Trash Goblin PS5 Review: Turning Trinkets into Treasure
Imagine a world where your main job is literally playing with trash, but in the best way possible. You step into the shoes of a goblin shopkeeper whose daily grind involves uncovering, cleaning, and upcycling weird little trinkets for an endless stream of eccentric customers. It’s all about that slow-paced life where you turn a block of stone into a piece of treasure using nothing but a chisel and some elbow grease. If you’ve ever wanted to run a shop without the stress of real-world retail, this hand-drawn world is waiting for you to get your hands dirty.
Game Quick Data
- Developer: Spilt Milk Studios Ltd
- Publisher: Spilt Milk Studios Ltd
- Genre: Simulation / Casual
- Release Date: March 26, 2026
- Website: trashgoblingame.com
- UK Store: PSN Store Link
Specs & HUD |
Gameplay Mechanics |
Performance |
Settings & Controls
Trash Goblin PS5 Review: Specs & HUD
- The game features a percentage clean bar, so you know exactly how much grime is left on your items.
- A handy “press button to show dirt” feature is available to highlight spots you might have missed.
- Any interface, like workbenches, books, and items, uses a drag-and-drop system.
- You get a breakdown at the end of every day showing money made, items discovered, and your reputation with customers.
- A day is counted in chunks, with each item taking up x amount of chunks at a time.
Gameplay Review & Mechanics Breakdown
The opening tutorial is a typical day in the shop, where you get to try out cleaning, chiselling, and selling of items. A general day is when you get a customer with an item request, you open up a bag and chip away at the big chunk of stone to reveal the item, then you clean it up and present it to the customer and sell it. Chipping away at items is easy, and each stone may have a puzzle element to it, like hitting it on a certain side or starting at a particular stone and then following it around. I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible and fun the game is. You could just sit there and chip away, quite literally, at items so you are prepared.
I really like the chilled nature of it; you have no time limit and can just chip away and scrub items for sale. It’s a game that is a brain switch-off, and just do enough to stay engaged. There is a part where you can talk with friends who are in a place above you. You yourself are in first person and turn left and right to change from the shop to the bed to the workbench, etc. The upcycler is a tool that lets you combine items, so in essence, you are repairing and putting broken items back together. And for those that are wondering if you can mess up an item with chipping, no, no, you cannot, as if it’s part of the item, it will put a star mark on it, but most importantly, it won’t break, so you never mess up. I must say the customers are a lot more relaxed than I would have thought; they must be English, as we love waiting and queueing.
Trash Goblin PS5 Review: Performance & Fidelity
- Beautiful hand-drawn graphics that really suit the vibe.
- Small and efficient download size.
- The Platinum trophy is available for the completionists.
- Performance is stable, though the game loop can get slow, tedious, and repetitive over time.
- Too many times, I would have the odd customer and have the piece ready instantly, so it sucked a lot of the fun out of it.
Settings, Customisation & Control Details
- Cleaning up items is easy enough; you can set the controls to hover or hold.
- The item is 3D, so you can rotate it fully while working.
- The game controls generally like a mouse cursor-based game; you can tweak the speed of it.
- You cannot remap the controls.
- The game is clearly geared towards a mouse control scheme, and the controller is sluggish and not always the best; it could be better with dedicated shortcut buttons, but there aren’t enough of them.
Related Gert Lush Gaming Reviews
- Hozy Steam Review – The Ultimate Cosy Renovation
- Little Rocket Lab Launches a Factory-Fueled Friendship Mission
- JOY OF PROGRAMMING Software Engineering Simulator Review
Trash Goblin PS5 Review
Summary
THRILLS & HIGHLIGHTS:
Beautiful hand-drawn graphics and a tiny download size make this an easy win for the hard drive. I really like the chilled nature of it; you have no time limit and can just chip away and scrub items for sale. Chipping away at items is easy, and each stone may have a puzzle element to it. The upcycler is a tool that lets you combine items, so in essence, you are repairing and putting broken items back together. I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible and fun the game is. You could just sit there and chip away, quite literally, at items. Plus, there is a platinum trophy!
KEY NEGATIVES:
You cannot remap the controls, and the game is clearly geared towards a mouse control scheme. The controller is sluggish and not always the best; it could be better with dedicated shortcut buttons, but there aren’t enough of them. I personally found it annoying to have restrictions on how much I could do a day, as I could just sit there and chip all day! When there are no customers, I never know what to do, as doing cleaning or chiselling will take the day timer down and then if someone turns up, I’m screwed. Gameplay loop-wise it can get slow, tedious, and repetitive.
OVERALL VERDICT:
Trash Goblin is a game that is a brain switch-off, and just do enough to stay engaged. The cabin is where you sleep and ends the current day and starts the next, after a breakdown of what you did, like money made and reputation. While it has some sluggish controls and a loop that can feel a bit thin when you’re too prepared for customers, it’s a proper relaxing time. It’s got that “one more day” pull if you just want to scrub some junk and make a bit of coin without any pressure. If you want a hand-drawn zen experience and don’t mind the mouse-style cursor, it’s a solid bit of fun.
