Empires of the Undergrowth
One of my favorite indie games. While only in early access, it easily has several hours worth of content already.
Four colony types are available as of posting, with more to be released in the future, each with its own unique features. The ereptor, gene thief ants, a fictional species that allows the player to mix in other ant species and their abilities; the fusca, black ants, which act as an introductory species with basic worker and soldier roles; the rufa, wood ants, which split their soldiers between defensive and offensive roles; the atta, leaf cutter ants, which have a unique resource system involving gathering, food production, and waste disposal, as well as four castes to make resources and combat more dynamic.
– Real player with 683.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Colony Sim Base Building Games.
This game is great and is most likely to be enjoyed by fans of the real time strategy genre. Currently there are 4 levels each with a challenge mode and many difficulty settings which you will tackle as you control two different species of ant colony. The ants must collect food to grow their colony which can in itself have various different methods applied such as the strategic placement of tiles for upgrading purposes to the ratio of worker ants to warrior ants so that they can defeat the many hungry predators around them which seek to devour their queen! For those who like a challenge you will get quite a bit of enjoyment and playtime from tackling the hardest versions of these levels as for others this will be a shorter 2-3 hour experience which will be enjoyable nonetheless. inbetween these levels you will visit your formicariam (ANT TANK) where your success in these levels provides resources for your main colony which is a species of ant that can take the genes from other ant species and have their queen produce them within the colony. This formicarium colony itself has two challenges to face which are kind of like a hoard mode. If you finish all of this content and are still eager for more there are a handfull of other modes which may entertain for awhile such as the demo levels (earlier levels with a more basic concept), arena mode (a mode where you can pit various creatures found in the game against each other) and Freeplay mode (where you start a colony on one of two maps with many options for you to tweak for a customised experience which is scored upon the defeat of your colony) and finally the hungry spider level which sees you take control of the one of the ants most deadly predators THE WOLF SPIDER! (This is a slight genre flip as you control the one spider which grows and levels as you defeat enemies working your way up to bringing down other huge predators.) I very highly reccomend this game and support the development team who are constantly keeping the community around the game informed on what they are working on next.
– Real player with 281.9 hrs in game
Ruinarch
A fun game that is definitely in early access.
Edited: 7/30/2021. The game has been significantly changed since I posted my first review, and its' unfortunately not all for the better.
The Good:
-
Villagers have been overhauled significantly, and their interactions with each other and the world are much more interesting. They earn money to buy resources, have more robust individual trades, craft items, and all sorts of other fun stuff.
-
The way monsters are used has been vastly improved. Rather than just spawning them next to a villager and letting them have at it, they are formed into parties, led by one of your demons, to accomplish a specific purpose. Marauder parties from the marauder building break stuff and attack villagers to sow chaos, snatching parties kidnap villagers or monsters for imprisonment, and defense parties protect your base full-time. It’s a bit monotonous to reform the parties repeatedly if you make heavy use of them, but this alone has made Ravager a lot more fun.
– Real player with 36.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Colony Sim Early Access Games.
UPDATE: hot damn, that’s one hell of an update. 10/10 guys, very cool.
At first, I thought this was the “Devil Simulator” I’ve always wanted. But the longer I played, the more frustrated I became with this game. I’ll start with the Good things, follow up with the Bad, and leave you with my suggestions for improvement.
The Good
-The AI is tremendously well made, just as advertised. Each NPC has different traits, different relationships with other NPC’s, and adjusts it’s behavior over time as it interacts with the other NPC’s. The level of care and attention that went into this facet of the game is dumbfounding, considering this is, at it’s core, “God Simulator meets Sim City”. As an example, if you turn enough villagers into vampires or cultists, they can split off and form their own societies.
– Real player with 23.7 hrs in game
Beetle Uprising
-
Very cute.
-
Very relaxing.
-
The evolution system is realistic.
-
You can feel the power growing.
-
Kind of dislike the fact that we must kill our own beetles.
-
Don’t be too boldy. It is a relaxing game. Not a “Conquer as quick as possible” game.
-
You end up with a mess on the floor.
-
Decorations are useless and lack of potential.
-
Kind of annoying how the inventories work. Lack of organization. Annoying to navigate.
Conclusion :
I am really not sure if this game is supposed to be beautiful or efficient…
– Real player with 22.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Colony Sim Real Time Tactics Games.
While at this time it is still in early access, this title has a lot going for it even with some of the drawbacks.
Its a nice little management game with some real time tactics for the combat, that grows in depth once you start playing around with the genetics to improve your combat abilities. You go from simply looking at your highest stat numbers and trying to combine them, into looking at the genetic tree of your particular units then breeding based off that to improve on your entire gene pool, which does lead into one aspect of the game that needs some work in my opinion at this stage as you spend a lot of time just sat there, combining genes then throwing the inferior beetles into a blender to make room for the next set.
