Drake Hollow

🔰SHREDVIEW🔰 - From someone who actually plays and finishes the games before reviewing.
NOTE: If you like my work, please check out the rest of my reviews, I put a lot of work in these to offer the best overall description of what you’re up against. Thank you in advance
🔷 ABOUT THE GAME & LORE 🔷
"Drake Hollow" is a cooperative survival adventure set in a colorful, cartoony world where you protect and care for little vegetable creatures called Drakes (Don’t think of the rapper, these creatures are not zesty, they are unlreated). They rely on you to keep them alive, fed, and safe while you build a base, fend off waves of monsters, and explore the Hollow (World). The tone is light, the art direction is cheerful, and it leans hard into a Saturday morning cartoon vibe that goes easy on the eyes even after hours of play.
The story is serviceable, entertaining enough if you’re into it but definitely not the main hook. It’s more about the loop of building, fighting, and exploring than about unraveling a deep narrative.
🔷 THE GAMEPLAY 🔷
👉 GENERAL:
The mechanics are simple and easy to master, which is both a strength and a weakness. You scavenge resources, expand your base, and protect your Drakes from enemy raids. It’s straightforward survival-lite with a bit of tower defense mixed in. It’s not overly complex, but it knows what it is.
• Combat offers a variety of weapons but they all play the same. It keeps things accessible but also strips away depth.
• Exploration is rewarding. Scavenging new areas always feels worth it, and the map is filled with enough incentives to keep you movign.
• You can build a network of energy beams that lets you zip around the world without penalty. It’s ridiculously convenient, letting you ride from one end of the map back to your base with zero cost.
• The grind is there, especially for achievements or finishing the game but it’s not unbearable. More of a steady drag than a soul-crusher.
• Base attacks come in waves, forcing you to defend regularly. This keeps you from wandering too far without preparing defenses.
👉 NAVIGATION SYSTEM
The game’s world is broken into floating islands connected by those energy beams you construct. Once you set up enough pillars, travel becomes seamless, and it turns what could have been a tedious slog into one of the most fun parts of the game. It gives you freedom while still reminding you to watch your base. There is a map which is very comprehensive and easy to work with.
👉 PHYSICS & MECHANICS
Everything is clean and functional. Building is snappy, traversal on beams feels smooth, and the Drakes themselves are easy to manage. Combat is shallow, as weapons don’t differ much beyond visuals, but it works for the game’s casual pace. Nothing feels broken or clunky, just simple. Make sure to protect your drakes!
👉 GRAPHICS & OPTIMIZATION
The cartoony art style makes this game shine. It’s easy on the eyes, colorful, and consistent throughout. It’s not chasing realism, but it doesn’t need to as it nails the aesthetic. Performance is stable too. No stutters, no big issues, just smooth playtime even when waves of enemies hit your base.
👉 ACHIEVEMENTS & COLLECTIBLES
This is where the grind creeps in. Achievements are doable, but they ask you to repeat actions over and over until you feel like you’re checking boxes. Collectibles add a little extra to exploration, but they’re not game-changing. If you’re a completionist, expect to sink more hours than the casual player. Maybe way too much than you would play this for, lol.
🔷 CONCLUSION: 🔷
"Drake Hollow" is a cozy, cartoony survival-lite game that doesn’t try to reinvent the genre but does enough to keep you hooked for a while. Exploration is fun, building is satisfying, and the Drakes are charming in their own way, even if the cuteness isn’t for everyone. The grind and repetition eventually wear it down, and the combat is shallow, but it’s still a smooth, entertaining ride for those looking for a lighter survival experience.
🔷 PROS & CONS 🔷
✔️ PROS:
- Cartoony visuals that are easy on the eyes.
- Exploration feels rewarding.
- Building energy beams for travel is a great system.
- Base building and defending are simple but engaging.
- Smooth performance with no major issues.
❌ CONS:
- Combat is shallow, weapons feel the same.
- Achievements and endgame are grindy.
- Story is mid and forgettable.
- Eventually becomes repetitive
🔷 SHORT REVIEW & STATS 🔷
• PLAY STYLE:
🔳 PVP
🔳 PVE
✅ ONLINE CO-OP
🔳 Online Multiplayer
🔳 SPLIT SCREEN
✅ SINGLE PLAYER
• GRAPHICS:
🔳 Fire the designer.
🔳 Fairly old game, what you expect?
✅ Not great, not terrible.
🔳 Great
🔳 Exceptional
• REPLAYABILITY:
🔳 YES
🔳 EVERY NOW AND THEN
🔳 NOT SURE
🔳 RARELY / ON MAJOR UPDATE / DLC RELEASE
✅ NO
• STEAM ACHIEVEMENTS:
✅ YES
🔳 NO (WTF MAN)
• GAMEPLAY:
🔳 WTF IS THIS S**T
🔳 TERRIBLE
✅ DECENT
🔳 ENGAGING
🔳 HAD A BLAST
• DIFFICULTY:
🔳 DARK SOULS
🔳 BAFFLING (FOR AMATEURS)
🔳 CHALLENGING
🔳 MEDIUM
✅ WALK IN THE PARK
• STORYLINE:
🔳 A WHAT? WE WRITE CODE NOT BOOKS
✅ GOES FINE WITHOUT ONE
✅ DECENT
🔳 ENGAGING
🔳 SHAKESPEARE AINT GOT S**T ON THIS
❗ NOTE - This is a review based on personal preferences and opinions. I always suggest you try the games for yourself before letting others decide for you. Even though we're all gamers, we are sure not the same.

