Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion: A Delightful Little Menace

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion may be my favourite game from this half of the year- it certainly features my new favourite protagonist. The name tells you all- you are an adorable turnip boy, and you’re going to commit crimes. And you’re going to have a blast and some laughs doing so.

Released on April 22nd on Steam and Nintendo Switch, and developed by Snoozy Kazoo, the game has you take control of Turnip Boy, a happy little turnip with an aversion to government documents. After committing tax evasion in the opening cutscene, you’re evicted by the Mayor and enlisted to help him with a series of tasks. As you explore the world and meet the quirky residents of the nearby area, you can help them out with their own issues. Sort of. It usually ends with Turnip Boy ripping apart a piece of paper. He’s anti-establishment to the core.

Completing side-tasks usually nets you either more health or a swanky new hat. While there is only a handful of hats to obtain, dressing up Turnip Boy is a joy. Behind his ever-present smile is a love for causing mischief. He has a similar aura to images of Kirby photoshopped with a knife. Along your travels you can break out a group of mafia pickles from their prison jar just because you feel like it, you can return someone’s phone and delight when they realise you changed the password, and you can kill god with the help of the IRS. For a 3-hour game, there’s plenty variety to enjoy.

For Turnip Boy, no good deed is done without a little mischief sprinkled in.

Gameplay is almost akin to a classic top-down Zelda game. You have a sword, but combat isn’t the real focus- puzzles are. In most boss fights you’re better off not swinging your sword against your enemy. With a trusty watering can, the game gradually introduces new concepts to you. First there are bomb plants you can water and kick, then large square watermelons you can push, and eventually you’ll be playing with portals and fire. It all feels like natural evolutions to your kit, and my only wish is that there were more puzzles to do.

Turnip Boy’s true strength comes from its humour and writing, however. You want to talk to every character and provoke any reaction from them, as there’s a gag to be had around every corner. Spoiling any potential laugh would be doing both the game and you a disservice, but I will say that some baby beans took me by surprise.

If you want to see the hidden ending, be sure to rip up every document you can find.

Yet as you go along your merry way, a bigger picture starts to form, leading to an amazing tone shift that is well executed and well recovered from. In a decrepit house you find 2020’s iconic face mask, along with diary entries of a child talking about her brother. You’ll probably take it light at first, figuring the game is building up to another joke- only to find out that the brother was sent to war and didn’t return. It’s certainly a surprising gut punch, and while the game continues on making jokes, there’s an underlying darker edge now- there’s a forest filled with giant deer and nuclear waste, suggesting that you and all your vegetable friends are the result of radiation, and then there’s the bunker. Music layered with a crisis alarm and dark ghosts leading you through rooms culminate in a boss fight that is the game’s darkest point. And if that all sounds heavy, the game will surprise you in how it manages to bounce back into its zaniness. You enter the final act, shred some more documents, and rock out the soundtrack- and it all feels natural.

Music and presentation are also fantastic. I’ve already gushed about our protagonist, but the entire art style is adorable and evokes a smile. When talking with different characters, the text background will match whatever food item they are. The music covers everything from silly to atmospheric to over the top in the best of ways. It’s supposedly coming to Spotify, and I can’t wait.

Whether you’re excited to see more of Turnip Boy or still need to be sold, Snoozy Kazoo have promised a large content update to come out within the next few months. While nothing is set in stone, it appears they are entertaining the idea of a replayable, roguelike dungeon with its own little story.

It should go without saying at this point, but Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion gets a hearty recommendation. It’s inexpensive, easy to blast through in one sitting, and thoroughly entertaining. Even with a short play time, Turnip Boy himself has remained in my head all week. There’s no funnier game on the market right now. I’d make a joke about this game being rad-ish, but I’ll leave the comedy for Snoozy Kazoo to handle.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is available for £11.39 through Steam, Nintendo and Itch.