Toem 2 preview: A cozy photo adventure that makes even routine tasks fun

Turns out even plumbing can be cozy

Discussions about video game tourism tend to linger on things like how accurately a place is recreated, like in Forza Horizon 6 or RGG Studio's Yakuza games. But Polygon recently had a chance to play a previously unreleased chunk of Toem 2, Something We Made's follow-up to the charming photography game Toem. And the upcoming sequel does an impeccable job of creating the feel of being an actual tourist. It's a "wander around town" simulator, albeit one where you're likely to get roped into helping with some sewage troubles.

The demo spat me out in a little tutorial area with a talking butterfly who ushered me into Deltburg, a cozy little riverside town with a plumbing problem. Plum of Plum's Plumbing — a character who moves a lot like Mr Game and Watch and looks like him, too — greets you when you first arrive and asks for some help. There's a giant clog blocking a sewage pipe, the origins of which I'm glad he didn't feel the need to explain. Whatever the blockage is, it's made the pressure go haywire, and now water's all over the place. He's got a plunger, but can't plunge and turn the valve at the same time. So he gives you a screwdriver, which attaches to your camera (yes, your camera turns into a Swiss army knife; no, we don't ask why) and lets you adjust the valve.

Toem 2 is a lot like its older sibling in most ways. You wander around and use your camera, along with some light acrobatic skills, to solve problems for people and soak up the vibes of a supremely chill black-and-white world. But Plum is one of Toem 2's fresh additions, a capital-F Friend who enlists your aid and gives you new tools to help explore and find new surprises. The demo only introduced Plum as the sole Friend, though there was a small range of screwdriver puzzles to get an idea how the feature would work. Some of them involved clearing away Plum's troubles and seemed a little too basic, though the final puzzle required me to follow a tangled mess of pipes and made good use of perspective. Other instances are just for fun or to help solve other townsfolk’s’ problems. At the Deltburg aquarium, for example, I could unblock a pipe and feed all the fish through a neat little ventilator-like food dispenser.

One of Toem 2's best bits, at least in the chunk of it I played, is how un-task-like its tasks feel. You're doing quests and filling out completion logs, but it all just feels like part of a little vacation trip through a nice town. One of Plum's mandatory quests takes place at the back of the aquarium, though you're never told to go there. It's just assumed that you'll naturally wander in while exploring the town and make your way to the back. And until you do, there's plenty else to see around town, like a scent-maker who smells the essence of disgusting things through pictures you take, or the robot comedian who forgot what bikes look like, or the sleepy guy on a roof who needs some coffee — you get the picture (ha). Everyone's got a problem, and you can solve it with some creative photography and a bit of curiosity — or just photograph the local wildlife for a while. Nobody's in a hurry.

You do have a journal that tracks how many quests you've cleared and creatures you've found. I imagine it's necessary for progression eventually, but I'm not particularly interested in that. Who wouldn't want to take a photo of a singing bass just for the sake of it? Heck, even the snake in the river was charming, and that's not something I say lightly. I want to help the aquarium scientist discover an evolution chain, because taking pictures of fish and guessing how close they might be genetically is fun, not in pursuit of a reward. I did end up with a new hat once, which I admit is a strong incentive for helping others. But mostly, this part of Toem 2 was just a delightful, pressure-free wander through a charming little town.

Toem 2 is planned for launch sometime in the third quarter of 2026 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.