14 DAY TRIAL // The wood-focused resource chain is working well, with three woodcutting huts supplying two sawmills, while a forester is working to make sure we don’t run out of trees anytime soon. But I haven’t done as good a job when it comes to stone. So, I decide to expand using a guard tower to bring more deposits into my realm and start thinking of how to best position both quarries and masons.
Meanwhile, my residential neighborhood also requires some tweaking. More houses are a priority and maybe I also need a new tavern with its associated tables and special well. After all, the hardworking people of this new settlement need to eat well if they are to toil all day to produce the many goods it needs to develop.
Finally, it is time to locate some advanced resources, like copper, and then set up the required buildings to exploit them. The best-managed colony isn’t worth much if other people or creatures can waltz right in and threaten the settlers. Pioneers of Pagonia is developed and published by Envision Entertainment. I played a preview of it on Steam on the PC.
The game is a spiritual successor to the Settlers series and uses the same management mechanics. The preview scenario starts off with a ship filled with people and starting resources and an empty stretch of land. There’s almost no narrative to speak of, other than milestones for development. The developers promise that secrets will be uncovered and that players will interact with other factions.
Mechanically, Pioneers of Pagonia stays close to the classics. Players can create roads and put down buildings. They will then watch as their villagers build and then man them. The Pagonians extract resources from the land, and each gets a dedicated production chain. Building placement and road connections are important when it comes to efficiency.
Guard towers are used to expand the village's borders, offering access to more resources and living space. It takes time and good planning to get all the materials required for the most complex buildings. But there are always potential tweaks to improve a settlement’s layout and productivity. Click on buildings and farm plots to have a clear idea of their state. You cannot click on individual villagers.
Pioneers of Pagonia doesn’t introduce any big mechanics that wouldn’t be familiar to a Settler fan. It gives players a lot of info to make good decisions and features procedurally generated terrain. The title’s biggest problem at the moment is the slow pace and lack of options to speed everything up. I like to watch people build a tavern once but sometimes I just want quick results.
Pioneers of Pagonia is pleasant to look at, with a ton of people moving around the settlement and a lot of small, nice details for all the production buildings. Get close to the ground to see people eating at communal tables and move around the map to discover places to expand to. It’s a shame that the general design for buildings and works is so familiar. The soundtrack is pleasing, remaining mostly in the background.
Conclusion
The game’s economic systems will satisfy anyone who loved the first few Settlers titles. But the slow pace might be a problem for modern gamers and developers should make sure to introduce extensive speed options. Pioneers of Pagonia showcases the best elements of its genre but needs to add something extra to keep players immersed in the long term.
Preview key provided by the developer.
