A review
By Nidhiyaa Anagananthan
Image Courtesy of Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion Press Kit at IGDB
If you are like me and love to scorn at corrupt governments, you will more than love Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion. This action-adventure puzzle game is not all about pedantic clichés such as making subtle commentaries on society. Rather, you find yourself playing a trouble-making turnip who, after failing to pay taxes, takes on odd jobs in a village full of talking vegetables and weapon wielding candy. The gameplay provides an endless amount of cute surprises from surprisingly nimble earthworms to magical fish that swim on land – all out to kill you (unsurprisingly) – all the while throwing you into a very unsubtle fest against unscrupulous authority.
The gripping plot of Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion unravels a deep conspiracy about the village and the graves it’s built on – there are literal graves too, and one riddle-obsessed pumpkin that helps you grave-dig, among other worryingly illegal activities you would expect from a game that is faithful to its title. The barrage of equally creepy and adorable talking vegetable fruits aid, but mostly hinder, you from completing absurd tasks assigned to you by the monocle-wearing Mayor Onion. Among these, the amount of lost food-babies needing to be rescued is not even the most surprising thing – the people of Veggiville are shockingly bad at protecting their belongings, inanimate or otherwise.
The curve balls (sometimes literal, or are they pallets?) thrown at you though, are done with good humour. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and other strange pop culture references aside, the game never fails to indulge in ridicule of contemporary politics. Not to give away too much, but there may be a manifesto involved that is totally unrelated to pickle gangs and very much related to one radioactive vegetable. I was gleefully surprised at the former prospect. And like me, you will find yourself immersed in this world of terrorizing lollipops and refrigerated condiments until you stop questioning the nuances of food-related jokes and sarcastic quips about tax evasion. Understandably the memetic humor is not for everyone and targeted towards a mostly younger audience. Yet, the nostalgia from the Zelda-like gameplay may still draw you in.
The soundtrack nicely complements the cute graphics of one hat-obsessed Turnip Boy and his adventures. It is, however, simplistic in its action sequences, with only a couple of weaponizable objects – mostly a wooden sword and later on a shovel (as you would expect from a game with your not-so regular garden-variety of monsters at every stage). The game is also quite short for what it costs. Steam discounts aside, the gameplay can be completed in one sitting, and leaves you feeling empty once done. That, however, can be a testament to how interesting the plot is.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a short enjoyable action-adventure puzzle game with offbeat quips about corrupt governments and cute talking fruits and vegetables.
