Trash Goblin Demo Impressions for Steam

A game based on the founding of Etsy.

Trash Goblin by Split Milk Studios is the latest entry into the cozy genre. Developed by a small indie team, this shopsim invites players to “discover, clean, upcycle and sell trinkets,” all while hoarding gold like a proper little goblin.

Trash Goblin Gameplay

The Trash Goblin Demo has a basic gameplay that hints at so much more in the full game!

Each day, your goblin has a limited amount of time to work on projects, and one of the first things the tutorial lets players know is that “goblins don’t do crunch.” This little goblin seems to like working on three to four pieces a day before heading for bed, which is a work schedule I can get behind.

As of right now, there is no real discovery aspect to the Demo. Instead, bags of dirt-covered trinkets just appear on the goblin’s work desk, ready to be cleaned and sold.

Cleaning in the Demo is a two-step process. First, players will chip away at dirt chunks, then wash away any leftover grime to reveal a new piece of trash/treasure. There are different types of dirt to get off, some requiring one quick tap, others needing several hard strikes, and others having to be hit in a specific spot. The absolute best feeling in the game is when players break off one block that is holding on to a larger chunk, and a bunch of other bits come exploding off. After chipping away the dirt, players will use their ridiculously expensive sponge to wash off any lingering grime before storing away the trinket in their handy dandy notebook.

I have to shout out the Dev team here because players can choose how tactile they want to get with the cleaning process. Players can click-click-click their mouse to chip away the dirt or turn on the “hover” setting, and the chipper will begin aggressively stabbing the air until you move it over the trinket. The hover setting is a must for anyone with carpal tunnel or who didn’t realize they had just spent two hours in the game and now their pointer finger is aching.

I also want to shout out that I played this Demo on both the laptop and SteamDeck. While Trash Goblin is not yet verified for SteamDeck, it works beautifully—actually, possibly better than the laptop—since SteamDeck’s touch screen adds an extra layer of satisfaction in the cleaning process. It was incredibly satisfying to wash trinkets with the sponge by running my finger back and forth on the touchscreen or tap away dirt with my finger rather than clicking a mouse.

In addition to cleaning, the Demo introduces goblins to the upcycling feature. Upcycling means you get to click together all of your trinkets in new and fun (sometimes monstrous) combinations. Players can, of course, try putting a wooden fist onto a dagger hilt or attach a magnifying glass lens to a chamber pot, creating all sorts of nonsense that no one will want to buy. But players can also choose to actually improve trinkets, increasing their selling costs. Redoir, the mercenary blacksmith, will buy a beer stein without a handle, but she’ll pay a lot more if players attach a handle and a lid.

Customers appear at random intervals throughout the day while players are messing at their workbench. The goblin can select from a few dialogue options, choosing to be upbeat and cheery or just a little suspicious. So far in the Demo, dialogue options don’t seem to have much effect on gameplay, but it seems like Devs have big plans.

Which seems like a great segue to talk about the story.

Story

Currently, there is no story.

This was probably the only disappointing aspect of the Demo. I had fallen absolutely in love with every part of the Demo as is, but after the fourth day of cleaning and selling, I started to wonder if this game was actually a capitalistic nightmare in cozy shopsim clothes. All I was doing was working from the moment I woke up until the moment I ran out of hours in the day and collapsed into bed, thinking about nothing but what I had managed to produce during that day’s cycle.

A feeling that there must be more to life than this sent me to Discord, which took me to Patreon, which led me to Kickstarter. This journey of self-discovery ended, as all such journeys do, with a sense of hope. Reading through the full development vision for the game makes me believe in Santa Claus again. Devs are promising to let players take their shop on the road and manage more than one location.

They are also promising more types of dirt to clean!

According to the Devs, Trash Goblin will eventually have:

Endless hours of gameplay, should you want it.
50+ Trinkets & Accessories to uncover, discover and study, with well over 1000 combinations and variations to realise!
9+ Tools and Contraptions to help you clean, upcycle and sell items
40+ customers to serve, some with incredible stories to tell, others that just want to complete their coin collection, but all happy to haggle!
10+ hours to play through the story
4+ species of customers to serve, understand and interact with
2+ districts to sell in! Explore the city by changing the location of your shop as you progress through the game.
1 criminal empire to overthrow… when you decide to
0 pressure – no skill gates, just keep being your own Goblin for as long as you like!

It’s clear from reading the Kickstarter that the Developers have thought through the backstory and world-building for Trash Goblin; they just aren’t giving it to us yet.

Graphics and Sound

The developers must have studied at ASMR College because the sound effects in this game are oh-so-satisfying. Each type of material that needs to be cleaned has the most toe-curlingly delicious sound. This game seriously understands synesthesia because the cracking of dirt clods makes my spine tingle.

Visually, “Trash Goblin” adopts a charming art style that demands someone make this world into a plushie. The environment is detailed and interactive, with players getting to click on candles and bottles for bonus effects.

Interestingly, in this otherwise three-dimensional world, customers are oddly two-dimensional. Customers don’t actually move; they sort of glitch from one pose to the next.

Overall

9/10

Trash Goblin Demo is a perfect hook to pull players into the upcoming title release. I wish with all my heart that the Devs had given out just a little more of the story in the Demo, but beggars can’t be choosers. All we can do is visit our favorite dumpster to look for traysure, and patiently wait for the rest of the game to drop later this year.

You can wishlist Trash Goblin as well as play the Demo for PC via Steam.

Related: Reviews by Michelle Jones

Michelle Jones

+ posts

I'm a completionist gamer who just needs to find that one last object and clear that final dungeon. I love all video games, from open world sandboxes on a console to a mindless match three on my phone. In addition to gaming and writing, I am a graduate student working on a thesis about the ancient Icelandic Sagas. Feel free to ask me anything about Vikings.