I would like to thank Colorgrave for the review key for this title.

In the real world, the role "forester" has a lot of responsibilities. Not only do they have to attend to the trees in forests, but they also have to make sure all the other plants, wildlife, and natural resources are both protected and properly maintained. April Grove is a more casual game, eschewing a lot of the more complicated aspects of real-world forestry, but it still has a heavy focus on the aspects of the job that concern logging and lumberjacking.

April Grove begins simply enough. You (and you can choose between a male or female) are a new resident of April Grove, and your goal is to be the new forester for the community. Mason, the current forester, is getting up in years, and you are intended to be his successor. Armed with a basic iron axe, your job is to simply keep supplying April Grove with wood and continue to hone your chopping skills.

The gameplay loop is simple. You must, after choosing your axe (and you can unlock several different types), head out into the forest and select trees, collecting the logs from the chopping. You must deposit the logs in various drop boxes around town (and some can be given to townspeople for various unlockables) for money to purchase better gear to expand the area you can explore. There is very little else in the way of gameplay outside of this, and while relaxing and simple, it can get boring after a while. The ultimate goal is to fulfill all the wood chopping goals given by various characters. Again, this can get a bit tedious.

Graphically, this game uses a hand-drawn, anime style in a top-down, bird's eye view style. It's very reminiscent of a Game Boy Color game. The character designs tend towards the cute animal people aesthetic, and I can't really fault that. It definitely complements the retro game look if nothing else.

Sounds and music are very gentle. Given that this game wants to set a relaxing pace, they did a great job with this title. Using a combination of flutes, violin, and piano, there are a variety of soothing melodies to put the player in a relaxed mood.

This game is playable with either a keyboard and mouse or any Steam-supported controller. The controls are simple (though not remappable), but are easy to learn.

Stability is pretty good. This title will run natively on Microsoft Windows. It will also run well on Linux via Steam Proton. This title is not yet rated for the Steam Deck, but I had no trouble getting it to work out of the box via Steam Proton on that as well. Overall system requirements are super modest. If you can load up your computer and can do more than use a terminal, then this game will run quite well.

Morally, there is not too much concerning content.

This game is generally free of violence. You do acquire a variety of axes, but these are used only as tools for the felling of trees, logs, and other cuttable wood-producing plants. There is no harsh language or any notable sexual content as well.

This game takes place in a mild fantasy setting, with anthropomorphic animal people. There is a "wishing well" you can donate money to for luck. There is also April, a giant, fairy-like woman who serves as the forest guardian. She will give gifts to the player for reaching certain tree-cutting milestones. She is implied to be worshiped by the denizens of April Grove, given she is mentioned with a general reverent tone. This implication aside, you are simply focusing on cutting trees for pay, and the setting is quite grounded otherwise.

Overall, it's a relaxing game, but only fun in short bursts due to the tedious gameplay loop. Technically, it's quite solid. Morally, it has some mild fantasy elements, but nothing a mature child on up couldn't handle. If you want a relaxing game with a simple gameplay premise, then April Grove is recommended.