Out and About - First impressions of this cozy foraging early access game

Anyone who knows me, knows I enjoy a good cozy game. Specifically a cozy game set in idyllic environments, with a relaxing pace and the ability to rebuild/expand on villages. Just look at my Farm Together 2 game time that i've recently wracked up!! Now I am always looking for a new game in the cozy genre to peak my interest, so when I had the chance to check out Out and About from Yaldi Games, I jumped at it. The store page notes the developers plan to remain in Early Access for approximately one year, to add new seasons and content, and to raise the price gradually as more features ship. I will admit I tend to avoid early access games at launch, usually they tend to be very light on content, or extremely buggy. I like to wait till either full release or till a fair few updates/patches have been released in order to ensure I have a better experience, but luckily I can say despite it being early access, the game was actually alot of fun to play!

Imagine pulling up to your grandma’s village just after a wild storm. Trees are down, rooftops are patched up with tarps, and everyone’s a bit shaken. Your job? Walk around with a trusty basket, spot wild mushrooms and herbs, and help breathe life back into this sleepy town.

There’s no big bad villain here as progress comes from simple acts of community care. Sell your handcrafted goods at grandma’s stall, earn coins, and use them to clear fallen branches or mend fences. Every repaired bench or restored garden patch feels like a real win to bringing the village back to its former glory.

Out and About plays like a relaxed, curiosity-first foraging sim where the core loop is exploring the coastline, identifying plants and fungi, and turning your finds into food, remedies, and town-restoring items. You wander varied spring biomes at your own pace, use an in-game field guide to learn distinguishing features, and decide whether to harvest, sketch, or catalog each specimen. Gathered ingredients slot into a simple inventory and combine in straightforward recipes or crafting formulas that produce meals, tinctures, and quest items that directly affect NPC needs and the town’s recovery.

NPC interactions reward thoughtful gifts and useful items rather than combat skills, so progression leans on relationships, unlocking new recipes, tools, and story beats as you help residents. The game favors gentle exploration, practical puzzles around resource use, and a learning curve that rewards paying attention to detail and revisiting places as the environment evolves.

With early access as it is, right now you get to explore springtime, meet ten charming characters, and level up friendships through three levels. The devs promise a summer season, new residents, and deeper personal arcs soon. I’m already daydreaming about pumpkin-spice foraging trips when the Autumn season comes out too. Oh and also a highland cow mount (which has now released since I originally wrote this)!! Summer season is scheduled for a November release and then hopefully followed up with the Autumn season in future! There looks like there will be a hefty amount of content being brought to the game to keep me coming back!

Yes, content is light in its current state, but in terms of quality, I didn't come across any major bugs or issues in all my time playing the game. It does get abit grindy as you progress as there is only the foraging activity to do through the day to gain enough money to expand to new areas, but thankfully the way the foraging mechanic works means you can enjoy the ride and take your time. Definitely worth checking out for any cozy gaming lover, plus there is a demo on Steam if you want to try it for yourself before taking the financial plunge!

As the game is still in early access and under development - I won't be scoring it like I would a fully released game. I will aim to revisit when the game leaves early access and becomes a full 1.0 release, with a full, in-depth review!

STEAM EARLY ACCESS

I played the game on Steam. A copy of the game was provided for this review. A huge thank you for that!

If you liked this review, why not take a look at my review for Star Wars: Episode 1 Jedi Power Battles HERE.