you for some time.
  6. PC Gamer
    Aug 28, 2018
    83
    Donut County is a short, entertaining tale of a trash panda who just wants a sweet quadcopter.
  7. PC Games
    Dec 18, 2018
    82
    Sweet design perfectly combined with destructive mischief.
  8. games(TM)
    Sep 6, 2018
    80
    Great concept, solid execution. [Issue#204, p.74]
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  9. Areajugones
    Sep 6, 2018
    80
    Donut County is a fun, fresh and original experience that knows how to take advantage of a very simple and limited set of mechanics. Sure it has some flaws, but, like a real donut, I don´t care as long as the result is delicious. And it truly is.
  10. Destructoid
    Aug 31, 2018
    80
    Donut County is as charming and funny as it is inventive and beautiful. It excels at what it sets out to do --there's never been a better hole simulator in video game history.
  11. Washington Post
    Aug 30, 2018
    80
    BK’s journey from a clueless destroyer to a dissembling hero didn’t make me think any differently about gentrification but it did, for a spell, take my mind off other real-world cares which was welcome all the same.
  12. The Daily Dot
    Aug 27, 2018
    80
    Donut County won’t solve or illuminate that massive, multifaceted societal issue, but it will give you a chance to lay back, relax, and throw it down a hole.
  13. GamesRadar+
    Aug 27, 2018
    80
    The perfect way to pass a couple of hours, but it will leave you craving more game and a box of Krispy Kremes.
  14. IGN
    Aug 27, 2018
    78
    It may be a very short diversion, but Donut County is a delight. It’s absolutely brimming with personality, has a killer soundtrack and visual aesthetic, and is based on an irresistible gameplay hook. I’d have loved more, but I guess I’ll just settle for playing through it again.
  15. Game Informer
    Aug 27, 2018
    75
    Even if its ambitions are straightforward, Donut County offers a unique experience that is silly, easy to understand, and fun to play.
  16. New Game Network
    Sep 10, 2018
    73
    Donut County isn't going to challenge your wits, but it does provide a relaxing experience that's bound to make you laugh.
  17. Twinfinite
    Sep 15, 2018
    70
    For everything it brings to the table, it still left me wanting just a bit more.
  18. Edge Magazine
    Sep 13, 2018
    70
    A wonderfully honest game that points out how important it is to acknowledge the hole, but reminds us that, at the end of the day, it's what's - and who's - around it that counts. [Nov 2018, p.121]
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  19. IGN Italia
    Sep 3, 2018
    62
    Donut County sports a rich and lovable cast, but its whole gameplay idea is too shallow.
  20. CD-Action
    Jan 9, 2019
    60
    Core gameplay becomes wearisome with time, but fortunately the game is short (3 hours tops) and the developer tried to vary the levels with additional mechanics. If you need something to make you smile and want to escape from your responsibilities by focusing on simple tasks, this little indie game can be fun. [11/2018, p.72]
    All this publication's reviews
  21. GameSpot
    Aug 27, 2018
    60
    Like a donut, it's sweet and satisfying, but you're acutely aware that there's a hole in the middle of it.
This publication does not provide a score for their reviews.
This publication has not posted a final review score yet.
These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation.

In Progress & Unscored

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  1. Ars Technica
    Aug 27, 2018
    As it stands, Donut County makes for a light, airy snack of a game—it's a tight circle of satisfying, empty calories. But like a real donut, finishing one often just means you want another.
  2. Mashable
    Aug 27, 2018
    The weirder your tastes run, the more you'll find to love here. Good comedy is a rarity in video games, and the simple-yet-engaging puzzles are crucial to sewing this ridiculous story together. Donut County makes you laugh, loudly and repeatedly. That's all it really needs.
  3. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Aug 28, 2018
    A very middling execution of an extremely lovely idea.

