Welcome to CNN Underscored’s Cozying Up column, where we review cozy video games, including indie titles, narrative-based games and farming and life sims. So sit back, get cozy and let’s play!
Enter the prehistoric era in Paleo Pines, where you can raise adorable dinos that will in turn help you build the farm of your dreams. Embark on quests, make friends, complete your journal and make money by farming crops in this cute-as-can-be cozy game by Italic Pig.
Here’s what we thought after playing more than 20 hours of Paleo Pines for PlayStation 5.
Paleo Pines is a simple but addictive cozy game that’s suitable for players of all ages, and you’ll have a blast befriending dino pals and working with them to make your homestead the envy of the town.
What makes it a cozy game
A cute, diverse cast of characters — and dinos
Paleo Pines features a small nine-person cast of characters, not including the main player (you), but each non-player character (NPC) has their own unique voice that makes interacting with them a joy. The farmer Granny Agami, for example, loves making dinosaur puns, while forester Mario always has a kind word to say. And although there are so few NPCs, many races and ethnicities are represented among them, which is always wonderful to see in a game.
Then, there are the dinos. Aside from quests, you’ll spend the most time befriending dino helpers and keeping them happy in pens you create on your farm — so it’s a good thing they’re all super adorable. You can tell a lot of time and care went into designing these lil’ guys and gals; it’s almost impossible not to let out an “awww” when you discover a new species while out exploring. It also helps that you can befriend each species in a variety of colors; there are even “rare” colors that are easier to spot after Triassea Picnics. While a main goal of the game is to befriend every dinosaur species, you might just find yourself with multiple of the same species just for their unique colors and patterns.
But the dinos aren’t there just for their looks. Each species will, after some time, help you accomplish something on your homestead or while out exploring. For example, while riding your starter dinosaur, a Parasaurolophus named Lucky, you can crush debris, clearing up space for pens and gaining you wood and stone in the process. My Styracosaurus, Ophelia, can make short work of large boulders, while my personal favorite (don’t tell the others), Mercutio the Gallimimus, can run at extreme speeds and also water several crops at once. Each dino has a stamina bar that gets bigger with more experience, so you’re limited to a certain number of tasks per in-game day, but it’s always a big help no matter what.
In order for them to become helpers, however, you’ll have to make sure they’re happy. This involves making sure they have a pen to live in, a small or large dreamstone, food and a clean environment (yes, that means you gotta shovel up some dino poop once in a while). Each species also has other requirements you’ll need to acknowledge; some dinos will want to live in a pen with other dinos, for example, while others might feel too crowded.
Fun tools promote interactivity
If you’re a frequent cozy gamer, some of the tools provided in Paleo Pines won’t come as a shock to you: a shovel, a watering can and a hoe, for example. However, there are two tools that help set this game apart from others in its genre: a journal and a flute.
With the journal, you’re able to identify and log nearly every collectible and dinosaur species in the game. If you’re playing on PS5, all you have to do is press the square button, then hold X near a new decoration, dino or crop to identify it — and voilà! It’s then logged in your collection. This is especially helpful when interacting with new dinos; even if you’re unable to befriend them at the time, you can still lull them to sleep, then identify them using the journal, which will log helpful stats like their skills, diet and friend call (more on that below).
The flute, on the other hand, serves many purposes. Most importantly, you’ll need to use it to get the attention of a dino before you’re able to befriend it. On PS5, pressing L2 three times in a row in the direction of a dino will trigger the “Yoohoo” command. Once the dino has “noticed” you, you’ll then need to mimic its friend call, which could be any combination of red notes (L2), blue notes (L1), purple notes (R1) or yellow notes (R2) in small, medium or large sizes (holding the corresponding button increases the note’s size). This may sound a little complicated, but once you’ve opened up the flute, several helpful pop-ups on the UI will appear to guide you through it — plus, if you’ve previously identified a dino species, that friend call will also show up.
Once you’ve befriended a dino, you can also use the flute for the following commands: “Follow Me,” “Wait There,” “See You Later” and “This Is Your Home” (i.e., assigning them to a pen). It’s particularly fun to use the flute in order to get multiple dino friends to follow you at once.
All-ages fun
It’s rare when a game can transcend player age, but I feel like Paleo Pines accomplishes this feat — and accomplishes it well. The controls are quite simple to pick up, the content is wholesome and the quests are simple enough without being boring. I could see a younger player loving this game for the cute dinos alone, while this 33-year-old reviewer easily played it in addictive hours-long sessions. Other cozy games like Fae Farm that feature multiple worlds, light combat and extensive resource grinding might be a little too complex for younger players, but in Paleo Pines, there’s success in its simplicity —?it’s fun gameplay for the whole family.
What makes it a not-so-cozy game
Limited customization options
If you’re looking for a game with hundreds of outfits and decorations à la Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Paleo Pines will disappoint. That’s not to say there are no outfits or decorations; they’re just extremely limited. You’ll come across a handful during your adventure, but don’t expect to be wowed — instead, gameplay is focused on the multitude of dinosaur species, dino color variants and building useful pens on your farm rather than creating an Insta-worthy world.
The character creator also leaves something to be desired, with approximately 16 to 24 choices each for skin tone, eye color, hair color and clothing. Furthermore, you can’t change body type, height or the size/placement of facial features, and there is no gender or sex selection either. While none of this necessarily affects gameplay, it does feel a little “mobile game.”
Repetitive soundtrack
This is admittedly a minor gripe, but the soundtrack — while mostly pleasing and innocuous — became a little grating and repetitive during longer play sessions. I found myself muting the volume or turning the game off altogether after a while because of it, so keep that in mind if that’s something you’re sensitive to.
Bottom line
If you’re looking for a simple, relaxing game that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike, then you’ll find a lot to love in Paleo Pines. Its character and creature designs are sure to make you squee, and there’s plenty to do between completing quests, filling out your journal, befriending many, many dinos and building out your dream dino farm. It’s more advanced than a mobile game and less developed than a AAA game, but overall we think its $30 price tag is worth it.
The dino-mite Paleo Pines is now available for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
