Very enjoyable, great for unwinding, peaceful, lovely. You can play casual, creative, - or dig into higher scoring IF you want to.
Has been in a very good state even throughout the EA period, and an attentive small dev team, so this is a well-polished game that will hit 1.0 full release on May 15, 2025.
* STRONG RECOMMENDATION - RUN and BUY *

Handdrawn look, clear colours, 3 biomes with separate landscape types and animals (Continental, Savannah, Marine, with Jurassic planned for the 1.0 full game release). Very charming and calm, a touch idyllic perhaps.

In creative mode it's a sandbox habitat creator, with all the elements of the full game for you to choose from.

There's a puzzle mode too, at present (EA) 15 puzzles per each of the 3 biomes. Good mind-crunchers, and also a useful way to learn more about aspects of how the 3 biomes work.

Classic mode is a puzzle - world builder kind of thing I guess, a bit like a mix btw DorfRomantik and Wingspan, although very much its own thing. You get a set of map pieces with varying topography, one by one, and a selection of cards with vegetation/landscape types, various water features, vents and islands in the Marine, a range of animals, and other features. Each biome type/map size combination has a specific set of scoring rules and in-game goals, and you score points from making suitable habitats for your animals, and placement of special features, which again unlock more cards and more map pieces, until you've reached the map size limit (Small, Medium, Large).

It's a simple premise, but with a delightful degree of complexity to it. And the 3 biomes and the 3 map sizes for each, have their distinct set of rules and distinct ways to get the higher points. So the three biomes are not just cosmetically different, but give real game variation.

The game is built on probability sets and a certain level of randomness, so you're not playing the same game over and over, each run will be different. I LOVE the variability and replayability value of this - I'm at over 400 hrs in the EA already, and loving every minute of it :-)
(Mind you, I'm a generally slow player in all games, so my playtime is probably not very typical)

There are 3 achievements to be had (Bronze, Silver, Gold) per map size and biome type. So in the EA version 27 ach.'s in all. And 9 more ach's coming along with the new Jurassic biome in May too. The in-game points goals are very doable, and have been calibrated so that they are not-too-hard for the more casual player. And even the Gold levels are still a good deal lower than any kind of 'max. score' for the map, and within reasonable reach for any player who has gotten a grasp of the basic functions for the specific map type, though you are unlikely to get it on your first try ;-)

There is also a Weekly Challenge map, new each Monday morning, and a leaderboard available also, for those players liking to dig into the details of the scoring potentials of different playing strategies. However, the main thrust of the game is for non-competitive playing.

All maps are finite in size, and a Small, Medium and Large have a predetermined number of possible map pieces and total map size. Which, amongst other things, makes it fine to play on even a laptop with a standard screen, and plays without problems even on fairly basic gear.
I love this !

No manual save, but autosaves on Exit, and which works well. You can only have one ongoing save-game at a time (at least in EA). Fully playable on mouse, for those who prefer that. Or also kbm, or my favourite which is touchpad+kb combo. (I don't have controller, so haven't tried).

A Compendium with interesting info on animals and habitats and other nature stuff. The Compendium also contains the scoring rules, so you don't have to keep things in your head. Useful UI. Photo mode. Pleasant music (though I mainly play games with sound off anyway). Decent settings choices.

Definite RECOMMEND - and the full game 1.0 release is slated for 15 May 2025, so only a couple days away now. RUN AND BUY :-D

I’ve never felt compelled to leave a game review before, but Preserve deserves it. It’s visually beautiful, calming, and incredibly satisfying in a way that just makes my brain happy. Could not recommend this game enough!

Very Calm, Chill, and Fun for all ages!

Recommendations
YouTube
TikTok [www.tiktok.com]