As cozy games go, Fall of Porcupine, developed by Critical Rabbit, is a unique one. It ticks all of the boxes: a beautiful soundtrack, cutesy graphics, and fall and winter settings as the backdrop to a new life in a mysterious town. Yet it is also different. It is hectic, busy, stressful, and sad, while still managing to hold on to the genre’s heart-warming roots. I have never played a game like Fall of Porcupine and will be surprised if I ever do again.
Set in the sleepy town of Porcupine, Finley embarks on his new life, complete with a job at St Ursula’s hospital as a junior doctor. We are first introduced to Finley as he is searching for a missing patient on the abandoned fifth floor of the hospital, where he is unfortunately injured in an unusual accident. Due to the busy nature of his job and the limited workforce, he is only able to take three days off before returning to work. With his job comes all of the usual woes that people in the medical field will be used to: understaffing, long hours, sleepless nights, ungrateful patients and people who seek to make the job harder than it has to be. But it is so beautifully captured in the body of a bird who is so happy to help people that he spends his days off eagerly helping friends.
The town setting is a lovely one. You can interact with several of the people going about their days, some of which will tell you stories about the town, and it has such a vibrant yet mysterious atmosphere. While a lot of the buildings in Fall of Porcupine are not enterable, the ones that you can go into, particularly the plant shop and bar, have their own unique vibe that is pretty clearly tailored to the character that owns them. I am still disappointed that I didn’t get to go into the stationary shop because it looked adorable.
The hospital is its own unique location which Finley explores a lot more than anything else in the town. Each day, Finley is given a list of tasks to complete by his boss, consisting of three different mini games on three different patients, which are graded from A-C. These vary quite a lot in terms of how difficult they are. Some, like the injection mini game, I never figured out exactly how to play it meaning I consistently got mid grades. Others were complex based on the amount of buttons you have to press at the same time or the limited number of moves you have to complete an action. I really enjoyed the inclusion of the mini games and thought they really helped to add a bit more interaction to the story.
There are so many absolutely heart-breaking moments, including the loss of a dear patient and the need to accept that you can’t save everyone. One particularly touching scene saw Finley venturing through the woods with his friend Pina, fixing the statues of deceased residents. Fall of Porcupine is soaked in the concept of death, something unavoidable in the medical industry. This is explicitly stated by Mia, another junior doctor at St Ursula’s, when she expresses her dread at the thought of experiencing her first patient loss. She knows it is inevitable and yet cannot prepare herself in any meaningful way to get through it.
Fall of Porcupine ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. There are mysteries that are never solved and we don’t find out what happens after a rather dramatic turn of events. While I would love to have all of the answers, I think this is a genuinely impactful way for it all to end. We have spent several seasons following Finley as he grows as a doctor, but his journey doesn’t end just because we stop playing, and we aren’t going to have all of the answers neatly tied up.
There is some replayability with two different side stories going on in the background. Finley’s two work friends, Karl and Mia, both invite you out on two occasions to take part in activities like playing a board game at the pub, an improv theatre performance or cooking dinner. These are fun little side adventures which help you to feel a bit closer to Finley’s friends and give Fall of Porcupine a little bit more life outside of the hospital.
Fall of Porcupine is beautifully illustrated and all of the characters have a charming and unique look to them. They are each presented as different animals which adds a more whimsical element to the gameplay considering that the topic itself is quite difficult to digest. They also all have their own personalities which are really clearly shown through their dialogue.
Ultimately, Fall of Porcupine is a beautiful game that will make you laugh and cry whilst simulataneously being relaxed and busy. During the eight hours of main story I fell in love with the game and its characters. It is one of the most unique and charming games I have played in a very long time. If you like cozy, story-driven games, Fall of Porcupine is for you. And if you do play Fall of Porcupine, stay until the end of the credits.
Megan played Fall of Porcupine on PC with a review copy. Fall of Porcupine is also available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series X|S.
