Gaming has provided players with all sorts of vivid and exciting experiences. However, sometimes the simplest experience can be relaxing and rewarding. DOGWALK is that incarnate.

The story is very simple. A boy and his dog are having fun in the snow. The boy is trying to put the finishing touches on his snowman, but is missing a few pieces to complete it. Not to be deterred, the little boy and his big dog set out to find the remaining pieces of the snowman. And that, more or less, is the story.

A bit of extra background, though. DOGWALK is a free game made with the Blender creation tool in cooperation with the Godot game engine. The game itself is free, but there is a paid supporter pack that gives the purchaser full access to the game code and assets. The game was made to show the capabilities of both Blender and Godot and to provide an open-source project for up-and-coming game designers to get used to both tools. It's also a short but quite sweet game in its own right.

The actual gameplay is pretty simple. You play as the big friendly dog of the little boy building a snowman. You will have to walk around a snowy park-like field, looking for various items to complete the snowman. Due to the fact that your main character is on a leash held by the little boy, you will often have to keep in mind that the little boy will need to be moved along with you to certain places to pick up the items. You can also do nice things like lick the little boy's face (like a real dog would), take your owner out on ice to slide around, or just explore the snowy forest at your leisure.

The game's "win" condition is simply to find all the items for the snowman. However, there is no time limit, so you can just spend as much time as you like exploring.

Graphically, this game uses a 3D-like world with an art style that makes everything look like it came out of a pop-up picture book. According to the developers, it was all fashioned from hand-crafted art that was then digitized and animated to give the appearance of a fully realized 3D world. Personally, it's got a charming young child aesthetic and I really like it. I also liked all the custom animations, like the one where the little boy gives the dog a treat.

Sounds and music are simple, with one relaxing piano tune for the main gameplay. The boy and dog have voiced-over sound effects, which also lean towards the cute. From the playful barks of the dog to the cries of fun from the little boy, the sound effects are quite good.

This game can be controlled with the mouse and keyboard or any Steam-supported controller. I used the mouse and it worked just fine for me, but both are viable. There are a few minor puzzles to finish, but they are fairly intuitive and mostly just require moving your dog to a certain spot for the boy, who will do the rest for you.

Stability is pretty solid. This title runs natively on Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. While not rated for the Steam Deck, I got it working out of the box. The requirements are very modest, so even low-powered systems can easily run this game. As mentioned, you can (for a small DLC purchase) acquire the source code and assets, and you can do whatever you like with that as well.

Morally, this is pretty clean. No violence, harsh language, sexual content or occult/supernatural symbolism is in evidence. Morally, you are just exploring a field and finding what you need to build a snowman for a small child.

Overall, this was very short but super sweet. Technically, it's sound enough. Morally, this title is fit for any age. If you just want a cute casual game with a simple goal, DOGWALK is perfect for that.