Awards & Rankings

92
#92 Best PC Game of 2018
78
#78 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018
44
#44 Most Shared PC Game of 2018

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 99 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 99
  2. Mixed: 47 out of 99
  3. Negative: 6 out of 99
  1. mno
    Sep 25, 2018
    6
    It's fun to play the hole and to swallow stuff. Sadly the unique idea isn't utilized to its potential. The puzzles in the themed levels areIt's fun to play the hole and to swallow stuff. Sadly the unique idea isn't utilized to its potential. The puzzles in the themed levels are very easy and the game is rather short. The music is nice. Characters and story are annoying. The game performs badly and in a rare cases the physics engine goes nuts, so, that you need to restart a level.… Full Review »
  2. Napieracz
    Sep 6, 2018
    9
    Donut county tells a cute and funny story. The puzzles are not hard and it took me about two hours to beat it. I don't think that's wrong.Donut county tells a cute and funny story. The puzzles are not hard and it took me about two hours to beat it. I don't think that's wrong. It's like going to a cinema, you pay for the single experience. There is a cut scene after every level which allows characters to be more fleshed out and I warmed up to them. Even tough it's a short story, I really felt something after these two hours. The music and the artstyle really add to the whole experience.… Full Review »
  3. TitaniumDragon
    Jul 6, 2020
    4
    Donut County is one of those cutesy indie game with a very limited scope. You control a hole, and you move the hole around to make objectsDonut County is one of those cutesy indie game with a very limited scope. You control a hole, and you move the hole around to make objects fall into it. As objects fall into it, the hole gets bigger, allowing you to grab up even larger objects. For most of the game, the gameplay loop is nearly identical – you start out as a small hole in someone’s yard, go around hoovering up increasingly large objects, and then eventually suck down their house. Rinse repeat for 10+ levels.

    You wouldn’t think that a two hour long game would have issues with repetition, but somehow, Donut County does.

    And this is the main flaw of this game. I don’t have anything against very short games – The Stanley Parable is one of my favorite games, and it is very brief.

    The issue here is that the game doesn’t really have much substance to it.

    Almost all of the game consists of doing the exact same thing, over and over again. There’s a couple of mechanics which sort of vaguely mix things up a little:

    • You get a catapult that lets you shoot stuff back up out of the hole, which makes it a bit smaller but lets you knock stuff down or otherwise interact with the environment. This sounds neat, but only appears in a few levels, and is mostly used for the same purpose repeatedly, so doesn’t manage to mix up gameplay all that much until the very end.

    • You bring down a snake, whose tail can be used to whack stuff in the environment as it sticks out of the hole.

    • You suck down a fire, which can set stuff on fire in the environment to make them easier to suck down or launch off fireworks that you have sucked in.

    • You grab a carrot, that you use to attract other stuff with.

    This all sounds neat and all, but this is literally all of the gameplay variety there is, and there isn’t really a whole lot done with most of these mechanics. Two of them appear only once or twice, and none of them are ever used all that creatively.

    The game only really involves any degree of puzzle solving at the very end of the game, as the last few areas demand that the player solve some fairly simple tasks to progress. And then at the very end of the game, there’s an actual boss fight, using the mechanics you’ve got to do something fairly clever.

    And then the game ends.

    This is the real issue with the game – it doesn’t really aspire to be very much. Most of it is the same thing over and over again, and the few moments of cleverness make up less than 15% of the game’s length.

    I would have really liked to see this game actually try to do more than it did with the mechanic – a two hour long game is totally fine, but the point of making a super short game is to completely avoid repetition. This game somehow is short *and* repetitive.

    Outside of the core gameplay, there’s a rather silly story going on – a certain raccoon has sucked up everyone in Donut County, and most of the story is a frame story, where you have a discussion in a cave deep underground where everyone ended up, and the characters recount how they got sucked into a hole between the levels while complaining at each other.

    The game is chock full of internet speech – the two main characters literally say lol and JK, and some of the game is also told via text message conversations on smart phones. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it lends the whole thing an extremely informal air, and while that works for the game, it still ends up feeling a bit weird.

    That said, the trashpedia – an in-game encyclopedia which fills up with details on the items you collected in each level, from the point of view of the raccoon – is quite funny, with the various descriptions being pretty humorous and showing the limitations of the raccoon, as well as his mentality about the world.

    But this wasn’t enough to carry the game for me. Yes, the game has some funny bits to it, but the actual core gameplay is pretty mediocre and surprisingly uncreative given how interesting it sounds like it would be at first.    … Full Review »
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