– Real player with 21.3 hrs in game
SPORE™
nice game, even if I dont play it for a year or two whenever I come back I always get the same feel as if I were playing it as a 9yr old on my moms work laptop. The replayability of this will make you keep replaying it well into… well I don’t know how old but I know I’ll probably play this game when I’m middleaged with kids and even further on when my kids are middleaged with kids. This game is such a gem and I fucking hate EA for ruining maxis this game was perfect and it could’ve been even better if it weren’t for the GREEDY CORPORATE SCUM OF EA GIVING MAXIS IMPOSSIBLE DEADLINES! THEY HAD TO CUT OUT 2 ENTIRE STAGES OF THE GAME FUCK YOU EA CORPO-SCUM! anyway best game i’ve ever played 10/10 more creative than minecraft.
– Real player with 75.9 hrs in game
step 1 : make blob | step 2: make blob have legs | step 3: make blob a Panzer | step 4: make blob make a Panzer | step 5: make blob over inflate the economy of the literal galaxy with copious amounts of marijuana (green spice)
– Real player with 63.7 hrs in game
The Universim
March 2019 Update
Population explosion has a limit now, which in a recent game (currently year 610) it seems to top out around 250-270. The spread of the nugget stone huts seems to work in small grid pattern, 8 or so huts in a small rectangular area. What determines where they start plopping huts i do not know. Its much more efficient in some respects, although you will get a housing block started far out of the city core at times. Eventually with Tudor Architecture the nuggets will upgrade the stone huts to larger multi family homes. This is great when it comes to saving space, its just being an automatic process, you cant turn off the control. Which means houses in areas you want to abandon upgrading, while next to the beautiful Town Hall is 4 stone age huts. This means duplicate services for those out of reach areas, this doesnt hurt early game too much, but you feel the crunch later. Especially when it comes to refined resources.
– Real player with 647.6 hrs in game
1. Early Access - A Preface
With any Early Access game, you need to make allowances. There’s going to be bugs and many features lacking and not everything will happen on time - after all EA is often something that small studios do to keep the lights on while they are developing the game.
That doesn’t mean you have to put up with everything. Early access makes it all the more important, that you have proper process management, a capable team lead, a plan and a time frame, that probably shouldn’t be longer than two or three years from EA start to release. During that time what’s there of the game should be playable without constantly running into gamebreaking bugs, because if people stop enjoying the game, they are not going to stay, not to mention that it’s very bad for the word of mouth factor.
– Real player with 82.4 hrs in game
Goblins of Elderstone
My first review, finally, wow!
→ Right now i would give this game a Neutral rating, but that is not possible, and also i see great potential in this game, so i recommend it if you want to support the game and the developers. Don’t buy it yet if you’re not very patient and you don’t want to serve, literally, as a crash test dummie. ;-)
Played this game for roughly 6h, i had like 10 or more crashes. Many while i was simply trying to save → Game-Progress lost. It’s always the Unreal4-Engine that is crashing and asking you to send in a report. So the Inbox should be pretty packed by now. ^_^
– Real player with 21.4 hrs in game
Check out my Steam Curator page, “Minorthreatt Gaming Reviews.” I have the most organized and extensive genre lists on Steam! Click “FOLLOW” for more of my recommendations: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31339849-Minorthreatt-Gaming-Reviews/?appid=257170
The Short of it: Currently Early Access, but bursting with possibilities and originality. Building, resource management, raiding, diplomacy, trading, defending - all done by your own customized horde of goblins!
Reminds me of: If you liked Banished, Stone Hearth, or Rimworld, you’ll probably like Goblins of Elderstone. Goblins of Elderstone brings a unique and chaotic twist to the city-building genre - it’s a Goblin Tribe Simulator! Nurture your tiny clan as it grows to stand against the other races and even the gods. Rule over the chaos and feed the growing goblin war machine by raiding dungeons and villages.
– Real player with 9.7 hrs in game
Hell Architect
Hells Architect is my first ever review, and one of the reasons why I decided to leave a review for this game is because I am surprised by the mixed reviews the game is currently at (day 2 of release). In my opinion, the producer and developer of Hells Architect launched this game correctly; they ran a successful campaign by keeping the customer in the loop during development, they released a playable demo, they sought feedback from testers, are continuing to listen to feedback, and perhaps most importantly – they delayed launch by several months until they had a viable product ready to go that they were proud of!
– Real player with 116.4 hrs in game
I feel awful posting this review, but I’m hoping that the dev team will fix the issues that I have with the game over time. It’s not that I don’t recommend the game, I just don’t recommend it right now and at the price I paid for it (more than $20 in case someone is reading this later after a price change). I’ve completed every stage with the exception of the final mission as of this writing (and I intend to complete that stage), as well as played some of the sandbox mode. My actual playtime is a bit lower than what the review will have listed, since I had to leave the game open while I wasn’t actively playing it (more on that below).
