Waiting For The Raven
Well, it’s still an early-access game, so don’t expect it to work all the way through -
but I thought it was an interesting approach, and it was nice to try something different.
Douglas Adams, alas, predicted this sorry state of affairs:
“In other words - and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation’s Galaxywide success is founded - their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.”
And if they were actually from another planet, you could overlook the developers poor grasp of human languages, as well.
– Real player with 59.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Management Medieval Games.
The game still needs more polishing. The first spymater session is enough satisfying and the storytelling is quite reliable. There are a bunch of spark ideas during the first session gameplay including some right in time visual effect, some good cypher solving games and some well hidden bonus. The problems of first session could only be some buggy UI display and the strategy management part. I spent like 5 to 6 hours to totally break through the first session and to find out how naive the management part actually is. Beside the 10000 gold bonus and some other hidden bonus, I can just use some wine barrels, a 10 stealthy big boy and a 10 charming miss to burn all the houses to the ground without any real punishment. And the game is just like lying down there suffering from my giant gold dick-play. I mean, you guys did a lot of great work in designing the dialogues and storytelling and visual effects and different strategy dealing with different situations. But why the actual management part is so disappointing. The balance of some punishment events and the credit bonuses is totally a mess. That’s not cool at all.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Empires in Ruins
Edit: The developer is super chill, and is looking to patch out the bugs soon. This is still a hard game with hit-or-miss writing and an imperfect UI, but serious props to anyone who can indie dev something this complex. Check it out if there isn’t something in the review that’s a dealbreaker for you.
This is a very “yes, but…” recommendation.
Empires In Ruins is a thing I should like. It’s a tower defense with a 4x strategy layer, and where you can econ yourself into an easier TD situation, or TD yourself out of a bad economy.
– Real player with 27.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Management Base Building Games.
**This is a short excerpt of my longer analysis and review (available in English and German). I would recommend reading the full text or watching the YouTube Video (German Voiceover, many subtitles)
| Visit and maybe follow my curator page, to get more detailed reviews |
Empires in Ruins Test / Review
Empires in Ruins Review – Conclusion and opinion**
For an indie game of a small team just entering early access, the game is already surprisingly polished. The campaign includes a very entertaining story and for strategy fans an appealing game depth.
– Real player with 13.4 hrs in game
Scrapping Simulator
This game is in early access so, you unlock all the available features quickly. As you may have guessed, this game is about disassembling eWaste for scrap materials. You can then sell the scrap directly or spend the time to melt them down to ingots for a bigger profit. Eventually, the world will be much more open and new features are coming.
I’ve logged a lot of extra hours figuring out many of the ins and outs of different processes. I enjoy the “grindy” aspects of this game and look forward to how they’ll adapt to user input.
– Real player with 35.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Management Education Games.
game is really fun and easy to get into having a good time playing this game easy and chilled to play. loving all the new stuff and animations but game has some little bugs here and there but can see they are trying to fix them. but loving the game cant wait to see what else they do to the game.
– Real player with 30.3 hrs in game
Zenith Frontier
Zenith Frontier is an interstellar strategy simulation game. Explore and colonise hostile exoplanets and help humanity survive the struggles of 2040 and beyond.
Zenith Frontier features several novel mechanics in the context of traditional 4X and grand strategy gameplay elements. Experience visionary strategic gameplay set in an evolving procedural galaxy populated by billions ot autonomous citizens and private companies. Build a faction with a rich background and strong identity, then oversee their interstellar efforts to advance their position within the precarious New Space Age.
New Gameplay Features:
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A Shared Origin: Factions start in the same overpopulated, suffering home system and compete to expand outwards in the year 2040. This is made possible by the recent discovery of –REDACTED– which allows high-tech spacecraft to slip into subspace.
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Volatile Subspace: Exploration of this newly accessible subspace is incredibly dangerous. This chaotic region is thick with dark matter and swirling dark energy fields, but the ability to travel interstellar distances in considerably shorter timeframes may be worth the risk. Known safe routes will become critical to sustaining your remote holdings, but beware - subspace is neither static or stable and these routes may change!
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Information is Essential: Unshielded signals will be destroyed in subspace and must be carried through by comm drones. News that arrives at your capital from a distant colony will be out-of-date - the situation will have evolved and you will have to consider this when planning your response. Additionally, perhaps the illegal hijacking of another’s comm drones will glean some strategic information - and prevent it from arriving at its intended destination!
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Special Relativity: Spacecraft travelling at incredible speeds and colonies established within deep gravity wells will experience first-hand the effects of special relativity and time dilation. Time will progress more quickly for the crew of your –REDACTED– spacecraft making a long journey at high speeds than the colony they are destined for.
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Geospatial Resource Pricing: A supply and demand model for price determination within a dynamic economic system that includes taxes, import/export fees and transportation costs mean that resource prices will vary throughout the galaxy. Plan your economic developments accordingly - or invest in this interstellar network infrastructure to take a slice of your rival’s operations.
