"Fangtopia": Halloween game without too much spookiness
When it gets uncomfortable and cold outside, a cozy tile-laying game like 'Fangtopia' is just right for autumn. It features werewolves, wobbly towers, and UFOs, but no spooky atmosphere.
The gameplay principle of «Fangtopia» is quickly explained and already familiar to many fans of the genre through games like «Dorfromantik». I place small tiles with specific attributes together to earn as many points as possible. In doing so, I connect tree fields into forests and individual houses into thriving cities. This creates a new world with every playthrough, which I assemble according to my own taste.
There are six different types of tiles in the game: steppe, cities, mountains, forests, tracks, and rivers. They appear either alone or in combination with a second category. A track piece, for example, can consist of mountains on one half, which gives the game more depth. There is no wrong way to assemble them and no «Game Over». The better my pieces fit together, the higher my score.
Creepy creatures bring life
For extra points, I complete small quests. Sometimes rivers of a certain length are required, at other times fields should directly border a railway line. With the additional points, I climb higher up the leaderboard.
Upon reaching the required score, a new inhabitant for the spooky world is unlocked. The «Howling Yeti», the «Incomprehensible UFO», and their friends bring some life to the island and are placed on the playing field like normal building components. Creatures with simple unlock conditions sometimes appear multiple times per playthrough, which feels a bit dull.
The critters move around in a small radius and make creepy noises, which are additionally visualized on the playing field («Zzzzz»). For example, the howling of the werewolf sounds at irregular intervals over the eerie background music after it is placed.
ASMR lovers will get their money's worth with the «Silent Mode», as the background music is muted. This allows the cracking and crunching sounds of the world, such as when placing the individual fields, to really stand out.
Sweet «Cozy Spooky» look
The highlight of «Fangtopia», besides the decelerated gameplay, is the beautiful world that I expand with every piece placed. Through one tile, a single mountain suddenly becomes a small mountain range with an adjacent lake or forest. Seeing my spooky island grow with every turn is really fun.
While it is rather dark in the forests, the windows of the houses glow with a soft light, and torches as well as other light sources burn in the assembled cities. I can build a harmonious world – or I can let a track end in the middle of nowhere. Without the pressure of a «Game Over», I can experiment freely and design my world exactly as I please.
Three game modes that are too similar
«Fangtopia» offers three game modes, which, however, do not differ too much from each other. In «Fangtopia» mode, I assemble my own spooky world piece by piece. This is the classic variant without gameplay extras.
In «Ghoul» mode, I additionally expand my spooky world with rivers and lakes. Furthermore, there is the possibility here to swap the next two puzzle pieces. This way, I score many points even if the next piece doesn't fit right now.
The «Island» mode advertises that islands appear on the map, which need to be connected to the rest of my world via railway tracks. This is also possible in a similar form in both other game modes. Therefore, it is not clear to me why this game variant exists separately.
Collectibles with a lot of humor
In between, I look at free-standing 3D models of the fields in the collection album that I have unlocked during the game. This is one of my personal highlights, because the puzzle fields are full of details worth discovering. The humorous names of the pieces are also great. The «Tottering Turret» or the «Cursing Plow» always make me smile.
«Fangtopia» is available for PS5, Switch 2, and PC. Secret Mode provided me with the PS5 version for testing purposes.
«Fangtopia» is atmospherically designed, but far from terrifying. If you are looking for a truly scary game for the Halloween season, this article about the 20 best horror games for autumn is just your thing:
In a nutshell
Entertaining puzzle game with an autumnal look for in between
Pro
- decelerating gameplay
- extra ASMR mode for even more relaxation
- richly detailed world with eerie vibes
- short game rounds, perfect for in-between
Contra
- no story or real missions apart from the scoring mechanic
- too few unlockable creatures
- only three game modes that hardly differ from each other
I didn’t have a Game Boy or a Super Nintendo as a child, and only joined the world of gaming at 15. I’ve been trying to make up for lost time ever since. But looking at the ever-growing number of game releases each year, it seems the entire industry is conspiring against me.
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