Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion was released in April 2021 and received a warm reception from fans and critics, exemplified by its 74 Metascore on Nintendo Switch and 72 score on PC. The game turned heads with its wholesome visuals and clear similarities to the classic Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Indie games trying to replicate the magic of 1991’s A Link to the Past are certainly not uncommon, but Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion manages to stand out with its witty dialogue and memorable characters.
The short and sweet adventure has recently found its way back into the gaming news cycle after being added to Microsoft’s value-for-money Game Pass service. Its minimal length makes it a perfect game for the service, as some find it difficult to justify paying for such a short game. However, even with the game’s inclusion in Game Pass, many people will still question whether the game is worth their time, especially when there are so many other indie adventures already on the service, including another Legend of Zelda-inspired title in Tunic. So, to help players decide whether the game is worth the time or money investment, here are a few of the game's best and worst aspects.
7 Love: The Humor
From the title alone, it’s clear that Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion isn’t a game that takes itself too seriously. It's silly, it's cute, and thoroughly enjoyable.
Humor is a difficult thing to get right in gaming — especially when jokes, pop culture references, and innuendo are woven into almost every exchange in dialogue. However, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion manages to be consistently witty, which encourages players to explore the map and speak to every NPC they find.
6 Love: The Music
Considering how short of a game Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is, the developers could have easily just implemented a couple of long generic loops and called it a day. Instead, the game features an excellent collection of tracks that do a wonderful job of fitting the environment and tone in which they appear.
It’s clear that a lot of thought and effort was put into the soundtrack, and it succeeds in enhancing every step of the adventure. Along with the stellar instrumental pieces, the end credits also feature a soothing vocal performance that nicely tops off the game.
5 Don’t Love: The Length
As mentioned before, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a very short game. Most players will see the credits rolling in under three hours, which will be gutting to those who love the game and its world, and want to spend more time in it.
Although the short length does make the game ideal for achievement hunters (more on that later), Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion could comfortably double its length without overstaying its welcome. For most, it's over too soon.
4 Love: The Visuals
While Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion can’t compete visually with AAA titles like God of War, Elden Ring, and Red Dead Redemption 2, it does a fantastic job of nailing the aesthetic that it was presumably going for: a modern take on The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past with the wholesome factor cranked up to 10.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is far from being the first game to try and implement this visual design philosophy. Yet, it’s still worth commending, as it consistently looks great and will almost certainly age well.
3 Love: The Lore
For a game that only lasts 2-3 hours, it’s impressive that Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion manages to subvert expectations with its story. The game proves to be more than just lighthearted comedy in its final act, and will have many players caring deeply about the dysfunctional world by the time the credits roll.
It’s certainly not The Godfather level of storytelling, and it’s hard to get into much detail without ruining the short narrative, but Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion does a great job of surprising players with impressive narrative depth and world-building for such a short, nonsensical adventure.
2 Don’t Love: The Simplistic Gameplay
Much like classic Legend of Zelda games, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion features a nice blend of combat and puzzle-solving to ensure that the gameplay doesn’t become stale. Unfortunately, however, the gameplay struggles to remain engaging, particularly the combat, which fails to be engrossing even in boss fights.
The puzzles start to get a bit more interesting towards the game’s final quarter, especially when portals are introduced. Sadly, the game ends before they have time to get going.
1 Love: It’s Great For Achievement Hunters
Considering how big AAA titles are getting today, particularly open-world and RPG games with 100+ hours of content, many modern releases require players to sink ridiculous amounts of time into them if they want to earn all the achievements.
As mentioned before, this is one benefit of Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion's shorter length, as perfecting the game doesn’t require an excessive time commitment. The game doesn’t just give achievements away for free like some modern titles, however, as getting every achievement effectively requires that the player beats the game 100%.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is out now on PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One