Paleo Pines takes the coziness of Animal Crossing and mixes it with the wonder and discovery of playing your first Pokémon game.
It should be pretty obvious that the power of nostalgia has a huge effect on our choices in gaming. Life is hard and stressful, and as exciting as a high-octane bullet-fueled power fantasy sounds, sometimes you need to go back to simpler times when you were a kid and dreamed of having a pet dinosaur. Paleo Pines fulfills this fantasy to a T and even sprinkles in a few other mechanics on top for that nostalgic goodness.
There’s something about Paleo Pines that instantly reads as a passion project, and that’s probably because it is a passion project. Paleo Pines was made by none other than Italic Pig, a small and somewhat quirky studio based in Holywood, a small seaside town outside of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Holywood is a town famed for its creativity, and Italic Pig is a clear example of that. The team consists of many passionate artists and developers who have come together to make a game that simply oozes the same amount of charm and passion that the studio has themselves.
Now, with Paleo Pines being such a great passion project, Italic Pig would indeed have to team up with a publisher that has the same amount of passion as they do, and they did exactly that. With Paleo Pines is being published by none other than Modus Games, who you may know as the publisher for games such as Soulstice, an action RPG that sees you play as two sisters who must stop the end of the world, and In Sound Mind, a first-person psychological puzzle game that explores the inner workings of your very own mind.
We begin our journey into Paleo Pines as you would any other cozy farming sim by making your own character. While Paleo Pines offers you a wide array of customization, it’s quite obvious that the game is aimed more at the younger crowd, as there aren’t any options for beards, scars, or wrinkles. This isn’t much of an issue, especially since the game is aimed at kids, but it would be nice to have the option. It should be noted that Paleo Pines lets you make a character to immerse yourself in the game’s world, similar to games such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons or Fae Farm, instead of giving you pre-built characters like Story of Seasons or Harvestella.
Okay, but now, onto the actual story itself. You have just arrived at your new house in none other than Paleo Pines, and you came here after your first Dino companion, a blue Parasaurolophus Lucky, has outgrown your previous home. Here, we are introduced to the inhabitants of Paleo Pines as well as the main story.
You see, Lucky is a rather surprising rarity. Parasaurolophuses are something of a rarity here, and Lucky is probably the first one that anyone has ever seen. Your main goal is to find where the other parasaurolophuses have gone. However, there are a few things you need to do first, like introducing yourself to the other residents of Paleo Pines.
As mentioned earlier, you will encounter many colorful NPCs during your time in Paleo Pines; some of these offer quests and advice, such as researcher Owynn, who also gives you your journal, and his adventurer partner Mari, who introduces you to one of the game’s best mechanics but we’ll touch on that later. There are also other NPCs that act as merchants and offer things to help you out on the homestead.
From the ever-teasing Granny Agami to the strong and helpful Marlo, who will also teach you the basics of building pens for your dinosaurs. If you want a happy dinosaur, you will need to build them a comfortable pen with enough space, food, and companionship because, unlike other creature collectors, the dinosaurs aren’t trapped in balls. The only reason they are staying with you is because they trust you, and if that dinosaur is mistreated, they will leave permanently, so it’s best to meet their needs as soon as possible.
As mentioned earlier, one of the game’s best mechanics is the Dinosaur befriending. Very early on in Paleo Pines, you will come across a flute, a flute that just so happens to play notes that sound just like dinosaur calls. You will need to use this flute first to get a dinosaur’s attention, and then you will need to match their “friendship” call; successfully doing so will get the dinosaur to come closer to you, and here’s where things get tricky. All Dinosaurs are very different, and each dinosaur has its own preferred food and flavors they enjoy.
In the beginning, you don’t have many options, so it’s a bit of trial and error, but things can get a bit complicated later on. You will need to balance between getting the dinosaur being excited for food and calming it down so you can find the sweet spot to give it a Poppin. What’s a Poppin? Imagine a cake that’s trying to be a biscuit but also completely irresistible to dinosaurs. If you gave it the right Poppin, congratulations, you have successfully tamed your first dinosaur.
You have a pen, and you have food, but you’re missing something; a Dreamstone. These are strange glowing rocks that help your scaly companions sleep at night, and without them, they are less likely to trust you. Dreamstones can be found dotted across the map, but keep in mind that initially, you should be careful what dinosaurs you bring onto your farm as while they all have their own unique benefits, Dreamstones are rare, and you might not have one for everyone.
This is something you’ll see popping up a lot, and that is that Paleo Pines is incredibly slow in the beginning. The game takes its time to introduce everything to you, which means there are times when you can go days and days doing the exact same thing with nothing new happening. The game is intended to be played at a slower pace, yes, but you shouldn’t be bored waiting eight days for your Gallimimus to finally let you ride it. This drags the game to a screeching halt, and no amount of cute dinosaur noises can save it.
Anyway, once a dinosaur trusts you, you will be able to both ride the dinosaur and use its unique ability. Some dinosaurs have abilities that help you around the farm, such as watering crops and clearing debris. At the same time, others have abilities that can also be used outside of the farm, such as destroying blockades or picking fruit from the top of trees.
Each dinosaur is different, and this encourages the player to try and find as many dinos as possible, that is if they have enough space and resources to take care of them. The game throws in an additional incentive with pattern rarity, which is similar to shiny Pokémon but is instead a lot more diverse. Each species of dinosaur will come in a variety of colors and patterns; some are rarer than others and don’t always spawn, so players are encouraged to get all varieties of the same dinosaur or get whatever one they like the most.
Paleo Pines also features both a day and night cycle as well as seasons and weather. While day and night don’t seem to change much, seasons and weather, on the other hand, play a huge factor when it comes to gathering food and materials as well as what dinosaurs spawn.
Depending on what season it is, you will encounter different plants and fruits and different dinosaurs and varieties. This creates a gameplay loop seen in games such as Fae Farm and Stardew Valley, where players are incentivized to play the game to see all that it has to offer. This makes the game incredibly addictive, especially once you’ve gotten past the initial hurdle.
Overall, Paleo Pines is a game for all ages, from both young children to nostalgic adults who want to go back to simpler times. The game fulfills a childhood fantasy many of us had while growing up and combines it with a fun farming sim that is both simple and easy to learn as it is rewarding to do.
The game does take some time to pick itself up, and you might find yourself doing the same old thing day in and day out, but the game still rewards you for sticking with it and incentivizes you to stick with it until the end. Paleo Pines is a promising start, and we at GamesCreed can’t wait to see what the studio has in store for the future.