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Top Level Direction: Shape your faction from the top down by issuing orders, directives, and edicts to your military staff, governors, and private sector. These are executed autonomously, which can lead to surprising outcomes. This indirect control poses interesting strategic challenges.
Traditional Gameplay Features:
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Diplomacy and Politics
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Research and Technology
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Military Conflict
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Management and Governance
Zenith Frontier’s Design Pillars:
Zenith Frontier is being designed and developed in line with these pillars.
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Emergence - A rich, living world that generates unique emergent scenarios.
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Strategic Depth - A semantic network of interconnect systems.
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Gameplay Over Graphics - A high quality interactive system that priotises gameplay.
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Self-Directed - The player is primarily working towards self-selected goals in open gameplay.
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Top Level Decisions - The player provides direction from the top-down to autonomous agents.
Lawgivers II
The sequel to Lawgivers is in the works!! Join our communities and contribute to one of the most ambitious political simulation game!
Lawgivers II is a political sandbox game which offers multiple ways to experience the process of ruling and approving bills. Start your political adventure from the very bottom and perhaps lead your nation one day to become the most influential in the world.
World
The game comes with a world map featuring the most well-known nations and up to two levels of administrative subdivisions. Players will have comfortable filters to display population, relations, gdp growth, election outcomes by districs, etc.
Parliament
Enter the parliament/congress with your lawmakers to approve or abolish laws in a much expanded and realistic way. Elect the speaker of the house to watch over parliamentary democracy and set up committees for personalized laws. Request a secret vote, or ask for impeachment. Many graphs will assist players with their choice.
Government
Run for the highest seat in presidential and semi-presidential republics or become the prime minister in parliamentary republics. Form a government alone or with a coalition of party and try to survive motions of no confidence. Bypass the parliament if necessary to satisfy your needs but be prepared to face the consequences.
Laws
Personalize and approve laws like never before. With constitutional amendments you can control the workflow of the most important institutions of the country. Players will enjoy total freedom of choosing whether to insert a bill in constitution or just approve it as an ordinary law.
Lawmakers
In Lawgivers II all lawmakers will have their own opinion about laws and way to rule. If there are to many points of view in a party, some politicians might leave it or found another one. Check out their personal history and be sure to have their trust.
Organisations and Lobbies
Organisations and Lobbies might achieve a lot of influence in your country. Ask them for support by hiring one of their gentlemen or try to practice honest and clean politics.
War & Trade
Raise your influence over the world and secure important resources for your country. Corrupt other parties in poorer countries or organise “legal” referendums to annect other regions. Enter war with other nations in order to reach economic and political supremacy.
Multiplayer
Join with your friends in a coalition to form the government, rr simply stay in opposition and get ready for your first chance to grab power. (The multiplayer will be available at a later development stage)
Mods
The game will come with Steamworks support. Modders will be able to add new countries, laws, events, resources, ideologies and more content just with a simple text editor. The appearance of lawmakers will be completely cutomizable too so you can draw and import your favourite politicians.
Victoria 3
SHAPE A GRAND TOMORROW
Paradox Development Studio invites you to build your ideal society in the tumult of the exciting and transformative 19th century. Balance the competing interests in your society and earn your place in the sun in Victoria 3, one of the most anticipated games in Paradox’s history.
THE ULTIMATE SOCIETY SIMULATOR
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Lead dozens of world nations from 1836-1936. Agrarian or Industrial, Traditional or Radical, Peaceful or Expansionist… the choice is yours.
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Detailed population groups with their own economic needs and political desires.
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Reform your government and constitution to take advantage of new social innovations, or preserve the stability of your nation by holding fast to tradition in the face of revolutionaries.
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Research transformative new technology or ideas to improve your national situation.
DEEP ECONOMIC SYSTEM
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Expand your industry to take advantage of lucrative goods, taxing the profits to improve national prosperity.
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Import cheap raw materials to cover your basic needs while finding new markets for your finished goods.
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Secure vital goods to fuel your advanced economy and control the fate of empires.
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Balance employing available labor force with the needs for new types of workers.
PLAY ON A GRAND STAGE
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Use your diplomatic wiles to weave a tangled global web of pacts, relations, alliances, and rivalries to secure your diplomatic position on the world stage.
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Employ threats, military prowess and bluffs to persuade enemies to back down in conflicts.
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Increase your economic and military strength at the expense of rivals.
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Accumulate prestige and the respect of your rivals as you build an industrial giant at home or an empire abroad.
Espiocracy
Disclaimer: Trailer & screenshots are early work in progress
GRAND ESPIONAGE STRATEGY
Choose one of 102 countries and guide character-driven national intelligence agency through rough seas of the Cold War. From Soviet KGB and American CIA, up to Israeli Mossad and British MI6, expect different approaches to grand strategy gameplay.
