Recent reviews by Rylemsheath

A ridiculously well-made game for what is effectively a (admittedly biased, even if in a good way) game-based-on-a-blank made by indie visionaries, but its developers need to reassess whether they want to keep a good game that has some very flawed content due to it remaining faithful to the book (see: every other review that talks about nuclear power) or if they want it to become a great game that isn't afraid to correct the shortcomings of its mother. As it stands, this game has potential to be an ideological exposition of Half-Earth Socialism, Half-Earth, and directly beneficial ideologies to society (a pretty big deal, if you ask me) to a wider community of people that are not as politically educated (*cough*, capital-G GAMERS) as the kind of nerd that can sincerely say they read Half-Earth Socialism. As an overtly political game (unlike my favorite apolitical games Bioshock, Metal Gear Rising, and Fallout New Vegas), I think it's only hope of getting anywhere with this concept is taking to a fresh revision of the source material that mothered it and not being afraid to improve itself.

I think what I'm trying to get at is that I'd like to see the day where this is less like Half-Earth Socialism: The Book: The Game and more like Half-Earth Socialism 2: Let's Try That Again, Shall We? Also, It's A Video Game This Time Around. Lord knows that if it's one thing that makes it easy to introduce complex ideas to people, it's expressing it through the medium of video games.

All that being said, it's a great game. The visuals, albeit simple, are spectacular and the mildly grotesque backgrounds and assets elude me with a frissionly unsettling aesthetic I've never exactly seen before, what with its depictions of flesh and discolored pixelated imagery (I actually almost thought this was yet another VHS analog horror game at first glance.) You've heard all the criticisms of it's content (by extension criticisms of the book, really), so for my comment I'll just say I like the way the government is fractured in its sub-ideologies, but I think it could do well with 'mixing them,' so to speak. It's hard to imagine that one of the "ideo-seats" could just be an eco-feminist and literally have no opinions on some key topics most the other ideo-seats tackle, only giving some tangential answer about achieving equality. Similarly, some of the ideo-seats representing representatives representing certain provinces could be affected by the player's actions when they affect certain provinces, for better or for worse. Take my sudden suggestion-rant with a grain of salt, though, as the only backset-dev hill I'm ready to die on is that this game deserves to be an evolution of the book rather than a relensing of it.

This game doesn't really have flaws in a traditional sense. It's fulfilled its quirky little goal of being an adorable puzzle game perfectly. Seriously, by this game if you like adorable indie games; the art style is cartoonish and beautiful; the mechanics are intuitive and inviting, while still remaining a do-able challenge.

Toukana, you may be a couple of fellas from Berlin now, but I really can't wait to see what the future titles of this company look like. This game is adorable, intuitive, and a fantastic time-killer that challenges you in a very fun way that somehow avoids getting too frustrated. The only 11/10 I'll ever give to any game goes to this one.

My second most played Steam game. An excellent thirst-quencher for anyone's inner god-complex. This game is best for players who like general city builders, and anyone who likes building cities will get an absolute hoot out of the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of items on the workshop that you can download designed by other players, for other players.

//Workshop
Want a space factory? Check out that one over there that looks like a hydroponics farm!
Want to make your city look like an old roaring 20's boom town? Check out that pack of 1920's style buildings over there.
Hell, want to completely change the way the game works? Want to take complete control of your traffic like you never thought imaginable in vanilla? Want to abandon the zoning demand and weird time-doesn't-align-with-skybox feature in favor of an overhaul that makes C:S acknowledge the existence of nighttime and weekends? Want to start off on a lonely planet rich in resources and oxygen somewhere in a galaxy far far away? WANT TO BUILT 50 GIGANTIC TOBLERONE MONUMENTS IN THE CENTER OF YOUR CITY?! Every single thing I've mentioned is a real building or mod you can find on the workshop. From cool looking police HQ's to mods that completely overhaul the land-purchase mechanics of the game, the workshop has virtually everything you could think you'd want to add to your city.

//Traffic Management
So, if you like to manage traffic, this game is great. With the addition of the traffic management tools on the workshop, you can pretty much modify and build cities with deadlocked traffic jams to flow with as much efficiency as a rose petal's unfurling is silent. That really only applies to roads, though, which is why now I'm going to make the last section, which is about:

//*Transport* Management
See, the only thing this game *isn't* quite good for is general transport management. While the managing road traffic and the general city-building aspect of this game generally carries a 9/10 in my opinion, the other forms of transport are a little neglected, and general transportation systems aren't very touched on in this game. AKA If you're looking for a 3D version of OpenTTD, this ain't it, but I'd recommend checking it out anyway because the traffic management definitely scratches my itch for transportation obsessions.

Tl;dr: this is a 3D city-building and traffic management game. Its community is f***ing INSANE in a beautiful way so this game has pretty much infinite customization and replay value. Transport is a little neglected, but that's probably because this is NOT a transport tycoon game (don't get this game if you just want a 3D version of OpenTTD.) 9.99 recurring/10.

I refunded this.

I regret refunding this.

This is the most terrifying game I have ever played.
This is also one of the best games I've ever played.
10/10

I was mad at how undeveloped this game is. Then I read the Read Me in the menu, explaining this was made by a group of people, part-time, in their bedrooms. For that kind of situation, it may get a C in total experience, it gets an A+++ in effort. I'm not sure what stance I have on this game, which doesn't usually happen. On one hand, the game is generally bad. On the other, the team that made this is less than indie.

So far, pretty good. Physics are a bit iffy, but I like the variety in guns and applying a budget system to loadouts.

Only negative thing I have to say is that the community isn't really that active, but this is an Early Access. after all, so I honestly can't wait for this thing to grow. 8/10

Not bad, but not my kind of game. The puzzles were great, and it certainly held up suspense, but if felt too much like a Portal spinoff. Aside from that, the game's great. 8/10, might play again.

Great Game. Love the community and all its ideas, espiecially the maps. 10/10 Would play this amazing classic again. (And I Will!)