Littlelands Preview: A Cute and Easygoing Adventure

Littlelands is the newest adventure game to land on Steam, standing out as being more cutesy as well as appealing to more casual players. The demo provides flexibility and freedom so that players can explore at their own will and pace everything Littlelands has to offer, whether it’s gathering resources, completing mini quests, or even venturing into dungeons full of monsters that must be overcome.

The demo for Littlelands is now available on Steam. No release date is available yet. Littlelands is also slated to release on Nintendo Switch 2.

Story – The Little World of Littlelands

For the 1-2 hour demo of Littlelands, there is a little bit of storytelling to follow. More focus is put on the gameplay, but the story is already established. You play as a character who you can pick a name and alter their appearance. After your games console breaks, you are made to head out into the real world to look for real adventures. Interactions with other characters suggest you are usually reclusive and don’t get out much, but that all changes.

The demo’s humor is very tongue-in-cheek, making playful digs at the player without being insulting. It goes further with the demo’s narrator, who at the end asks you to put in a good word for them to the developers. The fourth-wall dialogue is a nice touch and helps make the demo feel more personal. It goes a little further than just having a written message at the end asking to wishlist the game.

Another appreciated bit of humor is presented by a stranger you encounter after heading out to a new area. You’re initially fooled into thinking you’re about to go into battle akin to Pokémon, but they quickly backtrack, telling you it was just a joke. Even Pokémon fans can laugh at this little inside joke.

Gameplay – Littlelands Playground

The demo for Littlelands is designed to showcase the core gameplay while making the player feel unrestricted, allowing them essentially to do whatever they wish. Although they technically have to finish the main quests to “complete” the demo, there is no strict order of gameplay to follow.

In Littlelands, players can dabble in several different gameplay offerings, including resource gathering and selling, quest completion, dungeon exploration, and talking to NPCs, to give them a good insight into the full game’s potential.

Exploration and Dungeoneering

Aside from the odd transition between areas, Littlelands is for the most part an open-world game, actively encouraging exploration. With lots of paths and areas to discover, it’s hard to resist going off into every nook and cranny. You never know what you might find; a treasure chest, or even a cave entrance. Although the demo limits how far you can explore, there is still plenty to see and do. 

Littlelands is promoted as being more casual, but that doesn’t mean it’s free from danger. Players are soon made aware that you can stray into enemy territory. It isn’t easy to stumble across these foes, so it won’t happen accidentally.

Also, conquering these monsters is relatively simple for an adventure game such as this. You can beat off enemies using a simple stick you pick up off the ground as a temporary weapon. Later on, you can locate a sword and a shield.

The sword is essential for reaching areas blocked by thick bushes and obstructive fences – and defeating the one boss you can encounter. In the demo, the boss encounter is manageable with a bit of strategy, even without the shield equipped.

This means that even more casual players who typically shirk from combat don’t have much to worry about, as all monster battles aren’t too challenging and they can focus more on exploration and gathering.

The monsters look intimidating but are easy to defeat.

Quests 

The Littlelands demo provides a handful of smaller quests that can easily be completed. These mainly include looking for items and gathering specific resources, aka fetch quests. Highlights include collecting three different types of plants for a character to create hair dye, and another character desperately seeking their lost journal.

These quests allow players to explore different aspects of Littlelands and send them around the map to complete the tasks provided. The quests aren’t too challenging or frustrating, being mostly easy to complete and satisfying.

Gathering Resources

For the duration of the Littlelands demo, lots of different resources can be found and gathered. These mainly include plants, but also slime dropped by defeated monsters.

Players can also hunt for bugs found rustling in the undergrowth. Instead of using a net though, a fishing rod-type tool is used for catching bugs. It’s a little unusual but at least provides a unique take on this common gameplay feature.

One thing to note is that your inventory isn’t bottomless, and unless you purchase a storage upgrade, you’ll eventually run out of space. This means you won’t be able to be gifted quest rewards or gather more items – until you get rid of some stuff.

Fortunately, once you unlock your farm, you gain access to a bin in which you can deposit your gathered items for currency. Unlike many similar games with this feature, the items disappear immediately, and the funds instantly appear in your pocket.

Gemstones serve as the game’s currency, used to purchase new items at stores and peddlers such as clothing and seeds. These are collected by completing quests, as well as found throughout the world.

You eventually locate and unlock your farm later in the demo.

Farming

Farming is hinted to play a key role in the full game of Littlelands, as one main quest task asks you to grow and harvest a specific plant after accessing your farm. Gardening is a straightforward process in Littlelands, and you’re even provided with a useful walkthrough on what to do upon your first time.

Even though farming wasn’t explored in depth, the demo gives it a promising first look.

Graphics & Audio – A Modern Take on a Classic Favorite

The art style for Littlelands can ironically refer back to the classic Pokémon games, where it feels this game got its inspiration from. This is notable in the way the world is designed, with the layout of the buildings, overgrowth, cliffs, trees, etc. Even the trees match the same design from Pokémon, except with a more modern, 3D update. Even the character designs feel reminiscent of the cartoonish and simplistic Pokémon look.

Rather than being a copycat, Littlelands seems to take a nostalgic inspiration from Pokémon, while also adding its own style.

A similar stance is taken with the audio. Again, it’s not copying, but a similar take on the light and jaunty tunes from Pokémon, inspiring adventure and exploration while also encouraging players to enjoy their freedom and do what they want, unconstrained by forced gameplay.