For all the people not interested in reading a long essay about WHY Forager is fantastic, let me come out the gate by saying Forager is truly a fantastic game. You do have to appreciate, or at least don't mind, the grindy aspect of the game, but the nature of this game makes it an expected aspect.

First of all, the graphics. Pixel graphics have been overused the last couple of years as a way to make games visually appealing while not being too much of a hassle to make. This has especially been the case with indie games, that had a huge surge in popularity quite a few years back. Although pixel graphics often look good, I appreciate a game where said graphics actually complement the gameplay though, rather than being a more practical choice. This is definitely the case with Forager. It's focus on gameplay, lack of story and limited world-building makes this game loan itself perfectly to pixel graphics. Said pixel graphics are, in turn, vibrant, colourful and clear!

Secondly, the difficulty. There is little to no skill involved with playing Forager. Combat is limited to outdamaging your opponent, spamming healing items or dodging by moving. Unlocking new gear is the key to making a fight easy or difficult. For even the least experienced gamers, all content in Forager is easily achievable, as long as you don't mind putting the time in to upgrade your character.

Thirdly, the gameplay. Forager is what I would describe as a semi-incremental game. It doesn't come close to the likes of Cookie Clicker or the thousands of clicker games that followed it, but it does have a similar simple gameplay loop: increasing gains but also costs and the possibility of automation, allowing the player to do less and less the further they progress. In a game where the core gameplay is a simple gameplay loop, that part needs to feel fulfilling, which is definitely the case for Forager. You earn more money, buy cooler things, use those things to obtain more money, etc. The reason why the game loop feels good, is because it's in service of the gameplay outside of the loop. There is a whole combat/dungeoning/puzzle aspect. The addition of this aspect makes it so the basic loop actually feels useful, since you progress towards better gear, allowing you to solve the dungeons and puzzles. These different aspects of the gameplay have been balanced very well, making Forager a lot of fun to play. Multiplayer is coming, and depending on how they go about implementing it, this would only add to the gameplay of Forager!

Fourthly, the world. I already briefly mentioned the lack of world-building, which means there's not much to say here. A fun aspect of Forager is that you buy new islands around you, giving you the freedom of choice in which way to expand to (up to a certain point). Which island you get is random, not which type of island, which makes it so there's no meta way to go about purchasing new plots. Otherwise, they way the world looks and feels is definitely up to how you fill it out, similarly to a game like Minecraft. It was very fun seeing my friend's world being neatly organized and completely filled in, compared to the chaos I had created.

Last but not least, the story. If you've read everything I've said up until now, you probably realize there's no story. You get dropped on the first island with no backstory, although I do believe there are some comics and additional stuff released by the dev story-wise. The characters you encounter on all the islands and give you quests, are okay though. Their dialogue is fun, and their quests give you goals to work towards.

Overall, Forager is a great game because of how good it looks and how fun the core gameplay feels. Things missing, like story, world-building or extreme difficulty, are not aspects I would necessarily need in a game like this. Fans of idle games, incremental games or crafting games should definitely give this a go. Although not super-fleshed out, the dungeon-crawling elements are definitely good enough for fans of those games to give Forager a try too. As a side-note, Forager's simple gameplay and charming graphics makes it a perfect game to use as an introduction to gaming for a friend or family member.