ROOTS OF PACHA Review for Steam

Soda Den’s first-ever release, Roots of Pacha, takes gamers into the prehistoric era, offering a charming and innovative take on the cozy-wozy farming sim genre.

Story

Gamers play as an adopted member of the tree-loving Pacha tribe. At the beginning of the game, several of the tribe’s younger generation are preparing to undertake the Rite of Passage. During the ceremony, players learn that Pacha herself has special plans for the protagonist. Like other games of the same genre, the story unfolds with the main character talking to members of the tribe and helping them to complete tasks. The prehistoric setting offers a loose overarching narrative of the tribe developing from nomads to a more sedentary agricultural society.

In addition to helping the tribe learn about farming and caring for animals, players will need to serve Pacha, working towards fulfilling her prophecies with the help of some glowing neon armadillos.

Gameplay

The Roots of Pacha gameplay is varied and engaging, offering players plenty of ways to use up in-game days. In the game, players don’t just level themselves up; they work to level up the whole community. The game rewards players for giving their hard-earned harvests and hunts to the rest of the community in the form of Contribution points. Contribution points can be spent to upgrade equipment and purchase decorations for the house. This mechanic creates a good balance between personal growth and helping the entire tribe advance.

Progression in the game comes through exploration and helping tribe members develop their ideas. For example, one tribe member has an idea that tamed animals could actually be kept at the clan if they just had a place to stay. Give this member the requested materials and a few days to think about it, and voila, they’ve invented a barn!

Exploration is a key aspect of the game, which slowly expands to encompass a diverse number of biomes. During exploration, players will not only find new plants to harvest but also discover animals to tame, including mammoths! Through a simple mini-game, players can tame the animals and take them home as pets.

Remember those glowing armadillos I mentioned? During exploration, players will encounter caves that hold some secrets about Pacha. These caves feature the most frustrating aspect of the Roots of Pacha in the form of some surprisingly difficult puzzle games. The game does a pretty good job of working tutorials into the natural flow of gameplay, so players never feel lost, except for these darn cave puzzles. Even with one of the armadillos offering winking hints, I still struggled to complete them. I just hope Pacha isn’t too disappointed with her chosen one.

Overall

9/10

While many of the aspects of Roots of Pacha will feel familiar to lovers of the cozy farm genre, the game offers enough variety and novelty to make it worth adding to the collection. In addition to that, developers estimate there are more than 50 hours of gameplay for gamers (more if you struggle with the puzzles), meaning Roots of Pacha is definitely worth the money.

The game is beautifully made, with an emphasis on community development. The player develops as society develops.

Roots of Pacha is available for PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5|4 with support for English, French, German, Portuguese – Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Japanese languages. Xbox One and Series X|S versions are planned for a later date.

For more information, follow Roots of Pacha on Twitter and YouTube, join the Discord, and visit the official Roots of Pacha website.

Related: Reviews by Michelle Jones

Michelle Jones

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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.