Game Pass First Impressions: Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

By Heidi Nicholas,

It takes a lot to faze Turnip Boy. When in debt, rip up the debtor’s notice. When encountering a wanted poster of yourself, rip it up. When given a gift — you know what, just rip everything up, for what cares Turnip Boy for such trivial things as debt or ownership? Turnip Boy sees you there, clamouring about law and order, and Turnip Boy just smiles, calm in the face of anarchy.

As suggested, in Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, Turnip Boy commits tax evasion. In about the first two minutes. From then on, it’s a life of crime and chaos for the tiny turnip. Mayor Onion, who wields a suspicious amount of power for a vegetable, sends us (Turnip Boy) out to complete tasks to make up for failing to pay our taxes, and for then ripping up the notice about it. Will Turnip Boy help or hinder those he meets? Who knows! See a sweet old man, whose last precious possession is his watering can? Steal that watering can. Given an autograph from a famous veggie? Rip that up. We’ll travel all over, completing tasks, defeating foes, and carefully destroying our paper trail.

turnip boy commits tax evasion xbox game pass

Turnip Boy’s gameplay is very simple. You can interact with other veggies and fruits, you can use your tools to stab at enemies, and you can trip, which seems to be Turnip Boy’s best try at a dodge. It was the adorable art style which drew me first to Turnip Boy, but as soon as you start playing, its sense of humour begins to shine through, with an eclectic group of characters to chat to while the game goes on to call itself out on everything from its level design to animations. That’s not to say Turnip Boy isn’t still adorable — you can dress him up in the different hats he finds while out on his adventures, which is just fantastic — and the simplicity of Turnip Boy’s art style and gameplay really works in its favour. Its puzzles keep you engaged, and you’re quickly drawn into the story, rooting for Turnip Boy as he blazes a path of paper destruction.

You’ve got a list to remind you of all the documents and things you’ve successfully ripped up as you travel, and the option to switch between the hats you’ve collected, but Turnip Boy’s menus are very simple, matching the pared-back gameplay and art style. I’m all for long-winded, narrative-focused, dialogue-heavy RPGs, but the simplicity of this adventure came as a lovely change — what with the game’s sense of humour, it’s a breath of fresh air. It’s a shorter game, by all accounts — given that Turnip Boy launched for Xbox yesterday, we don’t yet have enough data for a completion estimate, but reviews over on the Steam page (where Turnip Boy launched last year to highly positive reviews) have players reporting that they finished up with the story in around two to four hours. Yet, from what I can guess from two and a half hours of playtime, you’ll have a blast with the game no matter how quickly you complete it. To make things even better, it's pretty generous with its Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion achievements. Having said that, it seems there are currently two unobtainable achievements, although the devs are aware and are investigating the issue. If you’d prefer to adjust the difficulty, meanwhile, you also have the option to change the player strength, or to enable God Mode.

Summary

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a blast to play. Its simple gameplay mechanics make it easy to pick up, its sense of humour and and puzzles keep you engaged, and while the shorter length of the story might make it a bit expensive at full price, the fact that it's on Xbox Game Pass is yet another reason why it’s a Free Pass from us!

Heidi played around two and a half hours of Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, unlocking 17 achievements as she went.

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Written by Heidi Nicholas

Heidi tends to lean towards indie games, RPGs, and open-world games on Xbox, and when not playing Disney Dreamlight Valley, happily installs every new wholesome game that appears on Xbox Game Pass, before diving back into favorites like The Witcher 3. She's looking forward to Age of Mythology Retold, Everwild, Fable, and Avowed on the Xbox horizon. Heidi graduated with an MA in English Literature before joining the TrueAchievements team.