Video Game Review - Nom Nom Galaxy

[yasr_multiset setid=2]By: ScarletteMaking soup in space! That’s Nom Nom Galaxy in a nut shell and if that sounds interesting to you, you may want to head on over to the Playstation market place (Playstation Plus membership required!) and download Nom Nom Galaxy while it’s free.Nom Nom Galaxy instantly feels and plays like Terraria, and if you enjoyed that game, you’ll most likely enjoy the Nom Nom. That isn’t to say there is some variations between the two games. Where Terraria is simply gather, build/craft, in order to survive (with occasional boss fights); Nom Nom Galaxy gives the gather and build game play a small twist by throwing business management at you.You land on a planet where you’re able to start your soup in space business- establish your factory, gather the materials you need in order to run and main your establishment, while  growing the ingredients to make soup, and ultimately make a profit. The end goal? Become the biggest, tastiest, soup in space producer in all the universe.Honestly, Nom Nom Galaxy isn’t my type of game. I can only play for so long before I get bored of just gathering things for an unknown purpose. I like to have an goal in mind when I grind things out for a sense of achievement…and that’s where Nom Nom Galaxy differs itself from Terraria, ensuring it isn’t a clone game with a different kind of theme.Im not going to lie, most of the game does play like Terraria, right down to the digging in the pits and trying to locate items to craft/make soup with. But what give Nom Nom good game play, or at least something to keep it fresh, is the market aspect of the game. Its nice to have a daily goal outlined for you as you try to conquer the galactic market place with your space soup. It keeps the super grindy- that isn’t say the grind isn't real- feeling out of the game play because youre trying to meet a daily metric, instead of just trying to amass a ton of things for….who knows what? The market place and economy aspect is interesting to play with, specially if you're a goal/achievement orientated gamer. Also, from what I understand, your soup business stacks against OTHER soup businesses. To clarify, its a soup leader board. See how well you're doing compared to other competitors. Again, ideal for the goal orientated gamer, or even somebody who gets thrills from Monopoly.Nom Nom also provides more of a emphasis on creating your home base/ware house/soup factory. In similar games, like Terrari or even Minecraft, you built whatever you wanted because you were able to craft the materials needed for it. Since Nom Nom primary focus is universal soup domination; you're about running a business, not seeing if you can replicate Winterfell.  The player has to pay more attention than usual to their factory/soup house. That means careful planning and spending on what you would consider important to your soup conquest. Choose carefully between rockets, ware houses, gardens, assembly lines and a plethora of other things to keep your factory, your business, running smoothly and ensuring your tasty meals make it off planet so you can thwart other soup competitors. I wouldn't say Nom Nom is on par with something like Prison Architect, but rather gently touches on that type of game play. It isnt over whelming and the sole purpose of the game, but you can certainly kill a few hours trying to figure out your assembly line and rocket structures.The three primary game elements- gathering/crafting, building, and management- is what keeps Nom Nom replay ability high and appealing. As stated before, I really could care less about digging around for hours on end trying to find rare mushrooms, but the other aspects of the game; building my operation, and dominating the marketplace, is what kept me around longer than usual for a game like Nom Nom Galaxy.Replay value is high, as you can always reset your planet, and your soup operations, if things just start going bad or you’re not happy with how things have progressed along. You’re not stuck trying to dig a failing soup operation out of the pits. Another great feature that keep replay value high is that Nom Nom allows for multiplayer function. You’re able to start your own space soup ventures with your friends, working together while foraging, building, and managing your business. Im sure it will make for some tense times between gaming partner as they discuss the best strategy to make broth in large volumes and how to send it out quickly when your ingredients supply is running low. And DAMNIT, WHO COLLAPSED THE WATER CAVE? WAS THAT YOU, CARL?Controls for the PlayStation 4 is smooth, it took sometime for me to adjust and get use to the button configuration as I’m a primarily PC gamer, but after running around for a short period of time you get the hand of sawing down mountains and building things. Menu system is clear and concise, its not hard to find anything that you’re looking for with minimal effort. Music is typical background noise, after a while you either tune it out or turn it off, but for the first time play through its enjoyable to listen to all the effects a few times.All around Nom Nom Galaxy is a good game, not my favorite, but definitely enough to keep someone entertained for a bit. You cant beat the free price tag on Playstation Plus.  The introduction of playing the market place and little variations on how to build your base ,and maintain your supplies, gives the genre a fresh coat of paint that will keep new comers and avid genre players something to look forward to.