On-Together: Virtual Co-Working – Review
Cozy, relaxing games have been winning popularity over the years, and we can easily see why. Titles such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons are loved for their carefree gameplay and cute visuals. We have also seen desktop ‘companion’ games see a surge in popularity, where the game often does its thing, while only taking up a small part of your screen. On-Together: Virtual Co-Working is a bit of a mix of both, where you can just idle in-game while working, but also hang out with other players, play mini-games, and just chat and relax. While many nice ideas are present in the game, we hope a bit more is added in the future.
Story
On-Together does not have a story whatsoever, as it’s pretty much just your own little hub for when you’re working, relaxing, or performing other real-life tasks. Of course, there are things to do in the game as well, but it serves as a small hangout spot first and foremost. We didn’t mind the absence of a storyline, as it would have served no real point here.
Graphics
Graphically, On-Together exudes cozy vibes with its cute character designs, adorable hangout spots, and its pastel-like color tones. While your hub is limited in size, there are enough small details to make it fun to explore. As you progress, mainly by earning tickets by committing yourself to focus sessions, you’ll earn new outfit options and other customization options. There is quite a bit of character diversity because of this, which is also very nice. There are a few choppy animations still present, and not everything looks as polished as Nintendo’s Animal Crossing, for example, but all in all, everything looks very cute. We do hope a few graphical updates will happen, as a lot of the outfits cause clipping with other pieces of your wardrobe.
Sound
The sound design isn’t too bad as a whole, but it’s nothing to really write home about. Some gentle tunes are playing from time to time, but for the most part, the game is a fairly silent affair, unless you actively open up the music player to listen to some of the music. The soundtrack consists of some lo-fi chill tracks, which is a good choice to help focus. The sound effects are decent and provide accurate audio feedback for the few interactive components of the game. There is no voice acting present, and as a whole, the game is still about focusing on tasks and hanging out with other people online.
Gameplay
While On-Together: Virtual Co-Working might have a few gameplay elements, we would consider it a tool for co-working or solo focusing first and foremost. In the game, you’ll be able to move around a small island, where you can pick different spots to hunker down, focus, and get some work done. The ‘game’ includes a journal, a to-do list, a task planner, a Pomodoro timer, and so on. Everything here feels very straightforward, but it will take you some time to explore every nook and cranny of the island, learn how to work with the tools, and experience the few mini-games. On-Together also rewards you for actually focusing (in-game) and hopefully getting tasks done in real life. The more you focus, the more tickets you earn, which allow you to buy cosmetic items. On top of that, the more you use the in-game tools, the more character experience you get as well.
That’s pretty much already all there is to the game. You can choose how actively you engage with other players by making your lobby public or private, and even then, you can just let visitors chill out without you being present. You can, of course, choose to play the mini-games together, or just start a conversation or two. That being said, there currently isn’t that much to do on your island if you choose to treat On-Together more as a game instead of as a tool. We hope, for the longevity of the game, that the developers add a bit more content in the future, such as island customization options or some more interactive mini-games.
Conclusion
On-Together: Virtual Co-Working is a great co-working tool that offers a great opportunity to utilize its handy set of built-in features or socialize with other people. The gameplay elements themselves felt a bit too basic at times, and we do hope some features will be added here in the future to ensure the game actually survives or keeps attracting new people. That being said, as a tool, On-Together does a great job at providing its users with the necessary items to help them through focus sessions to get some work (or relaxation) done.
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