Bandai Namco would like you to have a free dog
The catch is that the dog is a filth criminal
Today I learned that ‘Wanko’ is Japanese for dog, rather than just being Aussie slang in the vein of ‘smoko’ or my favourite, 'bottle-o', which is what they call an off-license. I learnt this because of Doronko Wanko, a lovely free game about a dirty pomeranian where you try to score as high as possible by doing actual, financial damage to your owner’s home.
You know that thing dogs do after a bath where they shake off water like some sort of chaotic canine natural disaster ? That’s a thing you can do, only with mud. You can also ride a train with some sort of gatling gun backpack. I don’t know, man. I’m still trying to process it. I might never actually fully process it, to be honest, but I can tell you that I like this dog and believe the future holds big things for them. Here’s the trailer:
“You can become a cute, innocent Pomeranian, make your master's home messy and dirty. "Will the master be angry with me?" Don't worry. Because you are a sweet doggie,” says the Steam Page. “Sometimes you can find "hidden pome" when you are spreading mud all over the house. When you find all the "hidden pome", the "Good Smell Room" 's door will open,” it continues. It also shows off a selection of fetching headwear you can unlock, at least one of which will aid you in mudding up the place good and proper.
If pressed, I’d slot Doronko Wanko in its own sub-category of non-violent games where you’re rewarded for waging cutesy psychological warfare on unsuspecting humans, which I’m sure has more fitting entries even if I’m pressed to think of one right now. Either way, Steam seems to be enjoying itself immensely with this furry filth criminal.
If Doronko is simply too big a Wanko for your tastes, Bamco have also released two other free Steam games, via VGC. NOTTOLOT is a robot action-hacking game, and Boomeroad is “an exhilarating action-adventure game in which players slide along boomerang rails you will create.” All three games are part of Bamco’s 2023 New Employee Training Project, which gives new recruits experience and support before moving them up to bigger projects. Much like the dog, I’d say these recruits have a bright future ahead of them if Doronko Wanko is anything to go by.