The Wandering Village is a colony sim and city builder with a unique twist — it's set on the back of a gigantic, yet calm, dinosaur-like creature called Onbu. Onbu's back resembles a plateau, and it's covered in trees, rocks, and other resources for players to begin expanding their burgeoning village.
The world is partially post-apocalyptic, with humans mostly living in tribal villages, having suffered from the hubris of exploiting and experimenting on their Onbu creatures in the past, and poisoning much of the world.
During the story, players work on building and expanding their village while Onbu gradually walks across the world, through different biomes, seasons, and weather, including arid deserts, freezing mountains, and toxic spores.
The player can research new technologies and complete quests, and meet various other tribes and travelers to expand their colony.
Through various upgrades and buildings, it's up to the player how they treat their relationship with Onbu. Is it purely symbiotic, with the player helping to feed and nurture their walking behemoth? Or more parasitic, with the player extracting blood for water and food? Players can also develop a fanatical cult among their own villagers, including feeding their citizens to Onbu.
The game features a 2D papercraft art style and three main levels of zoom depicting the village, Onbu, and the world map. The story is also surprisingly heartfelt, highlighted by various characters we met along the way, as well as the elders of the tribe.