Just Chill

 

Desert Child Review and Rec

Few games manage to pull me into their world without revealing a shred about their story. Desert Child, however, managed to pull me in with the visual aesthetic of an old school game you could find on a PC point-and-click adventure game.  The world feels immediately recognizable to anyone who grew up watching the likes of Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, and Akira. Taking the staple of cyber-punk visuals, and mixing it with dystopian cityscapes and vast deserts that extend far beyond the horizon.

Now then, Desert Child puts you in the shoes of a lone hoverbike rider who must race his way to become the top racer on Earth before it blows up. (Theoretically, that is.) Win races by any mean possible, be it by shooting down the competition, using the obstacles on the road to gain an upper hand, or be a good sportsman and simply out-speed the other riders.

The game starts you off in the middle of a race against a nameless female rider who is leagues above your skill level. As you race across the screen, the game does not offer you a tutorial, instead opting for letting the player learn by committing various mistakes and blunders on the track. For the majority of the race, you as the player, are made to experience the sheer hopelessness of trying to reach her smoke trail. After a couple more attempts, you finally reach the rider and best her in a bout of speed. Only to find out she was not only your mentor but an excellent tutorial in the mechanics of the game. Once you beat her the world opens up bit by bit, and the player is able to fully customize his bike, eat some ramen to boost performance, and even buy some lofi and funk records to chill to. Which surprisingly enough is a mechanic in the game, at any point in the game whenever you are not racing or committing crimes to pay off debts, the player can walk up to his bike and choose the “chill” option. Where the game encourages you to just sit back, relax and listen to the soundtrack of the game as the player character leans back on his bike and smokes a cigarette.

Desert Child is an indie game at heart that sets out to provide a fun gameplay experience with a somewhat serene and calm setting that mixes beautifully with the seedy underbelly of the world of illegal hoverbike racing. From the lonely streets of Earth to space and beyond, it tells in a minimalist way its story of a young man’s rise to fame and glory. For fans of underdog protagonists, lofi music, cyberpunk, or all of the above this is the game for you.

You can purchase it now on all major platforms. The version recommended in this piece was the Nintendo Switch version.