Happy Birthdays (2018)

From the creator of Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, Happy Birthdays is an environmental managing game which lets you control temperature and humidity by making changes in the surface of your playground in a cube-like world. It is creative and highly detailed but not what we expected.

Happy Birthdays is a very colorful and highly addictive game in which you can experience a condensed version of the evolutionary process that has gotten us to this point in history – you know, minus the dragons and other mythical creatures. Having played the PlayStation 4 version for review, and after playing this new and revised version for the Nintendo Switch, I'm happy to report that it feels and plays great when playing at home or in Portable or Tabletop mode. This is a game that, in my opinion, is definitely worth a double dip, especially since you now get to enjoy it everywhere and at any time.

If you enjoy the god sim/sandbox genres you will be in for a treat with this title. Graphically, the game is adorable with some really lovely character models and landscapes but this game is so much more than cute dinosaurs and sweet looking lizards! Underneath it all is a surprisingly fun and addictive game with a huge amount of depth and replayability. A must have game for fans of the genre.

Happy Birthdays won't appeal to people looking for a linear story, but has endless possibilities to create, explore and experiment with worlds of entirely your own creation.

Slow, methodical, and deliberate, Happy Birthdays is at times frustrating, but only because it's genuinely engaging premise demands an attention to detail and level of care. Its biggest fault is that much of the experience occurs at the player rather than with the player. With that said, watching evolution occur on a grand scale through one simple action is an impressive and exciting feat. Cubes do require interaction to keep evolution moving smoothly, as well, so it isn't as if everything can be auto-played, just that more interactivity would have benefitted the game overall. At its core, Happy Birthdays is a creation simulator and one that won't resonate with everyone, but those who do end up jiving with the title will certainly find something worthwhile to take away.