Burned Land
Burned Land is a niche game, and a little gem to me.
At first sight it might seem a little bit empty and obscure. Then it will seem very hard, even unfair. But if you push forward, you will discover a game with a very original approach, very rich and permissive in the ways you want to shape your kingdom and face the gods.
In this game, you not only build units and facilities, you will also “monitor” your population (literacy, devotion, nobility, sedentary, etc.), so they will provide you what you need and when you need it.
– Real player with 31.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Survival Turn-Based Games.
It is a pretty rough game, both in terms of UI and difficulty. The UI will hopefully get some polish from this one-man dev team, and perhaps the difficulty as well, but the difficulty certainly needs the polish a lot less. The dev is still pushing out regular updates, thus my recommendation for this Early Access game.
I made it to Turn 194, after narrowly dodging a very early game defeat. The early game near-defeat came about as my village almost starved due to a famine brought on by the gods. The entire point of this game is that the larger you grow, the more interest the gods have in stopping you from growing.
– Real player with 24.6 hrs in game
Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville
A series that takes an inventive twist on the zombie apocalypse setting, Rebuild takes the “man versus man versus nature” struggle present in most games pertaining to zombies and reframes the gameplay from the more common action/shooter elements and turns it into a 4X game of conquest. The world of Rebuild is one in which the survivors are all fairly competent people. Nobody here is an idiot that is going to stand there and quiver in fear while the zombies take a bite out of their neck. The primary struggle is maintaining the flow of your resources and zombies are only really a threat when you spread your people thin. Fortunately the game manages to balance this well so that you’re generally never too comfortable that you don’t have to worry. Each map tends to follow the same flow of scrambling your survivors frantically so you can find food to eat that night to having a slight bit of breathing room so that you can begin to, as the title suggests, Rebuild and then challenge the AI factions present. Zombies ramp up their difficulty as time goes on as well. There are a few strategies that generally guarantee victory as long as you execute them well but I’ll leave you to figure out what those are. It has clever nooks and crannies and like any other good 4X you’ve played it’ll keep you up all night as you have multiple goals planned out at once, one of which can always be achieved in Just One More Turn. The ebb and flow guarantees that you’ve always got something to do.
– Real player with 338.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Survival Colony Sim Games.
Summary: Turn based zombie survival
Multiplayer: No
Completion: 46 hrs
Cards: Yes
Cloud: Yes
Rebuild 3 is a real time or turn-based tactical zombie survival game with a focus on recruiting followers and expanding territory. The game offers two distinct modes of play, Quick Play, and Story. Quick play offers unlimited procedurally generated maps, with various settings that can be adjusted to your liking. Story mode is a whole campaign where you can carry over leader stats and a small group between missions.
– Real player with 81.6 hrs in game
SimPocalypse
UI has an unusal design to help increase the options for the massive number-growth generator applications that all idle-clickers are.
The demand for input from you as a player feels obstructive at a fair bit of time and the techs that allow you to automate yourself away are not clearly advertised with the tech tree being ‘shrouded’. This can add some frustration.
There is little else to add, the combat is mostly for show - my own ‘35K force’ tank brigade does not take any damage at all anymore when facing supposedly superior forces and development of my faction has pretty much gone to a standstill for the past 5 hours while I’m tabbed out letting the auto-combat handle conquering everything.
– Real player with 92.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Survival Base Building Games.
This is a ‘yes, but’ review, so. If you’re skimming, pass this one up. If you’re interested in details on why this MIGHT be for you, read on.
So. This is one of those compelling semi-idle games where you fundamentally click things on spreadsheets to make the numbers go up until you literally take over the world. And that’s pretty fun! However.
For the random store browser, there’s not much more to it than that, and I think there’s a lot of room to be disappointed with your purchase.
For people who enjoy the semi-idle thing…?
– Real player with 23.9 hrs in game
Thea 2: The Shattering
I played the first Thea and loved it so of course I had to grab this Thea. I also am loving it but being that it is in Early Access still it is not without its flaws and bugs and crashes. I will mostly talk about the issues I see currently because I think that is what people really want to see when they read a review BUT please understand there is a lot to also love about Thea 2 and it has a lot of heart. So while I talk about some of my issues, understand overall I love this game and how it is progressing.
– Real player with 478.4 hrs in game
Thea 2 is mixture of 4X, RPG, card game and rogue-like - it’s one of its kind no game is quite like it. If you like some or even all of those you should definitely check it out.
Thea 2 has amazing replayability - if I could only play one game for the rest of my life this would be it. It greatly improves and expands on the concepts of Thea 1.
