Easy Delivery Co. Feels Like An Animal Crossing Character’s Nightmare
Just another day on the job.
It’s a simple job. Just pick up packages from one shop and drive them to another. The radio’s a little busted, but otherwise your truck works fine. Just don’t stay outside too long; it’s cold out there, and you might not like what happens if you don’t take shelter. Don’t mind the shopkeepers, either. They might seem a little strange, but they mean well. Oh, and definitely don’t go near the giant tower in the lake, because something is definitely wrong with that place. Otherwise, it’s a perfectly normal job.
Easy Delivery Co. is mostly a game about delivering packages. You’ll spend the vast majority of the time in your truck, driving from one town on a remote, snowy mountain to another, bopping along to the music that occasionally filters in through the radio static. It’s full of quirky characters, all of whom look and sound like they’d be at home in Animal Crossing. And I’m pretty sure it’s best described as a horror game.
Easy Delivery Co. is an odd but effective mix of lo-fi horror and job simulator.
At first glance, Easy Delivery Co. seems like a chill time, and despite having some decidedly weird undertones, that remains mostly true. You’re given a little prodding in the form of goals like buying snow tires and drinking energy drinks to steer you through new mechanics and plot points, but you’re always free to do what you want instead. You can take jobs at your leisure from a lovely interface modeled after an old-school computer, and you’ll find yourself carrying deliveries from door to door or town to town to raise money. If you wanted to, you could just drive up and down the mountain making endless deliveries, and nothing would stop you.
That’s not a bad way to spend some time, and navigating the winding, snowy roads of Easy Delivery Co. is relaxing. But if you do follow the guideposts laid out for you, you’ll slowly discover that the mountain might not be entirely as it seems. There’s something going on with the radio stations broadcasting all around you, and the dam that’s locked up tight on one end of the map also seems worth looking into. And sometimes, those shopkeepers you’re doing work for seem off in a way that goes beyond just a little weirdness.
What makes the roughly four-hour journey through Easy Delivery Co. really work for me is just how well the game pulls off both the cozy job-sim side and the creepier elements that increasingly come to the forefront. Despite how strange the whole setup is, playing it as a straightforward game about making deliveries works. Your cargo sits in your truck bed and jostles in response to your driving, meaning you need to be careful not to let it slip off. Over time, you earn enough money for upgrades that help you handle the snow better and keep your deliveries secure, while setting aside enough funds to buy essentials like fuel and coffee. Along the way, you can stop to turn abandoned radio stations back on, giving you a wider selection of music.
Cute and creepy combine in Easy Delivery Co.
It’s being in a rush that can break the spell of Easy Delivery Co. You’re working for terrible wages, so it takes a while to save up enough money for the upgrades that progress the story. With more skill and equipment, you can get a lot less cautious about your driving, which helps speed things up. But progress is always a little slow, and trying to sprint through the story can make the experience frustrating.
But even at its creepiest, Easy Delivery Co. is never stressful. The fact that everyone is so nonchalant about just how bizarre their situation is somehow makes it both more unsettling and a bit funny. The halfway point between cozy job sim and slow-burn horror is a strange place to sit, but Easy Delivery Co. manages it well, whether you’re here to figure out the mountain’s secrets or just to enjoy the ride.
