The city-building genre, whether it’s a large part of the market or not, is having a moment right now (city skyline 2) or, more generally, on the smaller end (look at Steam’s sales chart for any day of the week). Slipping effortlessly into this latter category is terrace scapeis one of my favorite examples of this genre.
terrace scape is a game set in a hex-based world where you are asked to place medieval buildings in the best possible locations.For resource-harvesting buildings like lumberjack or hunter lodges, that means getting them as close to trees and wildlife as possible, and for more advanced structures, that means placing them next to each other. other building. The more optimally positioned based on the number of resources and adjacent structures, the greater the score.
However, it’s not just about building something. It’s a very board game-like experience where you have to choose from decks based on major categories (fishing, village, farming, etc.), each of which is given a card. A card that can be played to drop buildings on the map. Start with a handful, and over the course of the game, unlock more cards for your deck, and more decks with new buildings.
If this is starting to sound familiar, it’s because it is. dol romantic did this a lot. as did islandersI love both of those games and i love terrace scape For the same reason, it takes the essence of city building and breaks it down into the simplest means of implementing it as possible, making the whole thing incredibly relaxing.
Whether you play the game’s specific challenge maps (completing a city-building optimization puzzle) or the more fun sandbox mode (which simply unleashes and gives you bonus objectives to score points), Although purposeful, they never feel rushed. It’s beautiful to look at, there’s no time limit, and the whole thing is incredibly cold as you drop a small farm here.
The way the art on each hex flows into the next and the little pops you get every time you place a building make the whole experience very satisfying. Rather than launching this and trying to reach goals and objectives, I drew towns and scrolled maps like 14th-century Bob Rosse.. Bobby Rosse.
However, if spending all the time in a zen-like state doesn’t appeal to you, you can still game this thing if you want (and have to complete some of the tougher/bigger maps) . The game’s scoring system stacks instead of being consistent, so if you drop a hunter’s lodge early on and get tons of points from nearby wildlife, later build a medieval village on top of it. However, you will not lose those points. This makes all maps a fascinating exercise in future planning, as when you start thinking about trees and fish and deer you have to shift gears as you progress down the deck and start thinking about big mansions and taverns instead. Become.
terrace scape It’s still in early access on Steam and available now.
