Minabo - A walk through life

Even with its flaws and shortcomings, Minabo delivers an interesting take on our lives, and makes us think about what really matters.

A nice simulator of human behavior for all audiences that makes us rethink how we interact with society.

Minabo is a curiosity in the Nintendo Switch catalog, showcasing a fun play on words on the outside and a powerful game concept that doesn't quite delve too deeply.

There are many good ideas in Minabo, so we regret a little that the execution of some of them are not that good. All in all, it's still a good job by Devilish Games, a team that you can tell has put all its efforts into creating an experience that, while we don't think is made to be enjoyed for everyone, does provide an interesting metaphor for representing our own lives.

Minabo has a beautiful art design, with the turnip characters’ animation extremely well accomplished, and the music and sound design are certainly a strength, which keeps you in the game cycle beyond the premise of overcoming objectives. The problem is that people aren’t going to take Minabo that seriously, and it can’t counter with a compelling gameplay proposition that goes beyond the joke.

One issue that Minabo may face is that, beyond its amusing names based on spanish jokes, and what I'm sure has been the most effective marketing campaign in the history of Spanish game development, people may not take it seriously.

Minabo - A walk through life is a simulator with very original ideas, but also with very random mechanics.

In spite of the fact that the adorable art-style (which looks like it was plucked straight out of a children’s book) is a treat on the eyes, and the accompanying music - although rather repetitive - is very pleasant, Minabo: A walk through life isn’t a game I find relaxing, but just rather boring. While other social simulator games like The Sims give players full control over their characters’ personalities and what they do with their lives, Minabo just sees every vegetable plod along at a painfully leisurely pace, achieving very little other than interacting with their brethren in the most basic ways and sprouting children from the ground. Despite being inoffensive for a short period of time, this isn’t the engaging new cosy game that you’ve been waiting for.