Grunn Review

If you’re looking for a short, fun and uneasy mystery to unravel, Grunn might be a great game to check out this October.

What is Grunn?

From your favourite indie gaming boyband Sokpop Collective, Grunn is a first-person roguelite that masquerades as a very normal gardening game. Starting on Saturday, your character is hired to do some basic yardwork that needs to be completed by Monday. However, within the first few minutes of playing, you’ll learn that something more is afoot.

So wait, Grunn isn’t about gardening?

It’s difficult to talk about Grunn without mentioning that this game has multiple endings and something much bigger than gardening at play. It’s a little obtuse at the start but to make progress in the game, you’ll exit the bounds of the yard that you need to tidy. You can make some progress by cutting the grass and watering the plants, but your activities get weirder than that.

The world is comprised of a few different zones where you’ll likely spend your first hour or two just poking around collecting items and completing tasks. Through solving quests gathered through the game’s Polaroid system, you start to unravel some of the game’s core mysteries. But as you start to push your luck, the game pushes back and many of the game’s endings involve your character’s untimely (and sometimes quick) death.

As you turn over more secrets, you will earn shortcuts between zones (these shortcuts were technically impressive for me), unlock tools that allow you to access new areas and gain money that can be used to buy more progress with items.

Weirdly, the closest analogue to this game is The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.

Get out the Notepad

The game world opens up quickly giving you a surprisingly large area to explore. In addition to the house mentioned, you’ll explore a church, park and a very small main street. Certain events will only take place on specific days and/or times, so a lot of the trial and error here will be trying to figure out which events and items are important to completing the game’s core plot. You can reach some endings within minutes of starting a run whereas a full run can take nearly an hour, from my experience. Some of the questlines are red herrings, however, they only provide a fun easter egg and/or achievement at the end of it.

I had gotten 7 of the game’s 11 endings before I figured out which items and events were the most important to clinch “the good ending” with number 8 for me.

Not a horror game, but spooky

It’s hard to describe Grunn as a horror game but atmospherically it has a mood. It is a combination of Dutch weirdness and light creeps. Graphically, the game has a low poly and deliberately warped look to it. The art direction shines at specific times of day; sunset and late at night especially. And even the game’s NPCs contribute to the unease that you’ll feel while playing. All of them look like sad clown paintings that talk in a language that you can’t understand. That just adds to the uneasy feeling that you’ll have during certain times of day.

A fun game to tinker with and explore

My only real complaint with this one is the game’s ending left me wanting more. They tease a grand mystery at the end of each run and leave some breadcrumbs about a larger paranormal phenomenon. However, the final sequence of the game is a little shallow to me. You’ll get so much of your enjoyment in this one from unravelling how to get to the end, but prepare yourself to be let down a little by the final sequence.

If RPG quest chains get you hyped and you’re looking for something weird and moody this spooky month, Grunn will be a fun few hours for you.

Final Score: 8/10

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The game’s publisher provided a copy of the game for this feature. Reviewed on PC (Steam Deck). 

Looking for more spooky games to play this October? Check out our review of Mouthwashing!