Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion Review
Turnip Boy just wants to watch the world burn. At first, he merely owes the government a lot of money for taxes he hasn't paid. Then Turnip Boy gleefully rips up his taxes due notice. The mayor is not pleased, but nonetheless gives our hero a second chance. All he has to do is retrieve some very everyday non-suspicious artifacts for the mayor. On top of that, the residents of Turnip Boy’s hometown need help with many things. Turnip Boy is happy to help, but not without leaving a lot of death and destruction in his wake.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a silly game full of self-depreciation and references to internet memes. The game itself mainly involves little micro quests fetching various items. While it seems repetitive and straightforward on paper--and sometimes it is, the interactions with the characters and the world make it worth it. There is no straight man, everyone lacks common sense, and Turnip Boy is here to take advantage of it.
For example, Turnip Boy speaks with another veggie about his tenant. It’s a snail, the games version of a goomba, living in this garden rent-free. The landlord wants his rent check. Clearly just a breakdown in communication. Then there’s Turnip Boy’s solution. Slay the freeloader and then loot the body for a rent check. While landlord veggie is momentarily sad at the senseless murder, he cheers up immediately upon having the rent money and buys himself dinner. There the questline ends.
In other games, this quest system would be the weakest point, but with the wacky shenanigans, it’s the strongest point in this game.
I also enjoy exploring the dungeons scattered across the world. Much like the Zelda games, each one features a new gimmick, and Turnip Boy must solve puzzles using the gimmick to complete the dungeon.
But this is all hampered by the in-game combat featuring some baffling design choices. Turnip Boy can hold only one object at a time and has to swap between them. This design feels clunky, and mid battle gets frustrating. I wish it was more like Zelda where you can assign items to a hotkey. The sword is also jank. It stabs straightforward rather than slashing in an arc. There's auto targeting, which takes getting used to, but is alright. Except when it stabs the wrong way.
The combat is fine when fighting normal enemies, but makes boss fights aggravating. A shame because the devs put a lot of care and thought into making the boss fights interesting and fun. Ah well, you win some, you lose some.
Luckily for anyone wanting to experience the game without worrying about the combat, there are some accessibility options. One of those is a mode where Turnip Boy does higher damage. The other is a god mode where the little veggie boy is invincible.
Overall if cringy internet humor and murder hobo veggies are your things--and it’s mine--this game is must play. The energy of the game is so infectious, and it leaves a smile on my face. I recommend it.
(Side Note. I played the Switch version, which does have some frame rate issues, but otherwise runs pretty smoothly)