INNOVATIVE MECHANICS
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Espionage finally made as it should be
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Precise modelling of views & ideologies
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Direct links between causes and effects
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System of geopolitically active actors
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Emergent multipolar simulation
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Operation plans, campaigns, and opportunities
MEANINGFUL DECISIONS
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Prioritize grand scale and leave micro to your operatives
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Establish contacts, threaten, exploit, and trade
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Manipulate public opinion, support and establish political factions
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Launch coups and proxy wars, falsify casus belli
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Hunt spies and terrorists, protect internal stability
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Form alliances, prepare all-out attacks, break rules
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Advise country leader on critical decisions such as military interventions
DANGEROUS TIDES OF HISTORY
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Nuclear race: first atom bombs, thermonuclear revolution, mutually assured destruction
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Huge progress in technology, simulated in the game with Kuhn’s paradigm shifts
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After-war poverty, civil wars, controversial past
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Configurable balance between alternate history and determinism
Oraiah
This is a really Great game. All i can say is great music great atmosphere, VERY immersive, and its fun. Waking up today i didnt know Id become Tobias Turdschitz of my very own Turdschitz kingdom, Will update more after i get more time in game.
Totally tubuler.
Update- im addicted
The interface is very intuitive i only studied the tutorial 5 minutes and i knew how to play the game. I love the fact that theres lots of decision making, and u feel like your far away in kingdoms fighting for your people. The bardic music is really nice and this is a good game to play while listening to talk radio if u want to turn it off. Its very addicting and i woulda payed more for this game, how far it will go i dont know, but i know within 1 hour of playing i got completely addicted . If youre thinking about buying it, just get it, you wont be disappointed for the price.
– Real player with 9.4 hrs in game
Really cool in the first 15 minutes but then you realize just how “varied” it really is. You’ll get the same 10 or so events constantly over and over with no differences whatsoever, the resource system is very lacking and so is the military and building sections. Diplomacy system and law systems are nearly non-existent.
Even if you have no troops, you’ll still get events where it says you lose soldiers and the like.
Good start but bad execution given this is the final project.
English translation is terrible.
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
Power & Revolution 2020 Edition
Its recycled from their previous editions so most 2019 features have bugs, The game itself is still bugged so clearly they never worked on that with this new release, the cheat codes for the game no longer work, something they didn’t fix, the same gamebreaking glitches from before are present here, only worse.
I can promise anyone reading this, This game is NOT worth anymore than £13-15, yet they charge basically £40 for the base game, more for the dlcs, Despite the fact you can clearly see they haven’t put the effort into this game.
– Real player with 647.5 hrs in game
My recommendation for purchasing before I played heavily and time passed is directly below, which has led to the correct review of this developer and their products below the initial, good review.
(This review no longer applies, but is left up for others to see how great it is upon the first gameplay when purchasing)
[Power & Revolution is not for the faint of heart, or those who want a easy diplomatic game. I recommend it for the strategies and fun involved. If you are one who prefers peace over war, P&R will not be too difficult on the realistic settings as long as you do not select a country currently involved in wars (terrorist or nation v. nation). I personally enjoy creating contracts, upping the researches and viewing the Space Programs to see space, upping the quality of life, and increasing my military presence. Power & Revolution (2020 especially) can be challenging with the citizens happiness and keeping the countries out of debt. A great option is the ability play various countries at once, and the ability to create, join, and leave international organizations (NATO, UNO, WHO, ASEAN, etc…).]
– Real player with 310.5 hrs in game
Raiders! Forsaken Earth
IN A WORD: MAYBE
IN A NUTSHELL:
WHAT TO EXPECT: Be the villain. Sandbox generated world. Mixes strategy with management. Turn-based, side-on combat with many tactical options. Post-apocalyptic setting. Lots of raider and some base customisation. Large array of inventory. Item crafting. Artillery, siege engine and landsail craft. Slaves and cannibal options. Seed generated world maps. Alot of micro-management. Optional endgame scenarios or endless mode. Singleplayer only. Currently supported by dev.
– Real player with 63.2 hrs in game
Can I recommend this game? Boy, that’s a doozey. If the game was $60, hell no. At its current price? Totally.
Basics of the game is, you start off with pretty much nothing. You got some raiders with you and they are bottom of the barrel. Its ok though because the way you level up is by fighting. There are, I believe, respawning caravans with really low level mobs that at first is a little bit of a challenge but after some levels and better armor, maybe weapons too, you can pretty much take on the whole wasteland. Your raiders quickly receive a message saying that Wasteland’s Rangers are coming in 120 days. I’m not kidding, they are pretty much the Wasteland game franchises Rangers. For some reason, after playing w2 and just devastating all the raiders, my head-canon really enjoyed being that ONE GROUP that won lol.
– Real player with 24.8 hrs in game