My 100 Video Game Challenge (2024) #35: Turnip Boy Robs a Bank

Played on: Xbox One

Earlier this year, I finally finished (and enjoyed!) Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, a ridiculous, yet lovable little indie game about an accidentally felonious vegetable. Apparently though, or perhaps inevitably, (allegedly) defrauding the crooked Mayor Onion was only the beginning of Turnip Boy's new life of crime.

Developer, Snoozy Kazoo has thus taken it upon themselves to chronicle the next chapter of Turnip Boy's criminal mischief, via sequel game, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank. Handily, the Xbox version of Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is also available to play at no additional cost for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, and that's exactly where I happened to stumble upon it!

Snoozy Kazoo can certainly be commended for their creative ambition, in this case. Turnip Boy Robs a Bank goes as far as to almost completely change genres from its 2021 predecessor, moving from a retro-style, top-down action-adventure spoof to a more action-oriented roguelite spoof. It picks up almost immediately after the conclusion of the first game as well, with Turnip Boy joining his crime family's former rivals, the Pickled Gang, in order to extract funds from the biggest bank on the block!

Sporting a revolutionary anti-vegetable security system, the foundational bank that serves up the bulk of gameplay in Turnip Boy Robs a Bank changes its internal layout with every 'heist' the player attempts in it, in true roguelite fashion. Available money stashes, objectives and mission-sensitive NPC's will change locations every time the player re-enters the bank, with a more consistent outer map dividing the bank into several key areas. Players have a few minutes to charge into the bank and get as much money as possible upon starting a heist, before the bank releases an unavoidable deadly gas that gradually depletes their health. That's around the point that Turnip Boy will definitely need to flee back to his escape vehicle at the bank's entrance, lest he lose most of his ill-gotten gains to the gas.

I think it's really ambitious to try and completely change the gameplay formula in the Turnip Boy sequel, even as some design mechanics linger from the original game, such as its top-down presentation and combat, and the style of its comical side missions. The art style is also completely unchanged from the original game, complete with some assets, including Turnip Boy and the Pickled Gang, being blatantly reused from the first game. Fortunately, there are also more than enough new assets and environments to enjoy throughout the pixel art style that's maintained in Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, something further helped by the considerable mechanical shifts in this second game.

It all sounds great on paper, and thanks to some reliably funny writing, playing Turnip Boy Robs a Bank still brings players plenty of laughs. The ultimate twist payoff (or should I say, "Payout"?) offered in this sequel is also just as outrageous and memorable as the one the first game offered.

So, why didn't I like Turnip Boy Robs a Bank more in the end?

Something about moving the Turnip Boy mechanics into a roguelite setting ultimately made them feel more tedious, and sometimes strangely obtuse. The premise behind Turnip Boy Robs a Bank isn't complicated, but somehow, it feels like the game is simultaneously overdesigned and underdesigned at the same time. I understand the appeal of gradually earning more funds through your heists, which eventually unlocks more weapons and tools that can in turn extend your timer, and also unlock more efficient and deeper paths through the bank as you play. When you mix that in with a demand to play side missions, along with such a persistently tight time limit to figure out how to proceed forward however, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank sort of buckles under its own inconsistent mechanics. It's great from a writing standpoint, and the music in particular is a bop, but gameplay-wise, this sequel sadly felt like a let-down to me.

For all its sharp sense of character and tongue-in-cheek humour, I felt like Turnip Boy Robs a Bank was ultimately much more tedious than its predecessor. Its obstacles felt less clever, the fact that its side missions involve NPC's and level layouts that are random can be infuriating at times, and while it didn't ultimately take TOO long to eventually figure the game out, finish it, and snatch up its roster of achievements, I also felt that it was both too short and too long, somehow.

Like I said, it feels like Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is just weirdly at odds with itself. It's not a bad game, but as far as roguelites go especially, it's very disappointing. The original Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is an extremely simple game, one that offered lots of built-in cheats and accessibility options to make it even more simple if you wanted (this option is thankfully maintained in Turnip Boy Robs a Bank), but it also made up for that gameplay simplicity with a superb sense of humour, and an almost cozy style of gameplay progression.

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, by contrast, feels like the opposite of cozy. It's needlessly stressful during its opening sections, and once you do figure the game out, it's still too chaotic and patience-straining to really resonate as much as its predecessor did.

I still respect the creative ambition that Snoozy Kazoo brought to the table with Turnip Boy Robs a Bank. It was a big swing, and big swings are something that I often love about indie games. They're not without risk though, and in this case, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank kind of hits a foul ball. It's certainly not enough to destroy my love for Turnip Boy as a character and a series, but I also can't deny that Turnip Boy's next crime too often feels like a sophomore slump.

Maybe Snoozy Kazoo should go back to the drawing board for Turnip Boy's third caper.

IF I HAD TO SCORE IT: 5/10