(Review) Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion!

Narukoopa
Aug 30, 2021
4 min read

Such a loving, peaceful creature... totally not prone to violent bursts of aggressive behaviour, alongside excessive urges to commit tax evasion...

The Short Version:

Have you ever wanted to play as a sentient turnip whose sole mission in life is to commit tax evasion and stick it to the government? Say hello to Turnip Boy, a game where you can do just that! Underneath its richly colourful exterior is a deep story that focuses on fighting against the corrupt capitalist system by saying no to paying your taxes.

Okay, maybe it’s not quite that dramatic. In fact, as a whole it’s actually rather ludicrous, but that’s part of the charm. In its short runtime, you’ll be provided with a light-hearted experience that’s incredibly amusing, has a decent amount of challenge and is highly entertaining to play. Sure, it’s a bit on the pricey side, but in terms of its content, there really aren’t any major flaws worth mentioning.

Pros:

-Attractive visuals

-Entertaining storyline

-Humour is well-executed

-Challenging puzzles

-Engaging boss fights

Cons:

-Too expensive

My Rating: 9.7/10 - Masterpiece

You Just Committed Tax Evasion!

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a top-down, action-adventure game set in a world inhabited by sentient fruit and vegetables. You play as an innocent-looking turnip whose cutesy appearance serves as a mask to hide his darker temperament.

His name is Turnip Boy, and he is far from a model citizen. Putting his outbursts of violent rage aside, he has quite a hard time paying his taxes, a problem that eventually catches up with him once he is evicted from his home.

Due to his debt being too high, the mayor of the town decides to enlist Turnip Boy as his personal aide. He issues him various errands with the outlook that, upon completion of these tasks, the deed to his house will be returned.

The objectives given to you are rather simple: go to a forest to find a fork, look around for a laser pointer, bring back some goo, etc. Why the mayor is hell-bent on you finding these isn’t explained until the end, but the conclusion is striking, to say the least. However, the process of obtaining these items is less than straightforward. In order to acquire them, you’ll be partaking in a number of activities, whether that’s through interacting with a diverse and colourful cast of characters, exploring dozens of vibrant locations in search of loot, fighting off the local wildlife or solving light puzzles.

There's dozens of characters to interact with, each with their own personalities. Regardless of their importance, they all have a presence.

Tagging alongside the main story are numerous small side quests that can range from ripping apart a couple’s love letters to searching the trash for a baby carrot. Then there’s the smaller interactions, such as killing a snail for his rent money or accidentally setting off a nuke.

Because of the game’s outlandish nature, you never quite know what to expect around the corner. The bright, cheerful visuals contrasting with the dark humour help make the genuine laugh-out-loud moments all the more amusing. Jokes aren’t over the top to the point of irritation, and the narrative doesn’t outstay its welcome. It’s a jolly experience that’s not supposed to be taken seriously.

A Quest Like No Other...

Your journey of collecting, trashing and killing will send you across a variety of charming environments, from scattered settlements to condensed forests, all of which are divided into several small maps connected by pathways. Thanks to their compact design, it is very difficult to get lost in these areas, so navigating never becomes frustrating.

That being said, just because a map isn’t big doesn’t make it any less interesting. Each level is fairly detailed, and the number of interactions and collectables littered across them all encourages you to explore them. The attractive art style boosts the light-hearted nature of the game even further through its glistening colours that also make it a treat for the eyes.

Regardless of where you are, Turnip Boy continues to be a visual treat through its beautiful presentation and attention to detail.

When you’re not wandering around searching for various items, you’ll likely be fighting or solving puzzles. One of the first tools you obtain is a ‘leaf sword’, a weapon capable of defeating hostile creatures. As far as the combat goes, it’s incredibly simplistic, with only one type of attack and a small line-up of enemies, but it’s still fun and serves its purpose.

The puzzle mechanics, however, have a bit more depth to them. They’re easy to grasp to begin with — guiding bombs towards targets, growing and pushing melons to fill gaps — but once the ‘portal placer’, a gadget that allows you to teleport from one point to another, gets introduced, the complexity begins to increase. Some challenges require using all three of these features, and it’s these instances where puzzles are at their best, as they require you to think harder about your approach. They’re not so difficult to the point of exhaustion, but it’s enough to engage you.

What I like most about them is how they're implemented into the boss fights. Some confrontations require more than just running up and stabbing with your sword. You may need to use the portal placer to push a bomb towards your enemy, or you might need to grow a melon to provide some protection from ranged attacks. Their presence eliminates any potential repetition from those encounters while also making them a lot more intense.

As a whole, it’s really hard to fault Turnip Boy. It’s an absurd concept that's executed brilliantly. The joyful visuals complement the witty humour, and even though the writing frequently borders on ridiculousness, it’s still amusing and it doesn’t ruin the experience.

Even when partaking in activies that tread into unethical territory, Turnip Boy is still able to retain its humorous charm.

My only complaint is the price tag. After finishing the story, you are allowed to continue playing should you wish to find all the collectables. The problem here is that it doesn’t take long to obtain all of them at all. For me, the game took three hours to fully complete, and that was without the help of a guide. It doesn’t quite justify the price for me. Regardless of that, I still had a blast in that short period of time. It's an exceptional product that I cannot recommend enough.