Game: Dinkum
Genre: Simulation RPG, Adventure
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows))
Developer | Publisher: James Bendon | Krafton
Age Rating: US 10+ | EU 7+
Price: US $19.99 | UK £17.99 | EU € 19,99
Release Date: November 6th, 2025
Review code used, with many thanks to Berlin Rosen.
After being a success on Steam, Dinkum has made its way to the Nintendo Switch, bringing an Aussie-inspired life sim and survival gameplay to console players. Set in a vibrant world loosely based on the Australian outback, Dinkum invites you to build, farm, fish, and explore at your pace. Let’s take a look at what you can do in the game.
Animal Crossing X Stardew Valley
The game is clearly inspired by Nintendo’s simulation gem Animal Crossing, so I was curious to see what Dinkum was about. At the start of the game, it’s very clear that solo developer James Bendon closely watched Nintendo’s finest. Getting to your destination in a water plane, watching the landscape being revealed beneath you, collecting your tent from Fletch (aka Isabelle/ Tom Nook) and choosing a spot where you want to settle. John (aka Timmy/Tommy Nook), who also joins you at your island with a small shop, it initially follows the same gameplay.
After the beginning, the differences are apparent: Dinkum is a survival sim. You have an energy bar to watch and a health bar. Fishing isn’t just for completing your collection; it’s also needed to cook dishes to keep up your energy. Animals don’t live on your island as anthropomorphic villagers. Instead, they are wild animals that you can hunt or that will attack you quite frequently, and that attack each other. There’s mining in Dinkum, farming and animal husbandry.
Dinkum feels like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley had a baby, with a dash of Aussie wilderness thrown in. It blends Animal Crossing with the deeper crafting, farming, and progression systems of Stardew Valley, all wrapped in a rugged outback setting.
Gameplay Elements of Dinkum
For every activity, you need to have the proper licenses that you can get by spending Permit Points, points you will earn through tasks. Of course, you have to craft everything you need yourself, for which you need the right materials. I felt Dinkum was slow to start; the threshold to get a real settlement going is fairly high. Progressions come at a high cost of Dinks (the in-game currency) and you need a lot of materials to craft things and build houses. Dinks can be acquired by fulfilling requests for the people on your island, and you use it to buy items, pay off debts, or invest in town upgrades.
When you look at the promotional image that I put up above, you can really make a lovely settlement. You really are the master of your sandbox to make it how you want. But to get there, you need to put in many, many hours of gameplay and some grinding to get enough Dinks and materials.
Farming & Animal Husbandry
You can plant and harvest a variety of crops, from tomatoes to sugarcane. Farming requires planning around seasons and soil quality. You can raise chickens, sheep, and other livestock. Animals need feeding, shelter, and care to thrive and produce resources like eggs or wool.
Mining & Resource Gathering
Dinkum has a deep mining system, where you can venture into mines to collect ores, gems, and rare materials. Tools wear out and can be upgraded. You start with basic gear and gradually unlock advanced versions through crafting and licenses.
Town Building &Â Customisation
You decide where buildings go; you have full control over that. So you are in charge of how paths are laid and how your town evolves. You can terraform land, place decorations, and even manage utilities like electricity.
As your town grows, you can invite NPCs to move in and open shops, each offering unique services like tailoring, tool upgrades, or farming supplies.
Fishing, Bug Catching & Hunting
These activities are tied to seasonal availability and skill progression of your tools. Rare catches can be donated or sold. Dinkum also includes hunting, where you track and fight wild animals. Hunting yields meat, hides, and bones that, in turn, are used in crafting.
Controls, Visuals and More
I have played Dinkum on my Switch 2 in handheld mode and found that the game doesn’t respond well to the D-pad. Trying to select items in your inventory is a bit frustrating, as you need lots of patience to get to the right spot.
Dinkum could do with some extra work to enhance quality-of-life elements. Crafting something is very annoying as you need to have the need materials in your inventory. When you want to cook or make metal bars in your furnace, you even need to have them in your quick-bar and the tutorial is almost absent. To be honest, I felt the game could do with some instructions.
The visuals look good, though the blocky appearance isn’t my cup of tea. Moving through the landscape, trees and shrubbery pop up on the screen, and the odd crocodile wanders through the landscape, fading in and out of the background. The IU has been re-worked to fit the smaller handheld screen, and text and icons are clear and readable.
The game features multiplayer, which I haven’t been able to try yet, but I can imagine having your friends over is very useful when facing the aggressive crocodiles.
Dinkum’s background music is mellow, atmospheric, and designed to enhance the game’s exploratory vibe. It features a mix of ambient tracks that shift with time of day, weather, and activity, creating a relaxing and immersive soundscape.
Conclusion for Dinkum
On paper, Dinkum sounded like my ideal kind of game. I had anticipated that it would be a bit rough around the edges and that the blocky visuals wouldn’t appeal to me, but with the right kind of simulation gameplay, that would be fine. After playing it, it’s clear this is an impressive game, especially considering it’s made by a solo developer.
However, Dinkum didn’t grip me like I had hoped it would. I felt the controls were annoying and the quality of life seriously lacking. And though it may sound silly, it didn’t help that I would regularly see dingos or a crocodile hunt down and kill a kangaroo.
I’m a fan of cozy games, hence my verdict. But if you are okay with a less polished sim-survival game, I think you can sink many, many hours into building your town in the wilds.
Final Verdict: I Like It
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