What is this game similar to?

[Frostfeather]

Going through some reviews, and they just tend to say they like the game rather than describe what it actually is. Is it similar to, say, Majesty? Have a main campaign? And what does "rougelike" mean in the context of this game?

Thanks

[mostly willing]

dunno about Majesty, I'd say what little campaign there is, it's pretty vague. roguelike in AtS means you start settlements over and over again, in different conditions, with different buildings, abilities available, and with different species making up your settlement. and different challenges you are going to have to overcome
I personally don't think they are very similar, but some people say Frostpunk is similar in a way. timberborn comes up every so often, though I haven't played it myself

[cyan10101]

I also wasn't sure when i started the game, and went in blind. I have been having a great time though. There isn't really a main campaign with story beats. You get a "lore" type of story as you progress, when you talk to your Aunt at your house, at the main city hub; where you do your upgrades and turn in deeds for rewards and xp(think achievements).
The game has a pretty simple game loop, you build a city (like sim city, kind of, where buildings have set sizes, but can be rotated 3x2 squares or 2x2 squares), you build paths for your workers to walk on, and you use your resources gathered or earned, to tackle events that pop up as you explore the map.
You beat that level when you reach enough resolve (think reputation points per level), then you are back on the overworld, where you choose your next "level" and repeat the process but on a whole new unexplored level, with different events and modifiers. Also, as you beat levels you can use your rewards to upgrade to make each level easier (workers move faster, traders get to your town quicker, you have better building and starting options to pick from, etc.)
Hope that helps.

[Tomos]

Banished on Steam, and the large mod that adds like 5-10x the content, is a good and basic example for what to expect. Placing buildings you unlock on grind spaces, drawing roads in between, and AI controlled villagers doing their jobs.

The Roguelike aspect means most aspects such as level design are put through a slot machine to churn out a map that is 'different' every time, but ultimately amounts to a forest with scratch tickets dotted throughout. Maps have themes, but no one map is memorable. It's the kind of RNG where it removes consistent game elements in the name of replayability so you always have to be improvising a plan, and a lack of RNG weights can leave you in really bad spot, or you might just randomly be awarded an easy mode win.

The 'main campaign' is doing 4-6 cities, at least 4 times, to get all the seals. There's no story between seals, just make the same village a bunch of times with slightly different productions based on what the game forces you to deal with.

[Frostfeather]

Originally posted by a mostly willing son:

roguelike in AtS means you start settlements over and over again, in different conditions, with different buildings, abilities available, and with different species making up your settlement. and different challenges you are going to have to overcome

These things are random then?

[mostly willing]

Originally posted by night4:

These things are random then?

more or less, yes. there are some features implemented to prevent rng screwing you over completely, but most of the things you get are random - the map is procedurally generated with different points of interest, resources, and layouts. there are 6 different biomes (and another one is likely in the future). the cornerstones you get at the start of the first 10 years are random. the traders you get are random, their wares are semi-random. the trade routes you can run are semi-random. the blueprints you get for your buildings are random. storm debuffs are random. you get the gist.

[Grizzle]

So, is this game just an updated Warcraft or Banished?

[Ash//Fox]

Think of it like this, there is no "story mode" like Majesty. There is a story explanation for what is happening but it's not like a campaign mode where you do mission 7 "We need a settlement here because we need you to set up a copper mine so the queen can build her magic doo dad". Your challenge is to venture out to places on the campaign map called seals, ancient vaults of supernatural evil which are slowly leaking and need to be fixed. Each city you make is to establish a supply chain towards these seals. Reaching the seal is kind of like a "boss battle" in a way.

The way the game works you basically make a city, except you don't start with many buildings. Your goal is build up victory points which can be earned by keeping your people happy, completing objectives found on the map (for example, sending a box of supplies back to the capitol city) or by fulfilling orders which are randomly generated objectives. When you start the game you have a handful of basic buildings available to you and then you can choose 3 additional buildings like "draw 3 cards, pick 1 to keep", you can also pick a new building almost every time you gain a victory point. At the same time you're constantly generating defeat points so you're on a time limit, and things get passively worse as the game goes on.