For me it’s one of the best games I ever played - hence a happy 9/10
Quick gameplay summary
In Thea you start us with a small group of characters (determined by your choice of gods and which traits you choose) - you need to survive, battle monsters, face random events, gather resources to craft new things, research new materials and recipes or just not starve. You want to find out why the world has been shattered and restore the power of your god. To do this you roam the lands, eventually found a village and recruit more characters/make babies.
– Real player with 180.8 hrs in game
Hero Generations: ReGen
It is a cute game and addictive time-waster. The graphics are charming and everyone can come up with a different strategy for dealing with the end game. Endless (and forced) replay value. There are a variety of ways to earn gold or fame, and to build up towns. It auto-saves after every turn and allows several different lands to explore. While buildings do wear down, they can be easily rebuilt or repaired, or given a building that auto-repairs them for a time, although there is an irritating cap on how much ‘health’ a building can have. There are even teleporters that can be built to get from one land to another quickly!
– Real player with 56.4 hrs in game
A cute little, simplistic 4X game. I really like the risk/reward system where each space you move consumes a year of your hero’s life. The older your hero is, the fewer trait cards can be inherited by the next generation; if you push your hero too far, he/she will die of old age, and it’s game over.
You can build up towns, receiving bonuses for building all of one type. Building types will also influence the kind of traits mates will have in a given town–and of course, you’re looking for the best traits to pass down. The idea being you will improve each generation, which culminates in an hero who will have the best chances of defeating the big baddie, who appears after 15 generations.
– Real player with 20.2 hrs in game
Thea: The Awakening
About time I wrote a review for Thea. I have played the game for 900 hours now and I still don’t see myself getting bored with it anytime soon. More on the replayability later but first a quick overview.
Thea: The Awakening is a turn-based survival strategy game on a procedurally generated hexagonal world. It plays a lot like the early exploration phase in Civilization. The main difference is that the game is about survival instead of expansion. You won’t build an empire with a large army, instead you have to defend your only village from evergrowing threats while also finding the time to go out and gather materials and do quests so you can become stronger. If you don’t keep up with the enemies in terms of power they will overwhelm you but don’t worry, there are many difficulty modifications. You can play on 50% (very easy), 350% (very hard), and anything in between. The game has a lot of RPG elements, an excellent crafting system, and a card game to resolve various types of conflicts. The game combines regular fantasy creatures such as orcs and elves with slavic mythology. If you don’t know anything about that you’ll meet a lot of new creatures here such as Stryga’s and Baba Yaga’s.
– Real player with 1201.0 hrs in game
A Review of: “THEA: The Awakening”
A Single-player, 4X Dark Fantasy, Hex-Grid, Turn-Based Strategy-RPG, Card Battler, Resource Management Survival Game where Choices Matter with Crafting and Replay Value.
I’m usually either a fan of Grand Strategy games or RPGs, turn-based War-games and War-sims. I had this game in my library a couple years before getting around to trying it out. Now that I’m playing it; it’s great or certainly could have been with a few GUI and QOL improvements.
It’s very RPG-like, with lore and Slavic-based mythos. I love deep lore games that tell a storey (BG / Planescape). I also like games that base their lore on “real world” mythos (Inquisitor) and this game makes tons of references to eastern European folklore.
– Real player with 177.2 hrs in game
Thrive: Heavy Lies The Crown
Thrive: Heavy Lies the Crown is a Medieval Fantasy city builder that forces you to make dire decisions that ensure the survival of your kingdom and the people you lead.
Volition is a valuable tool in your inventory as you build your city, shape the land and fortify it as you see fit. Burdened by the weight of your decisions, a seemingly trivial choice can shape your legacy and determine if you’re a soulless tyrant or a fair and just monarch.
Will your kingdom merely survive, or do you have the resilience and dedication to make it THRIVE?
#### Features
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Struggle with real-time decision making that leads to real-time consequences
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Uncover the true nature of the mysterious Waelgrim
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Survive the harsh realities of medieval life, both natural and manmade
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Advance the development of your kingdom through an in-depth tech tree
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Discover your benevolent or tyrannical nature
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Traverse an unknown land to gain new resources and allies
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Explore this land alone or with up to four friends
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Experience a day-night cycle that affects your citizens’ behaviors
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Defend your growing kingdom by waging epic battles
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Receive modding support to play your way
#### Benevolence & Tyranny
The path by which you rule, be it benevolent or tyrannical, is determined entirely by the decisions you make. Thrive’s narrative-driven event system presents dynamic, nuanced options that often make the best choice unclear. Compassion and communion with nature can empower you, but rapid growth and progression could catapult your dominion. One must always remember that a hero to some is a villain to others. What will be your legacy?