Is this game worth the €25 price point? Perhaps not. But for the €6 I paid for it, (on sale) it's an absolute banger. It consumed me for 6 hours straight and didn't let me go!
The artwork is beautiful, the apocalyptic world intruiging, the Drake's are the cutest. Building a home for them and taking care of their wellbeing is satisying, seeing them thrive and interact with object in the camp is wholesome.
I enjoy my time exploring and clearing islands. Finding secrets and cosmetics! Combat is smooth and rewarding. Still on Chapter 1 however! I read that it gets repetitive and nothing new really happens in the further seasons, but honestly, that is okay. For me, there is enough. Especially for the price paid. ❤︎₊ ⊹

Update
This game got so unbelievably grindy and I kept running out of resources because of the raids happening on the camp happen way too often. So I can't get myself to finish this game. It's a good game but it's way too grindy and my backlog is never ending.
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Drake Hollow is a fun mix of genres
Drake Hollow is a fun mix of adventuring, action RPG, platformer, time management, and I guess it qualifies as tower defense. It's fun and cute at first but as time goes on it gets a bit grindy and repetitive. The campaign is straight forward enough. I admit there were a few gamer mechanics I didn't quite get right away such as the supply truck mechanism.
Note: I'll be most certainly grinding the rest of the game for achievements but as I'm already 19 hours in as of this review and only half way through Summer season. The game has four seasons/chapters. I actually hope the rest of the game isn't another 40 hours from here on out we'll see. I'll update the review when I complete the game.
7/10
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First things first: the drakes are hella cute! This game could be a ton of fun to play with friends, but I had an absolute hoot playing it solo too.

The only real bummer? You need a full team of 4 players to get all the achievements—and there’s no in-game system to find other players. So unless you already have a group lined up, completing everything might be tricky.

On a positive note, here’s something I had no idea about: you can repair weapons! When a weapon is about to break, just toss it into your camp. The drakes will pick it up, stash it in the inventory, and—boom—it’s repaired! I couldn’t find this tip in any guides, and most of them seem a little outdated anyway (though still helpful overall).

I really enjoyed the story and the world. Cleaning up corruption while helping those adorable little drakes felt super satisfying. I’ve seen some people complain that the game isn’t being developed anymore, but honestly, it’s a complete experience as it is. You can play it, finish it, and have a great time—and that’s good enough for me!

The game is cute. I liked the atmosphere of abandonment and corruption of the world, which at the same time does not lose its beauty and continues to bloom. An unusual contrast. The creatures that need to be saved represent the remaining shreds of hope for a return to life.
Despite this, I think the game is not very interesting in terms of gameplay. I don't see the point in finishing it, even though I liked the atmosphere.
7/10

Drake Hollow is a genuinely good game with a fun concept, and enjoyable survival-building gameplay. I was having a good time exploring, gathering resources, and taking care of the Drakes.
Unfortunately, my game crashed and wiped my gameplay, which completely killed my motivation to keep going. That is the main reason I never finished it. It is a shame because I actually liked the game and wanted to see more of it, but losing progress like that is hard to ignore.
Recommended for the game itself, but be warned about the risk of crashes or lost progress.

Good story, interactive, replaying just because I want to 100% it.
Smalls bugs but nothing major.
The skill system was fun and the building aspects were great.
Thank you