Paleo Pines, by developer Italic Pig and publisher Modus Games, is an adorable farming sim where you utilize dinosaur friends to help you out on your farm. You play as the newest resident of Paleo Pines, a charming island known for its friendly dinosaurs and plenty of open space for them to roam. You move in after your dinosaur Lucky becomes too large to keep in your house, immediately you and Lucky fall in love with the space, the people, and the once abandoned farm that you now call your own. Will your new farm flourish under your guidance?
Starting the game, you get to customize your character before starting your journey, then you go through a storybook cutscene depicting your dinosaur hatching and slowly growing far too big for your little house. You then set off to Paleo Pines upon arrival you and Lucky are so tired that you rest for the night. The next day you are visited by a couple townsfolk that welcome you and your dinosaur to the island, upon seeing Lucky they are shocked that you own such a rare dinosaur that hasn’t been seen for a while, perhaps you’ll be the one to find them again. Eventually when you make your way into town you find the various shops and shop owners as well as obtaining your tools, a shovel, watering can, and a hoe. Back at your farm you can now set up your pen for Lucky with the help of one of the townsfolk as well as set up your farm using the carrot seeds you obtain from going into town. Eventually you will be able to tame other dinosaurs and enlist their help on your ranch. Overall the game runs well and looks beautiful, the cute style mixed with the fantasy setting is really eye-catching and relaxing.
You can mount and ride your dinosaur by holding left click while looking at your dinosaur, holding right click will let you dismount. While on the dinosaur you can have them help out around the farm, but they will run out of stamina so keep an eye out for that. Left and right click is most of the interaction, left click to till ground water crops etc., right click for journal entries and picking up items from the ground. J to open your journal, I to open your inventory. Placing down things on your property is pretty simple as you just take out the item and left click to enter build mode, use WASD to move the item to where you want to place it down. On the second day you get a flute that you can use to communicate with your dinosaur 3 red notes to call your dinosaur’s attention, 3 yellow notes tells your dinosaur to follow you, 3 blue notes to have your dinosaur wait for you, and 3 purple notes to let the dinosaur go back to what they were doing. Later on this flute helps with taming dinosaurs.
Overall, I do not have much to say as critique about the game. The fact that there isn’t a hotbar was weird to get used to and I wish the game had a minimap but those are not big issues. The only big thing I can say is that, after a while, the game becomes a little boring with no real overarching storyline, once you have everything setup there isn’t much else to do. Perhaps the game can add more as time goes on but as is there isn’t much and seems unfinished at parts lacking the final touches every game needs.
Paleo Pines is a cute and fun farming simulator with dinosaurs. You move to this island full of friendly dinosaurs and plenty of space for your dino companion Lucky to grow and play. The style and concept is amazing and well done but lacks substance after a bit into the game. The artstyle and music are fantastic and I love looking at the game and all the scenery. I am giving the game an 8 out of 10 because I am in love with the style and concept but the game lacks some substance.
Paleo Pines is available for PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.
Related: Reviews by Brianna Keller
I enjoy a wide variety of games from intricate survival/adventure games to simple platformers. I am also a sucker for a good story game.
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