Summary
Hungry Meem lets you rebuild an entire civilization through dungeon exploration. Rebuilding a civilization through gathering and cooking food is enjoyable. Not being able to control your Meems is tough and it often feels like the game is constantly holding your hand. It’s a decent management experience but the experience isn’t as fun as it could be.
Developer – Drecom Co., Ltd.
Publisher – Drecom Co., Ltd.
Platforms – PC (reviewed)
Review copy given by publisher
Meems are a race of small beings that love to eat but their appetite nearly ruined their civilization. You follow a small holdout of Meems that have somehow managed to repair their cooking pot: their main source of survival. By embarking on several expeditions to gather supplies, you rebuild the Meem civilization and ensure that everyone’s hunger is satisfied. Ensure that your Meems are constantly fed or else your hard work is ruined.
Hungry Meem has solid base building mechanics that allow you to rebuild Meem civilization. Expeditions test your skill and luck by making you form optimal teams while considering their surroundings. Unfortunately much of the game’s content requires you to follow an extended tutorial that restricts your freedom. Not being able to directly control your Meems during an expedition also takes some time to adapt to. Hungry Meem has some good potential but it requires some patience and a different way of thinking.
Your goal is to revive the Meem civilization after they nearly became extinct due to eating everything and suffering from hunger. Thanks to the effort of a single Meem, you are able to raise a World Tree that allows the Meems to rebuild. While things may be tough and the Meems’ hunger is difficult to sate, you have all the tools you need. Some early guidance points you in the right direction and you must guide the Meems while ensuring they don’t die of hunger.
There isn’t a strong story but it’s guided by your actions. Slowly helping the Meems rebuild their civilization is genuinely exciting. While the land is desolate and dry at the beginning, your efforts bring much needed life. Seeing how your efforts revitalize the world while repopulating the Meems is genuinely rewarding. Eventually you fully restore the Meems and the world becomes as vibrant as you saw in the beginning.
Gameplay consists of two parts: gathering resources and building structures for the Meems. Gathering resources gives you vital components for meals and snacks. Meals are necessary to feed Meems every night while snacks prevent your Meems from going crazy or manic. Constructing homes and other structures for the Meems allows you to maintain their conditions while boosting your population. Managing your resources is crucial as forgetting even a day of meals could spell the end.
Dungeon exploration is your main method of gathering ingredients but it is difficult at first. You must slowly build a Meem’s abilities, then raise children with new abilities. These abilities can help you find more items or give a Meem combat capabilities. This gives you an incentive to explore dungeons and also figure out what Meems you need. When you finally raise those Meems, you get a strong sense of satisfaction when they eliminate dungeon challenges.
Your harvests boost the Meem village that grows due to your efforts. As you create new meals and offer better feasts, you can create new structures. Both gameplay aspects work well together to give you a sense of accomplishment. You immerse yourself in the effort to revive the Meems and do everything in your power to give them comfort. Meems are also unique and you may wish to collect as many as you can, adding a secondary goal to your work.
Unfortunately the game doesn’t give you much freedom. Most of your progression is tied to quests that you must complete to unlock new features. Without these features, you won’t even be able to build a house or cook good food. This feels like the game is handholding you to ensure you don’t do something wrong. While it is nice to have some guidance, it feels like the game never fully trusts you to be independent.
You also never control your Meems during dungeon exploration. If you aren’t used to letting your citizens do whatever they want, it can be frustrating to see your Meems make silly choices. While you feel a sense of pride when your Meems do what you need, this doesn’t always occur. This leads to frustration when Meems endanger themselves or make silly moves that you wouldn’t have done.
If you enjoy building civilizations and exploring dungeons for resources, Hungry Meem is a good game. The foundations are there and while it’s slow in the beginning, gameplay speeds up once you have a few Meems. Unfortunately not being able to control your Meems can be frustrating and it feels like the game never stops holding your hand. Hungry Meem does hold back some of its potential but it doesn’t stop most of the fun from shining through.