– Real player with 28.7 hrs in game
WorldBox - God Simulator
Worldbox is the most advanced god game out there. Don’t let the pixel art fool you, there is complexity here. You have no limits on your power, create and destroy without cost. Create storms, rend the land with earthquakes. Assign the dry land a biome, be that a dense jungle, or arid savannah. You can even curse the earth, so that the souls of the slain are trapped, cursed to wander the land as a vengeful wraith.
These souls, the races in the game are one of the core features. Spawn a group of humans, orcs, dwarves or elves. They will spawn, knowing nothing at all about the land you have made. As the grow and expand, they develop culture and research technologies to help them survive. Will you help them grow into a High Renaissance trade civilization? Or will they be unable to unite, due to a lack of resources and marauding demons. Watch as thousands of years of history lay out before you. Greedy dwarf kings waging unjust wars, intrepid human explorers setting sail for the first time in 800 years, since the Collapse. What will they find? Untouched paradise, or the husked out ruins of a once great Elven Kingdom. 2 Immortal kings, plotting against each other for thousands of years. All scenarios I have witnessed in my own kingdoms.
– Real player with 161.2 hrs in game
I absolutely gosh darn love this game.
I have played it for definitely over a hundred hours in the Humble Alpha version and I am so excited that its here on Steam. I can’t wait to follow this game to the ends of the box in Steam.
I do see a lot of people complaining about the price and how it is not worth it for how much content is in it right now but guess what guys? ITS AN EARLY ACCESS GAME!
Just a little advice: if you know that a game is not yet complete just DON’T BUY IT!
Anyways, what I find good about Worldbox is that it is just what it claims it is: World + Sandbox. ‘Course it isn’t as big as the actual world, but it still is pretty big. Complete with dozens of creatures to kill, i mean, spawn, and a whole array of powers to use to torture, i mean, help those creatures, Worldbox is a masterpiece.
– Real player with 12.5 hrs in game
City of Atlantis
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1273100/Builders_of_Greece/
City of Atlantis is an isometric city-building survival game set in the world of the mythical Land of Atlantis. According to legend, the city far surpassed other nations in terms of scientific, military, and economic advancement. One day, however, it vanished from the face of the Earth. Now, after centuries, it re-emerges from the ocean depths.
City management is key. Plan each expansion in such a way that it ensures maximum efficiency of production chains and transportation. Workaround non-workable areas and utilize gathered knowledge to constantly progress and improve. A well-designed city will significantly improve its economic efficiency, greatly increasing your income. Be cautious though! Bad decisions and neglecting certain aspects of city life can result in the tragic death of an entire society.
Atlantis must not fall. Defend your city from tsunamis by building huge water breakers and reinforcing the outer layers. Build defensive structures to fend off armies of ancient warriors from Greece and Egypt. Control the spread of deadly diseases.
The life of the keepers of Atlantis is priceless. Make sure that their work is not interrupted and they are protected from harm. Keep providing them with the necessary tools and create safe working conditions. Citizens are very difficult to replace as their education and experience don’t come cheap. Each will represent a faculty such as military, education, or health. They might excel in many areas such as agriculture, hygiene, architecture, technology, militarism, medicine, politics, commerce, philosophy, or art.
The city of Atlantis has a mission. It must discover and preserve the knowledge of the world. Train and equip heroes who will travel across the land and gather knowledge about the culture, history, law, art, and science. Make sure that you send the right people for the job and ensure that they have the best possible equipment at their disposal.
Creo God Simulator
This is just a first impression.
Overall it’s a great direction.(so please finish this,DEV.) hopefully not the direction just building some sort of economy simulator. The few god power(willpower) is cool yet (early access) hopefully more to come.
(situation 1) In a simulator like simcity it needs to have a lot of tweaking to balance this out,
(situation 2) If there are like (AI) gods I think it’s close on how it needs to go. Getting alot of
bonuses quick, fulfilling wishes/prayers. Use faster speed for a more quick
– Real player with 25.4 hrs in game
UPDATE JULY 2021: Yay! He finally fixed the bug! I can actually play! Oh…. new bug….. : Fires start on the map. You can put them out with rain, except when you can’t. Watched my altar burn for 5 mins as I used all my faith dousing it in rain, only to have it ignore that and keep burning.
This game wants to function, but it just can’t.
UPDATE APRIL 13TH 2020:
Same exact issue, making the game unplayable after the first 30 mins.
UPDATE MARCH 2020:
Pros: Many features added
Cons: THE. GAME-BREAKING. BUG. THAT. STOPS. YOU. FROM. GROWING. YOUR. CITY. STILL. HAS. NOT. BEEN. FIXED.
– Real player with 21.1 hrs in game