Deiland Critic Reviews

Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition is a charming experience, at least at the beginning. It is relaxing and immersive for a while, until you hit some structural flaws in its gathering and progression system, but overall it remains an enjoyable game.

My time within this universe was enjoyable, eventually. It was gratifying to see that there was more of the game to experience beyond the initial limitations I had to work through, but the general lack of a tutorial and plodding pacing at the beginning almost turned me off for good. But if you get past that and into the meat of the title, you’ll sink your teeth into something truly satisfying.

Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition has a lovely, relaxing vibe, and some pleasant, very recognizable farming mechanics. But some quest problems lead to frustration – and worse, hours of bewildered wandering. When progression grinds to a halt and there is nothing to do but grow endless crops, Deiland starts to feel less pleasant, and more like a purgatory.

Compared to animal crossing and other farming sims it is relatively basic. There isn’t that much to do and I found myself spending a lot of time waiting… I love the graphics and soundtrack and I really did enjoy playing Deiland. But felt it was more appropriate as a pick up and put down type of game rather than one that involves longer gaming sessions.

Deiland Pocket Planet Edition is a shallow farming sim that provides you with very base-level quests that don’t really amount to anything memorable. The monotony of completing the quests and watching over crops never becomes more complex or challenging, weighing on the adventure’s lasting factor. There’s little here to experience after a few hours of gameplay, but it’s still a charming indie offering that doesn’t grow into the rose that I had hoped for.

But if you can deal with that, Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition is a fun little farm sim, one that lacks depth but makes up for in charm and the uniqueness of its setting. Put your favourite comfort show on TV and play this while you’re half-watching, and you’ve got a nice way to unwind and turn your mind off for a spell.

At the end of the day, if you’re a genre fan, Deiland will provide you with enough bang for your buck that you won’t feel your time was wasted. But it’s kind of a lightweight thing, and between the short duration and the lack of long-term hooks it’s more a case of genre fans wanting more than it is of a new game to really sink your teeth into. That doesn’t make it bad or disappointing, just perhaps a bit more slight than you’d hope.

Deiland: Pocket Planet is a game and concept with a lot of heart and potential, but a few issues bring the experience down. A patch or two this could easily turn into a brilliant short story for any indie gamer, but for now it's an interesting tale that needs a little more time on it.

With its unique premise and enjoyable art style, Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition could have the potential to be your next fave farm sim. Unfortunately, its clunky structure transforms part of the experience into an aimless chore.

Deiland: Pocket Planet is a perfectly fine farming sim with the novelty of eking out existence on little planets. However, the lean towards busy work means that only fans of the survival genre will get the most out of it.

Deiland: Pocket Planet seemed promising with all that it offered but ultimately fell flat, especially compared to all the other simulation games currently available.

I had fun with this little planet simulator but its small scope means it doesn't deliver the same feeling of adventure as Summer in Mara.

Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition is a good-enough-for-now game to tide over Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon fans, but its insistence on drip-feeding you content on its own schedule misses the "self-sufficiency" angle that its predecessors nailed.

The final word to describe Deiland the game is one that has been used several times already in this review: charming. Chibig has captured some of the charm and emotion to be found in the work of Antoine de St.-Exupery, mixed it with a blend of RPG and cultivation elements, and given the world another, smaller world to enjoy. Could it have been bigger? Yes. Could it have had more to it? Indubitably. But for what it is, Deiland is a nice diversion from heavier experiences in the genre, and that may well have been what the developers were aiming for.

Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition is a light-hearted, family-friendly farming simulator that can be played in small doses. Unfortunately, some balancing issues that can lead to sessions of feeling tedious and frustrating make it hard to enthusiastically recommend.

There is a simplicity to Deiland: Pocket Planet that may be too basic both in terms of how actions are done, and how little there is to explore on the tiny planet for some, but it is perfect as a before bed or generally relaxing game for others with easy to pick up game mechanics and clear objectives for each quest.

Deiland: Pocket Planet Edition is a game with a promising concept, yet it didn’t really do anything for me. I really wish I liked this game more since it is much like others of its genre that I enjoy.

I wish I could say I had fun with Deiland Pocket Planet or found some sort of redeeming quality outside of the aesthetics, but the truth is, I spent too much time tripping over rocks and breaking them out of frustration afterwards to really remember much else about it. I kept missing visitors, I fumbled with farming, and unlocking the fishing rod was an exercise in odd patience. There was a lot of weird friction in the UI and nothing was truly intuitive. I am still wild about the concept and found the chill vibe inviting, but diving back into the game just for a supposedly relaxing mood never had the outcome I was hoping for.