#### A Vast Land
Establish your presence in a large-scale 4X land, rich in possibility and potential conflict, with up to four friends. Compete for resources and develop relationships with numerous AI villages and kingdoms, strengthening your foothold in this new territory’s active economy. Develop outposts and small villages to gain increased resources while helping to extend the reaches of trade. As your kingdom grows, will you develop a legacy of fear or friendship?
#### Survival
To survive is to take heed of what you can control, and weather what you cannot. Direct your kingdom’s future through effective planning, advancement and a detailed tech tree. Success is rewarded with new options to empower or enforce the nature of your rule. Countless variables, from weather to Waelgrim, add increased pressure to your reign. Endure these unpredictable forces and prove you truly have what it takes to thrive.
#### Waging War
Thrive’s real-time combat is reflected in the costs of war. Choices are realistic and impactful: soldiers’ deaths affect morale, ammunition needs resupply, armour and weapons require repairs, and troops experience fatigue. Engage in siegecraft, both as an inflictor and receiver, to show you can persevere against any form of adversary. Approach all conflict with a clear strategy, lest you long for a bitter reminder of failure’s high cost.
fullybroKEN - A Unique Mix of 4X / Post-Apocalypse / RPG / Roguelike
Overall I think the game has tons of potential, but I think that it still needs some time to iron out some of the flaws it currently has.But as it is early access I am hopeful the flaws will be fixed.
Overall
+interesting challenging gameplay
+roguelike elements that improve the game general post-apocalyptic/survival feel
+replayable
+interesting use of match-3 mechanics
+potential to be a great game
+innovative gameplay
-not quite there
-emergent narrative is still lacking(but as I understood the developer is working on it)
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
Fast paced and fun, a bit too challenging sometimes(maybe the dev can balance it better?). I didn’t had much chance to play and the game is in need of some bug fixes polish and as I understood content additions, but I do hope that during the early access the game will become only better.
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game
Dead of Winter
Lead your villagers in a battle for survival against relentless hordes of undead as you gather, build and explore in a post-apocalyptic medieval fantasy world plunged into a seemingly endless winter
Gather what resources you can find before your supplies dwindle and your people starve
Build shelter against the elements and worker buildings to assign tasks to your villagers
Explore your surroundings to find the most defensible locations to build and gather resources in safety
Survive a lack of resources, the unending winter and the relentless hordes of undead
Orphan Age
Orphan Age is a life-sim game where you look after a band of orphans in a cyberpunk warzone.
Set against the backdrop of an unforgiving, neon-lit dystopian warzone, your only battle is the fight for survival, scraping out a living in the face of extreme danger. You will guide a band of orphans, each with their own skills, emotions, strengths, weaknesses and fears, through a dangerous and ever-changing city in a bitter struggle for survival. Constantly balancing risk and reward, you must make the big decisions to ensure the group stays alive. Build up your base, scavenge, craft and explore the city for new recruits, whilst ensuring there are enough supplies to keep going, even when it seems all hope might be lost.
Orphan Age plays as a single player campaign with a lot of replayability inspired by the 4X genre. But there’s a twist! 4X stands for Exploration, Exploitation, Expansion and Extermination. In Orphan Age, we replace Extermination with Empathy, bending the 4X genre into a 4E.
The city of Orphan Age is ever-changing and procedural. You won’t find the same building twice. There are high risks and high rewards when you explore. You can find rare resources, Orphans to recruit, but you can also get wounded or worse…
Exploration is similar to the expeditions of Fallout Shelter: procedural text adventures. They offer more complexity though, because you have to make decisive choices while you’re out of the orphanage.
Hundreds of resources are left to be scavenged in the Orphanage or in the city. They are classified in 6 categories that allow you to eat, drink, take care of wounds and to craft the items and resources you need to build your Orphanage.
The Orphanage is the place your Orphans call home. The environment surrounding the Orphans greatly affects their moods. Try to keep the rooms lit, warm, furnished and clean for the happiness of all!
There are 38 different items of furniture to build (beds, playgrounds, science mats, campfire, heaters…) and each one can be upgraded.
Research allows you to discover better furniture and improve living conditions for the orphans.
Orphan Age is a deep micro-simulation making each Orphan unique in personality and in gameplay. The Orphans have different ages, set of skills, backgrounds and personality traits. Depending on who they are and how well they are, the Orphans will take different paths anytime there is an issue to be discussed.
INFO:
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For PC, Mac & Linux
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Comes with a companion visual novel Orphan Age: Diaries
