Grade: A
‘God games’, as they used to be called, have a storied history. SimCity, Civilisation and the excellently sadistic Dungeon Keeper have all been responsible for many a PhD thesis being delivered late. The Almighty seems to have smiled on the latest iteration of the genre. The product of a one-man-band independent developer, Greg Styczen, its current pre-release version scored a million downloads on the first day it was available.
You can see why. It’s made with such care and love. You take the role of a medieval lord of the manor – choose a surly avatar and a coat of arms – who starts with a handful of peasant families in a tented encampment in a drizzly forest. Zoom down and watch them as they drag timber about with their mangy ox. Swell with pride as they harvest berries and fell trees. See them cheer up when you build them some ‘burgage plots’ to live in. It looks and sounds gorgeous.
You can even listen to them grumble, which, let’s face it, is much of the job of a god. Gameplay is all about resource management and planning. Is there enough firewood for winter? Can we flog our overstock of berries to the feudal lord next door? What do we do about those bandits? Do we build a chicken coop, try to get a bit of agriculture going, or invent blacksmithing and make some swords? It’s fiddly to get the hang of (Google some hints and tips to get started) but richly rewarding.
Feudal life may have been miserable, brutish and short, but overseeing it is a pleasure; and a deeply absorbing one.
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