The Wandering Village

Lore & Background

In The Wandering Village, the player builds a village on the back of a large dinosaur called Onbu (Japanese for 'piggyback ride'). Onbu wanders through various biomes in a world covered by toxic spores. The player must continually respond to the changing environment to ensure the survival of the village. The player has a limited ability to control Onbu's movement using a giant horn, but the creature does not always follow the player's instructions. The plot centers on building a radio tower to establish contact with other villages and discover the cause of the world's post-apocalyptic state. The game was inspired by Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and influenced by the games of Impressions Games.

The plot begins with the village led by two elders, Waltraud and Theodor, who hand over leadership to the player. A scientist named Nona makes contact via radio and instructs the player to collect special seeds. After gathering five seeds, Nona instructs the player to find two ingredients from old labs used to activate the seeds. Visiting the second lab, the player encounters the corpse of another Onbu, who has been abused by humans. At one point, Waltraud dies from an illness. Once the player and Theodor collect both ingredients and reach Nona's lab, they discover that she is really an Onbu who was using a human hologram to communicate with them. Nona explains that the humans' abuse of the Onbus caused the toxic spores and that the seeds are Onbu spores, which must be planted in the Onbu's homeland. With the player's help, the machine that Nona is held in is deactivated, allowing Nona to die in peace. The player and Theodor head to the Onbu's homeland where they plant the seeds, causing the fungi generating the toxic spores to die, restoring the world. The Onbu then burrows underground as it enters eternal slumber, leaving the village aboveground. As a new village is built, a newborn Onbu rises from the ground.

Reader's Guide

The Wandering Village received generally favorable reviews from critics, according to Metacritic, and strong approval on OpenCritic, with 63% of critics recommending it. A 2022 Rock Paper Shotgun review of the early access version called it a 'top-tier management sim' and 'gorgeous and captivating', praising the wandering mechanic and tech tree options, but noting a lack of worldbuilding. The review also noted that the game includes some 'ruthless' tech options, such as actions allowing the player to extract food and fertilizer by harming Onbu. A 2024 Rock Paper Shotgun article explained that these options had been expanded by community vote to allow feeding villagers to Onbu, which makes the village form a sacrificial cult; that same article described the game as 'wholesome'. In 2025, Nintendo Life criticized the story as 'a bit thin' and the lack of variety in buildings, while praising the game for having multiple gamemodes. A 2025 Engadget review called it 'one of Steam's coziest games' and noted that its Steam user reviews were largely positive. Reviewers at PCGamesN saw a late-2024 economy update as adding depth and praised its animation style. Push Square praised the game mechanics for lending themselves well to multiple playthroughs and different styles of play. The game's significance lies in its unique premise of building on a living creature and its blend of management and narrative, though some critics found the story and building variety limited.

Did You Know?

• The game was inspired by Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and influenced by the games of Impressions Games.
• The name 'Onbu' is Japanese for 'piggyback ride'.
• A DLC called The Last Leviathan is scheduled to be released in 2026.
• The game includes tech options that allow the player to extract food and fertilizer by harming Onbu.