PC Gamer - UK (2022-04)

Roots of Pacha

PREVIEW

Studio Soda Den, after a successful

Kickstarter run and heaps of attentive

tweaking, has begun to cultivate a serene

setting and a wholesome, captivating

narrative – one that even can be shared

with friends in multiplayer mode.

Through it, we follow the

traditions, innovations and foibles of

the peaceful, prehistoric settlement

of Pacha – a fictional village inspired

by a diverse range of cultures. In a

genre where most games are set in the

modern world, with refrigerators and

automatic milking machines, Roots of

Pacha goes right back to the start, to the

birth of agriculture itself.

You can’t just buy seeds in a shop. You

have to discover wheat, forage for veg,

and impress the animals of the forest with

gifts and music, like a stone-age pied

piper. And it’s not just the prehistoric twist

that sets Roots of Pacha apart from other

farming simulators.

For one, it turns out cavemen weren’t

forced to lug anywhere near as much stuff

around with them. When you’re starting

out, a sharp stone is all you need – your

hand axe handles everything from fishing,

to weeding, to breaking rocks. This

supreme multitool approach right from

the start is much appreciated when you’re

busy filling up your satchel with new kinds

of veg and magic mushrooms,

streamlining away early game friction.

Any tools you do acquire to improve

your yield don’t take up normal inventory

spaces, either. They live on their own little

wheel separate from your other items, as

do the many seeds gathered while out

scavenging in the wilds.

ME-ANDERTHAL

Once you’ve caught a fish, or harvested

some carrots, you can place them in the

community pot as a contribution. The

more contributions you make, the more

elaborate ideas you can develop to

improve the settlement. Otherwise, you

can keep them for recipes, smoke them to

preserve them, or even gift them to a

friend or prospective spouse.

When you’re off looking for characters

to collude with, there’s no need to search

the wiki for their location, or commit their

daily schedule to memory either. You can

just spot them live on the map, which

makes advancing the narrative so

much less of a pain.

Even the little touches are

surprisingly impactful. It’s

impossible to accidentally reap your

crops, for example, and while that might

seem inconsequential to some, the fact

you can not only weave through weeds

but also that no crops block your way is

revolutionary. No more being concerned

about which seeds need to be planted in

rows, just vast, mixed-crop fields as far

as the eye can see.

There is so much more to say, but right

now I’m too busy looking forward to

discovering ostrich mounts, and

auto-watering contraptions for my crops.

The developer is aiming for a late 2022

release for Roots of Pacha, with plenty

more updates on the way before then.

There’s a hugely welcoming Discord

channel if you want to get into the

community, and help improve the game

with any suggestions.

Now to figure out what to do with this

poop I just picked up and ponder why,

strangely, no one seems to want to dance

around the fire with me.

Katie Wickens

A

lthough still in its alpha stages, farming

sim Roots of Pacha already has the

potential to overtake its genre

counterparts. At first glance, it’s easy to

assume another duplicate of the much-adored

Stardew Valley, but with more intuitive tool

systems and a welcome, communal approach to

farming, it has enough new ideas to stand out.

The perfect farming sim for

anyone keen on the stone age

ROOTS OF PACHA

GOES RIGHT BACK TO THE

START, TO THE BIRTH OF

AGRICULTURE ITSELF

RELEASE

Late 2022

DEVELOPER

Soda Den

PUBLISHER

Crytivo

LINK

crytivo.com/en/roots-of-pacha

NEED TO KNOW

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