Animal Crossing and Silent Hill’s Unlikely Baby is One of My Favourite Games of 2025
Topics: Animal Crossing, Silent Hill
Featured Image Credit: Oro Interactive
Topics: Animal Crossing, Silent Hill
I think it’s probably fair to say that Animal Crossing and Silent Hill sit on opposite ends of the video game spectrum.
After all, one has you being stalked incessantly through a mysterious town that you may never be able to truly leave. The other is Silent Hill.
Hilarious jokes aside, how do you square the relaxing low-stakes vibes of Animal Crossing with the nightmarish, constant dread of Silent Hill? It’s a question developer Sam C and publisher Oro Interactive attempts to answer with Easy Delivery Co., a spectacular new low-poly delivery sim, and one of 2025’s biggest surprises.
At the time of writing, Easy Delivery Co. has Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam, and it’s easy to see why. I spent a rainy Sunday curled up under a blanket with this new indie gem on my Steam Deck, and it’s a game I’d urge everyone to check out immediately.
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Easy Delivery Co. is not a complex game. Nor is it long, particularly difficult, filled with plot twists, or a graphical showcase for the power of next-gen. It is simply a game in which you drive around in a little truck delivering packages for cute little cats that look like they’ve fallen through the cracks of an Animal Crossing village into a foggy PS1-era survival horror.
It’s a game that runs on exquisitely crafted vibes. The open world is a series of small towns connected by icy, dark roads that twist and turn through mountains and over rivers. Navigating through the fog, your only companion is a crackling FM radio that loops the same few (excellent) songs, or the indistinct chatter of a news channel.
The core gameplay loop is simple enough: you choose a delivery to take on, pick it up, and drive to the dropoff point. You’ll earn money, which is needed for things like fuel, drinks to keep your energy up, and more expensive upgrades that allow you greater freedom to explore.
Like Dredge or Grunn before it, an ostensibly straightforward premise like fishing, gardening, or driving is elevated by the suggestion of something else.
Obviously, the abandoned towns blanketed in fog and snow are evocative of Silent Hill, but beyond that, it soon becomes clear there’s a darker undertone. Villagers and shopkeepers you help out will jibber nonsense at you, and eventually you’ll uncover the suggestion of other, nastier things at play. No spoilers though, this is a game that deserves to be unravelled as you play.
What I will say, for anyone who is put off by the suggestion of horror, is that you don’t have to expect any jump scares, gore, or combat. This really is just a delivery sim, albeit one with deliciously sinister undertones.
As the nights draw in and a chill creeps into the air, Easy Delivery Co. stands out in a year of exquisite horror games as something truly unique. This one is well worth a look.