Against the Storm

I wish there was a "it depends" on the recommendation. It's not that I don't recommend it necessarily, more that I wanted to add a buyer's beware I wish I had seen better explained. First on the positive. The game is amazingly well done, very polished, cute graphics and interesting mechanics. The storm aspect adds a layer of awareness that keeps getting progressively worse the longer it takes you to clear a settlement. There's definitely a lot of management involved from resources, to people, to glade discovery (which is a fantastic mechanic) to spacial awareness. In that I highly recommend it. The negatives and what I wish I had realized before buying the game: It's repetitive. You're constantly starting over a new settlement. While I usually adore starting a city with my multiple Anno games that never reach end game as a witness, there's something about the middle game for me that is a sweet spot. I think the game doesn't quite allow you to get there with the impatience mechanic. I would have minded less the constant starting over if I could actually reach a point where I could significantly cater to the needs of the population, but just as I am starting to set that up and get some of the needed recipes for it, the settlement ends. Yes you can technically continue it, but what's the point? I also dislike you can't refuse settlers, particularly since you rely on the favor to unlock buildings. Perhaps if unlocked buildings kept from one city to another, but reset with the cycle end and the more cities you built during a cycle, the slower impatience will grow, it would create a better sense of progression. As is, it's basically a "how can you optimize your start" simulator, which gets boring after a few games. Disclosure: I did not read the full tech tree to see if there's upgrades to improve it, but considering how slow it is to get the currency, there's a risk of boredom before maybe goodies would improve it. I can still see myself playing the game from time to time but its a pass on the addiction for me. Worth it for the 70% off, would not pay full price for it. I also did not check if the DLCs fix some of the issues I had with the game. TL;DR. It has a repetitive kinda boring gaming loop that either will have you addicted (based on the overwhelming positive response) or just... not engaged at all after a few settlements, which was my case. Worth the discounted price, but not the full ride honestly.

是个好游戏，但不适合我，当年key 8块，我后悔没买，后来涨起来了，今天周免试了下，玩的有点墨迹，而且资源限制，时间限制，建筑物距离限制，反正限制太多，玩起来比较累，不是我的菜。这种游戏就适合那种模拟经营、资源管理大佬玩，门槛要求比较高

Going into this I thought it would be a game I'd play for a long time. But after a few settlements I started noticing that you're always in a hurry to finish. That's not what I want from a city builder. Around 2/3 of the way into a settlement you also start feeling there's nothing you can do to turn it into a win — not because you played badly, but because the game dealt you a bad hand. I've since understood that this is the intended loop: you're supposed to abandon settlements and try again somewhere else. That's just not what I want from a game like this. I wish this were clearer up front. The store description calls it a dark fantasy city builder and the visible tags are Strategy, Simulation, City Builder, Base Building, Building — you have to expand the tag list to find anything about the roguelike structure, and that structure is the single most important thing to know before buying. It's a strange mix, and whether it works for you depends entirely on it. The building itself is genuinely good. Without the run-based framing this could have been a great game for me. As it is, 10 hours was enough to see it will frustrate more than reward.

♥♥♥♥ GAME 0/5

just so very repeatative.

OMG, what an incredible game this is. Sort of a city builder, but with a twist because of exploration of glades to find new resources. This, again, is burning away hours like it's nothing. Very much just getting started at only 7 hours in, but I know this is gonna be another one of those 500+ hours games. I\ve seen the main map, you can play a ton of different games to fill it all up. And the achievements/upgrade tree also supports this. If you like Dune 2, Command and Conquer, Starcraft, Avan Colony, you might like this game. Do note that there is no battle, just building/exploring and trying to be fast enough to complete the mission before the queen has had enough of you. Big thumbs up from me.

Honest to Queen, my favorite game ever made. Addictive, challenging, calming, with some of the most heavenly music and anxiety riddled tracks I've heard in a video game. Anyone who enjoys city builders, get this. Anyone who enjoys games as expression and art, get this. The devs have been delightful from the start in early access to now. Bought the DLCs, might buy the soundtrack here soon. I simply cannot deny my love for this game and the world it creates.