Recently tried the Steamworld Build demo, and it was great. Looking for something to scratch the itch until release though. I've heard Farthest Frontier is good, any opinions on that, or other recommendation?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

There's some great ones that have more of a survival aspect:

Surviving Mars
Made by Haemimont, the original creators of the Tropico series. You build colonies on mars with near-future level technology (at first). The "cities" you build are large, modular dome structures that you place on the map. Within each dome you place the individual buildings that colonists need to live. Your first domes will start off holding just a few dozen colonists or so each; however you can connect domes together so they can share resources and over time you can build larger and larger domes. The largest domes can hold hundreds of colonists. This game also has sophisticated resource management mechanics. You might have to try a few colonies before you get all the basics down. If you're not able to produce all necessary resources, you'll experience systematic/ripple effect failures as one problem leads to another. For example, if you're not producing enough water, your people will eventually die of thirst, but you'll also have trouble producing rocket fuel which is made from water, no rocket fuel means no resupplying from earth. Finally, the game has a technology "Breakthrough" system. Breakthroughs are unique technologies that you will discover on each different map. This ensures that each of your colonies will have some technological variation and this greatly enhances the game's replay-ability.

DLC recommendation(s): Green Planet (100% a must have) and Space Race

Frostpunk
A post-apocalyptic, survival city builder set in a steampunk earth that is experiencing the rapid onset of a new ice age. You use streampunk technology to help your city survive the brutally cold weather. There are also resource management aspects in this game, much like Surviving Mars, and the game's base difficulty is quite challenging to begin with; so again, you may have to make several attempts before you have a successful city. You play as the city's Authoritarian leader and have the option to run the place as ethically or unethically as you please. Will you build a utopia in the cold? When there are labor shortage will you use child labor? Will you allow children to only work safe jobs, or send them to the mines? When there are food shortages, will you resort to even more drastic measures? The game ships with several great scenarios these days, but I would recommend at least one DLC (see below). This game shows you a brutal, but beautiful streampunk world. It's lovingly and masterfully crafted to feel real. This game more than almost any other made me actually question my own morality after making some of the decisions you're forced into during play. A final note, the music is absolutely sublime. The first scenario has a... boss fight... of sorts and the music during this final stage of the scenario will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

DLC recommendations: The Last Autumn