There are several other random elements to the game that gives it the roguelike title, you'll regularly earn perks which can change the way you play the game, there are different races of creatures with differing needs.. so for example say you have wheat, you have a brewery, and you have a tavern.. except your town is full of foxes and lizards and they don't care about ale so they aren't going to be happy because you give them a tavern. Each race also has different tastes in cooked food so for example humans will be happy if you give them biscuits but even if lizards will eat it to live they aren't going to be happy with a vegetarian diet. Each race has a lot of different wants though so it's usually doable to kind of please everyone, but extremely difficult to make anyone very happy.

The challenge of the game is to complete the objectives and/or keep your people happy while dealing with the random buildings you get and the random resources you can find on the map. There are different biomes with different resources you can get so you're constantly trying to adapt to new conditions. Each building has a few things it can make so it's not like you need to get super lucky to get the flour mill to keep your people fed, but different buildings are better at different things.. each building has 3-4 things it can make with varying levels. You might get a wood shop that is okay at making wood planks, and tools but a dedicated lumber mill will need less lumber for each batch of planks.

It's hard to think of a game to compare this to but it really is a standard city builder, just one that really challenges you to not get into the habit of thinking you can plan everything ahead of time.

[Frostfeather]

Originally posted by Ash//Fox:

Think of it like this, there is no "story mode" like Majesty. There is a story explanation for what is happening but it's not like a campaign mode where you do mission 7 "We need a settlement here because we need you to set up a copper mine so the queen can build her magic doo dad". Your challenge is to venture out to places on the campaign map called seals, ancient vaults of supernatural evil which are slowly leaking and need to be fixed. Each city you make is to establish a supply chain towards these seals. Reaching the seal is kind of like a "boss battle" in a way.

The way the game works you basically make a city, except you don't start with many buildings. Your goal is build up victory points which can be earned by keeping your people happy, completing objectives found on the map (for example, sending a box of supplies back to the capitol city) or by fulfilling orders which are randomly generated objectives. When you start the game you have a handful of basic buildings available to you and then you can choose 3 additional buildings like "draw 3 cards, pick 1 to keep", you can also pick a new building almost every time you gain a victory point. At the same time you're constantly generating defeat points so you're on a time limit, and things get passively worse as the game goes on.

There are several other random elements to the game that gives it the roguelike title, you'll regularly earn perks which can change the way you play the game, there are different races of creatures with differing needs.. so for example say you have wheat, you have a brewery, and you have a tavern.. except your town is full of foxes and lizards and they don't care about ale so they aren't going to be happy because you give them a tavern. Each race also has different tastes in cooked food so for example humans will be happy if you give them biscuits but even if lizards will eat it to live they aren't going to be happy with a vegetarian diet. Each race has a lot of different wants though so it's usually doable to kind of please everyone, but extremely difficult to make anyone very happy.

The challenge of the game is to complete the objectives and/or keep your people happy while dealing with the random buildings you get and the random resources you can find on the map. There are different biomes with different resources you can get so you're constantly trying to adapt to new conditions. Each building has a few things it can make so it's not like you need to get super lucky to get the flour mill to keep your people fed, but different buildings are better at different things.. each building has 3-4 things it can make with varying levels. You might get a wood shop that is okay at making wood planks, and tools but a dedicated lumber mill will need less lumber for each batch of planks.

It's hard to think of a game to compare this to but it really is a standard city builder, just one that really challenges you to not get into the habit of thinking you can plan everything ahead of time.

Ok thanks, that does make more sense. In the past, I've been used to some form of combat in these kinds of games, so I guess I was wondering what "replaces" that to create the challenges people refer to. I didn't even realize that was my main question until you answered it, lol.

[Samseng Yik]

This is a rogue like.
If you only play typical city builder, then just move away

[Badluckdragon]

Yeah, this is definitely pushing the limit of what constitutes a "roguelike" even with how nebulous that term has become. Still fun though.

[el Darkness]

Samseng Yik meant (I think) that some people who play typical city builders are repelled by this game. AtS blends town builder with rougelite, some people do not like that combination.

In other words, you will rarely be able to get your favourite buildings. AtS will force you to adapt to different situations. Not everyone liked that.