Cozy games are becoming one of the most popular indie genres. They are easy to get into and provide a relaxing and entertaining experience to enjoy. The best cozy games have a simple yet engaging gameplay loop, interesting characters and stories, and a wholesome art style and soundtrack to complement the experience.
Trash Goblin, developed and published by Split Milk Studios Ltd, is a cozy shopkeeping game where we play as a small goblin, digging into piles of debris for treasure, cleaning them, and upcycling them to create weird and wonderful combinations. The game was first released into Early Access in November 2024, and the official launch has addressed many of the issues and shortcomings to offer a more complete experience.
In Trash Goblin, we play as a little goblin who runs an oddities shop in a fantastical universe. The shop is owned by Aimon. They are funny and helpful at first, but get into some shady businesses as the game goes on. Our Auntie is a miner who supplies us with our piles of debris and trash so we can find new treasures. She visits us once in a while, and we can help her get better mining licenses to uncover more valuable items.
One of the main issues I had with Trash Goblin‘s Early Access state was a lack of stories and interesting character interactions. We now get much more meaningful interactions with the main NPCs, and can discover unique and interesting stories from some recurring characters as well. It’s a much-needed improvement, and I do appreciate it, but once I was done with the game, I still wanted more.
It’s not a lack of quality in the content that is there, as the stories told in Trash Goblin, such as a lizad person’s obsession with bed pans and Aimon’s encounter with a cursed treasure, are fun and memorable. But, there is a lack of quantity, as after just a couple of hours, all I would encounter were generic NPCs with randomly generated requests. The game is supposed to have more side story content after it’s released to the public, but the version I played for this review was lacking in this area. I can only hope that these additions are of the same quality as the content that I experienced.
Trash Goblin‘s gameplay kept me going even long after I was done with the story content. There is something strangely satisfying about breaking the blocks of dirt and stone surrounding the treasures. We can upgrade and access different types of chisels as the game goes on to make the process faster, and I loved the sense of progression it offered. Another part of the gameplay that I enjoyed was upcycling the different parts that we discovered. Sure, we can find all the pieces to a goblin dagger and assemble them together, but we can also get creative and mix stuff to create new, and most likely useless, combinations that the customers would still be happy to buy.
We also need to clean every piece that we uncover. But there was something about the controls or the UI that made cleaning complicated shapes a bit frustrating. Fortunately, we can purchase an upgrade, a tub of water in which we can soak a few items overnight to automate some of the cleaning we have to do. Finally, there is the customer interaction side of the game that is still missing a major feature, in my opinion: Haggling. A shopping game in a fantasy universe is the perfect opportunity for some fun interactions when it comes to haggling. I don’t know what it would’ve taken to implement such a mechanic into Trash Goblin, so I’m not gonna fault the developers for not having it, but without it, our interactions with customers are much more limited.
Overall, the gameplay experience is engaging enough to keep us motivated. There are dozens of upgrades and customization options that we can look forward to purchasing once we have enough money. I spent half a day just mindlessly uncovering and assembling treasure parts while listening to podcasts, which I think is the goal that cozy games should aim for.
Trash Goblin is filled with eye-catching character designs, and the art and assets of the treasures themselves give us more of an incentive to discover more and try unique combinations just to see how they would look. The game’s world is colorful and cheerful, and the shop’s upgrades and customizations fit the aesthetic design. The music and sound effects can get repetitive in long play sessions. They are not terrible, but after an hour or two of chiseling away at blocks of dirt, I could do with some quiet time.
There are a few aspects of the game that are still due for some additions and improvements, but as far as a small, cozy game goes, Trash Goblin delivers the experience I was looking for. The gameplay is relaxing and engaging, the stories are well written, and the whimsical art style ties it all together.
Nima reviewed Trash Goblin on PC with a provided review copy.
great article