Dreamstones
I recommend Dreamstones on sale to fans of brickbuster games or someone looking for a unique mostly chill game. It is a unique cartoonish brick busting RPG with city builder elements and a lighthearted text narrative driven story, which I completed in ~20 hours. Here is what you need to know:
+Game is mostly chill with its vibe & music when you are not focused on the last stage of a level trying to get the last few required blocks (nightmare cubes)
+As a brick buster, over time there are lots of active and passive abilities that modify stats or cause certain things to happen. It seems the different types of powerup capsules have an equivalent active ability can be earned or unlocked.
– Real player with 26.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best City Builder Mystery Dungeon Games.
6/10
Dreamstones is an interesting take on the genre of brick-breaking games, combining both the “usual Arkanoid gameplay” with RPG elements, that is well done in some ways but also sadly has a considerable number of issues, mainly regarding level design and game design.
The game is fun and manages quite well to combine RPG and brick-breaking elements where you deal with a lot of different bricks, monsters, equip weapons, use skills, level up and a lot more. So far, so good - the game does that much well. The soundtrack is also well done (albeit a bit repetitive) and the game’s graphics are very well done. Also, the game is pretty long (I got 25h total for 100% completion), with new block types and enemies showing up as the game progresses, with a boss battle at the end of each area.
– Real player with 25.2 hrs in game
Craftlands Workshoppe
Been playing this off and on since early access started and I’m gobsmacked by the negative reviews by people with very few hours played.
There is a TON of content, yes it’s a bit grindy to start with until you understand the mechanics with workers but there really is a lot of game here for the price.
Orig review below:
This is a delightful shop management game full of interesting mechanics and strong progress goals pushing you to become A Master Of All Crafts.
At present in EA I haven’t encountered any game breaking bugs and it feels like its 75% towards being an excellent time sink.
– Real player with 94.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best City Builder Early Access Games.
First Impressions - It’s fun but rough around the edges.
Craftlands Workshoppe dabbles in a bit of everything from gathering, crafting, consumables, trade, management, a semi-automated worker system, etc. There are a fair number of systems and game mechanics but, many feel hollow or half-finished at this stage in development. With that said, the current state of the game does show promise.
-Gripes-
Not a whole lot is explained well and pacing really needs work to make progression flow better. Most of the crafting is progress bar/timer based while smithing features a horribly annoying minigame, which I found odd and out of place. I also think workers are overwhelming and introduced too early in the game, although, they are a time-saver as you progress and earn more cash. The big issue early on being they cost too much upfront to hire and in continual upkeep considering the starting profits. Lastly, gathering and crafting in general require an obscene amount of clicking which could be streamlined to prevent pointless time waste.
– Real player with 41.0 hrs in game
Littlewood
An ultimate chill game to keep your mind at ease, with an added bonus if you are in for countless exploration and adventuring. This game is at the best of both worlds.
Pro(s)
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Lovely Pixel Art: Overall graphics are simple and awesome
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Calming and Peaceful: Audio track induces really chill vibes, no stresss
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Paced and Relaxed Storyline: Straight to the point storyline - The game revolves around you being the hero after defeating the dark wizard and rebuilding your very own town. As day passes in the game, there will be new variants such as new townfolks, town objects and items, depending on what you do in an in-game day. There is no rush into anything and you can take your time to figure things out (playing at a pace you like can essentially prevent grinding xD)
– Real player with 66.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best City Builder Pixel Graphics Games.
I really enjoyed the beginning of the game and the progression, up until a certain point. I’d still recommend the game, but with some caveats. There are some really nice positives, and most of the negatives have to do with how the game fizzles out towards the end.
Pros:
Design: Cute and simple. I like most of the designs and the art.
Progression: Good feeling of progression at the start. The number of things you can upgrade and work on make the beginning of the game feel nice in terms of making progress on goals.
– Real player with 49.9 hrs in game
PLACEFRONT
Just diving into this new release. I think it has a ton of promise if the props & features keep coming. It’s hard to find a creative game to simply build and interact with your town/city without having to play mayor. This is about bringing a town or city design to low poly life, then interacting with your idea from a car or plane level. I’m supporting this game because it has some great potentials for creatives to make scenes & even plot other creative endeavors in seconds, to see how it will or might look elsewhere.
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Great game, play one of the pre-made areas first, and just drive and fly around. Lots of fun, well worth the price. It Even now has battle mode and you can place tanks on each side to fight eachother, and even drive them too.
– Real player with 1.5 hrs in game
Mutiny Island
This game could be so much better. I have warped to grey screen death countless times. I camped while being attacked by a skeleton, woke up on Davy Jones' ship surrounded by the undead, and glitched to the starting warp. Jumped through many stone walls diagonally, and fought tigers from vantage point because of it. In my short time with this piece i have seen so many classic mishaps that that in itself is making me appreciate it more.
It’s $8, buggy as hell and absolutely wonderful.
– Real player with 16.5 hrs in game
I received a copy of this game to Let’s Play it and I loved it quite a bit. This is a really fun open-world game with a lot of stuff to explore and experiment around with!
– Real player with 13.8 hrs in game
Kity Builder
Summary
Kity Builder is a relaxing and cute city building and exploration game about searching for lost blueprints around a desert archipelago to decorate its islands. You’ll get creative designing dreamlike cities for other kitties to live in, while you calmly explore the peaceful ocean.
Key Features:
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A relaxing exploration and construction experience.
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Pixel art combined with low poly graphics for a cute, nostalgic aesthetic.
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Collect blueprints around the place. These will grant you new buildings to place.
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Three islands with different environments and biomes.
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Lots of buildable objects to decore however you want.
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A short and easy game to beat, but you can spend as many time as you want.
