Tom the Postgirl Review – The Neighbours Have No Idea What’s Coming

We’ve all been curious about what our neighbours are doing behind closed doors, but most of us have enough decency to pretend we’re minding our own business. Tom, unfortunately, has no such reservations. In Tom the Postgirl, developed by Oopsie Daisies, we take on the role of a young postal worker whose obsession with other people’s private lives makes delivering parcels a rather questionable occupation. We hope you’re the curious sort too, so join us after the trailer to see what this game is all about!

A Postgirl With Questionable Intentions

Tom has recently been hired to deliver packages around a small village populated by some very peculiar individuals. Her responsibilities are simple enough, but she has a habit of getting distracted, especially when there’s an unguarded window nearby. And considering the things happening around this village, we can hardly blame her for being curious.

The game is a narrative adventure in which we control Tom directly, travelling between locations using a map that shows our delivery destinations. At each property, we can approach the front door and hand over the parcel, completing our assignment like the good, responsible employee we’re supposed to be. Of course, there’s nothing stopping us from wandering around the building first, inspecting anything that catches our attention and peeking through windows to discover what the residents are doing. I mean, we’re already there, so what’s the harm, right?

Most interactions are straightforward, boiling down to approaching something interesting and holding the interaction button to investigate it, sometimes watching an entire little scene unfold. There are no complicated inventory systems or elaborate puzzles to worry about. The enjoyment comes primarily from exploring these locations and discovering just how strange their inhabitants can be.

Once Tom has completed her initial training, deliveries also introduce an interesting choice. We can hand over the package as instructed or open it ourselves to discover what’s inside. I mean, we’ve invested our time in the whole affair, so surely we deserve to open the package and find out what all the fuss is about, right? Right. Certain actions are irreversible, and the game makes this clear by highlighting them in red. There’s nothing particularly complicated about these decisions, but it’s all about deciding just how irresponsible (we prefer investigative and committed) our little postgirl should become.

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Spying isn’t Tom’s only questionable hobby, and we can also interfere with people’s gardens, steal decorations and, well, make life miserable for residents who have done absolutely nothing to deserve our attention. At least not until we’ve discovered what they’re hiding. In the village, we can find plenty of amusing opportunities for exploration. There’s an orphanage that looks suspiciously like a kennel, while the local cemetery is home to pigeons involved in some rather illegal activities. Even the smallest background details can lead to unexpected discoveries, and we like how the game encourages us to pay attention to our surroundings. We didn’t want to miss anything.

There are optional activities beyond our regular deliveries, too. One farmer needs help finding seven missing chickens, while a gardening competition gives us another excuse to poke around the neighbourhood. These tasks provide a welcome distraction from the postal routine, but please know that the underlying gameplay remains quite simple.

At approximately two to three hours, Tom the Postgirl is a fairly short adventure, and its limited interaction system may disappoint anyone expecting a more substantial point-and-click experience. There are multiple endings, achievements and additional secrets to discover, which is great if you want to squeeze a little more out of this wonderfully unusual title.

Memorable, short adventure!

Our score: 9/10

Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch
Developer: Oopsie Daisies
Publisher: ARTE France
Genre: Narrative Adventure
Playtime: Approximately 2–3 hours
Mode: Single-player