I’m surprised I hadn’t heard much about Little Rocket Lab, considering my penchant for all things cute and cozy. I guess it had something to do with its initial release in October when spooky games would’ve taken over my purview of videogames, but now, as we enter the holiday season, cuddling up with a warm blanket, a hot cup of cocoa, and a nice Cozy game seems highly appropriate.
Much to my surprise, Little Rocket Lab doesn’t really have a ton of rockets in it. I had figured it would be a fun little sim game about doing actual rocket science, not unlike a more technologically advanced Potion Permit. Instead, what I got was something a bit different, but equally enjoyable in that methodic, relaxing way that typifies the Cozy Sim genre.
Little Rocket Lab puts players in the shoes of Morgan, who, after leaving home for several years, returns to her hometown with the intention of finishing her deceased mother’s greatest project—a working Rocket Ship! However, for some mysterious reason, her Auntie has sealed off the Rocket Lab and doesn’t seem to want Morgan to go in and continue the project.
However, Morgan is determined to finish her mother’s legacy, and with help from the townsfolk, she works to get the rocket into space. It is a touching story of friendship and self-discovery as Morgan grows alongside the town she left behind, helping it function and allowing her former friends to realize their dreams along with their own. Like other games of its ilk, the story is sweet and engaging, drawing you in with likable characters you want to see each day.
But where Little Rocket Lab really differentiates itself is in its gameplay. It takes more inspiration from games like Factorio than Stardew Valley. Players will need to construct elaborate production lines in order to convert raw materials into useful components required not only for restoring the Rocket Lab, but also for constructing machinery to make the lines more efficient and capable of producing new things.
You can get into a really solid groove of setting up harvesters to mine materials, placing them straight onto belts to go into furnaces, to put smelted ore into producers to make materials that go into more complex arrangers to create specialty components for higher-tier machinery. It gets really satisfying when everything is working at peak efficiency—seeing these intricate conveyor belts constantly carrying converted components.
“Little Rocket Lab is a genuinely engaging game and one that is probably best suited to the Switch’s pick-up-and-play design.”
Despite its different form of gameplay, it captures that similar style of starting slow and methodically building something bigger and as efficiently as possible. It makes things even more interesting since it expands past Morgan’s own property and into the town, both as part of the townsfolk’s individual requests and utilizing raw materials accessible around the town.
There’s an elegant simplicity to it that can slowly transform into some highly complex builds that are definitely going to be fun for some, but something I personally have a hard time wrapping my head around. However, Little Rocket Lab does a really good job of onboarding the player—giving them small objectives to work towards that help them understand its many systems.
Despite playing Little Rocket Lab on the Nintendo Switch 2, the game is simple and small enough that the improved hardware doesn’t make a huge difference, and it doesn’t really have to. Visually, Little Rocket Lab uses a 16-bit, chibi aesthetic that does a good job of making it feel much more approachable, considering its semi-complex later-game gameplay. The visuals are backed by a chill soundtrack that maintains a lighthearted and relaxing atmosphere throughout the experience.
Little Rocket Lab is a genuinely engaging game and one that is probably best suited to the Switch’s pick-up-and-play design. It’s a great mix of mellow and methodical that really rewards creative thinking and ingenuity. If you’re looking for a different kind of sim experience, it’s definitely worth checking out!
