Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 60 | 47 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 76% | 71 | 160 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 73% | 69 | 1 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 3 reviews sampled · 1 total reviews in window · weighted 1.6 up / 0.6 down · computed 4h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (56)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 60
“If you love unorthodox japanese games, you should probably try The Good Life, especially given its low price point. Just be aware that's plenty of shortcoming here.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“The Good Life knows where its strengths lie. Its functional open-world model and mostly-dated gameplay systems sit quietly in the background and allow its quirky charm to take the spotlight. That charm is piled on thick, with absurd characters (and absurd accents), a plot that digresses so wildly it seems unable to remember where it started and, lest we forget, the whole dog/cat transmogrification thing. The charm and atmosphere have to be seriously compelling if they are to excuse the well-worn mechanics, repetitive tasks and frequent slowdown and pop-in. If Japanese old-school gaming whimsy × twee Englishness isn't for you, then neither is The Good Life. But if you're a SWERY fan and that sounds like your cup of tea, get dunking.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“The Good Life isn't for everyone in the same way that Swery65 himself isn't for a lot of people. But I encourage you to ask if it's for you and go find out. When you give a game like this a chance, you just might sink into the oddities and fall in love with a world of animorphing British folk who ask absurd tasks of you. Undoubtedly, you'll find yourself upset with more than a few decisions made by Swery and his team at White Owls. But amidst the hodgepodge, you also might find something golden that fits you like a glove.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“There is scope for the humour to work, but factoring in fighting with the camera and struggling with the controls the whole experience is just not worthwhile. In a self-fulling prophecy, Naomi points out a lot of faults in games that The Good Life just blithely repeats itself.”
read full review ↗ - 82
“But on the off chance you don't touch the things, are reading this, and have ever uttered or read the word "cottagecore" earnestly: this game is for you. Find the nearest friend, family member, or partner who is always talking about what a great deal Game Pass is and force them to download it for you. If you're already acquainted with interactive media, The Good Life is an unpredictable yet satisfying experience that seems to always be throwing the player some new curveball to keep things fresh-much like life itself.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“The Good Life kept my attention longer than it should. I was willing to brave through the mundane just to see what unfolds and what bitchy retort Naomi has in store for the weirdos in Rainy Woods.”
read full review ↗ - 65
“An odd mix of a lot of exploring, taking photos, and trying to solve a variety of pretty unusual mysteries in a rural town”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Boring, pointless, and jammed with grating characters and obnoxious story beats, The Good Life doesn't live up to its name.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“For those who relish bizarre interactive experiences, The Good Life is an essential oddity that can't be missed. For everyone else, this is a barely functional chore that is all but guaranteed to frustrate and bewilder.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“There is just a lot to do in The Good Life, which means that players can potentially sink upwards of forty-plus hours taking pictures or running mundane, everyday tasks. And while I like life simulators, I don’t like them when they can barely run at over 3 FPS.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“If you’re a fan of SWERY’s previous output or have a lot of patience for fetch quests, there is reason enough to check out The Good Life, but it is a hard sell for pretty much anyone else.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“A surprisingly generous and deep life sim from the mind of Swery, but a frustratingly creaky one too.”
read full review ↗
GameMAG
Nintendo Life
video games are good
RPGamer
Paste Magazine
Kakuchopurei
Nindie Spotlight
PC Invasion
Push Square
Siliconera
Checkpoint Gaming
Eurogamer…and 44 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Update on Unity VulnerabilityOct 16, 2025
- V3.4 Patch Release NotesSep 7, 2023
- Version 3.2 patchMar 15, 2023
- V2.1 Patch Release NotesApr 21, 2022
- V2.0 Patch Release NotesDec 22, 2021
- Simplified and Traditional Chinese Support & V1.9 Patch Release NotesDec 13, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- V1.8 Patch Release NotesNov 12, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- V1.7 Patch Release NotesNov 5, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- V1.6 Patch Release NotesNov 2, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- V1.5 Patch Release NotesOct 22, 2021significant · resets scoring window