Discover the innovative premise of SteamWorld Build, a city builder that sets itself apart from the rest by allowing you to construct a frontier boomtown populated entirely by retrofuturistic steam-powered robots. As you build a town above the ground, you’ll simultaneously be excavating a mine below in search of mineral resources and ancient technology to escape a dying planet. It’s a refreshing take on the city-building genre.
The SteamWorld games have a distinct visual style and charm that translates well across different genres. In SteamWorld Build, you’ll encounter charming robots and a unique soundtrack that sets the game apart. The planet is inhabited by steam-powered robots with accents like those from the old west, which adds to the game’s overall appeal.
As you play, you’ll provide citizens with services, produce goods, and upgrade them to higher tiers, all while unlocking new buildings. Although the simulation of each citizen’s needs is not deeply detailed, it adds to the game’s simplicity and appeal. Fans of series like Anno and city-building games will find SteamWorld Build enjoyable and engaging.
The game offers a satisfying loop as you expand both above and below ground while managing your town’s resources. You’ll also need to recruit security bots to protect your miners from threats found underground. The game also includes a range of difficulty settings to provide a challenge that suits your preference.
With regular visits from out-of-towners at the train station, you’ll be able to obtain building upgrades and trade away excess goods for cash. While the upgrades aren’t complex enough to provide diverse build strategies, they do support your overall experience.
While it only takes about eight hours to complete, SteamWorld Build is a quick and simple city builder that may lack the deep and engaging puzzle elements of other games in the genre. However, its simplicity adds to its beginner-friendliness and approachability. The randomly generated underground layer and unlockable permanent upgrades offer some unpredictability and variety as you progress through the game.
