Bandai Namco released three totally free games a couple of weeks ago and one I was immediately drawn to. Doronko Wanko translates from Japanese as Muddy Dog. Doronko is a mud event about getting as messy as possible and Doronko Wanko takes this principle and applies a De Blob gameplay loop to it.
Your task is to take control of a cute Pomeranian dog and completely trash your new clean house. Your family has just moved in and is gearing up for a moving in party but you have other plans. As the dog, you roll in various messy things like mud, ink, paint and wine before then shaking yourself and splattering it everywhere. As the house is so clean and bright, seeing your mess flying everywhere is incredibly satisfying and soon your eyes focus on the damage cost counter. The more damage you cause, the more the cost counter racks up. This is crucial because as you cross cost thresholds, you unlock new power ups and costumes such as an ink gun hat or a paint minigun that will spread more carnage quicker.
Doronko Wanko takes place inside a single house but each room has its own unique challenges. You’ll need to ruin paintings, or find hidden dog paw prints to clear missions and unlock customisation and extras. You can track these in the options menu and some of them require timing like ruining the bedsheets when mum is sleeping in them. The house has lots of hidden areas to explore and creative ways to spread the muck using desk fans for example. There is a bit of a Katamari vibe to the whole thing as its zany in a good way and the humour is slapstick silly. Another reference game I’d use is Mister Mosquito from the PS2. Both lean into Japanese daily life culture and send it up. Control and music wise, things work exceptionally well except for one odd omission. You can pick up objects in your mouth but I couldn’t seem to drop them again unless I picked up something else. You can use this to move paint buckets around for example but then you can’t really throw them into a blank area to fully utililse them.
It is the single oddity in what is a remarkably polished and playable experience. I expect the reason its free is purely because you can clear everything in just over an hour. If this is a test prologue to see if audiences would like a full game then my hand is raised. Yes please. I want a fully fledged Doronko Wanko game. I want to create mess on a mass scale and the base game has all the elements I want from a crazy title like this. Easy to play, full of hidden Easter eggs to make you curious and laugh and its satisfying to play. More of this please, take my money.
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