14 DAY TRIAL // I’ve got a ton of workers and a surplus of money but I’ve built my town a little erratically and that means it’s harder than it should be to upgrade my houses to attract a better category of steambot. So I need to raze a few of the houses (I get resources back, which is a good thing) and place more saloons and service shops.
This should mean my robot citizens can satisfy all their needs and, once that happens and I have the money and resources I need, I can use the upgrade tool to balance my population and gain access to a new range of building options.
Minerals are flowing from my mines, which are in better shape than my above-ground town, and I need to create new working-class robot neighborhoods for processing. I might also trade some of them for money. And I need to improve the whole burger production chain. Only once all that’s done can I give my full attention to the second underground level and its mysteries.
SteamWorld Build is developed by Thunderful Development, with publishing from Thunderful Publishing. I played a preview version on the PC using Steam. The game will also arrive on home consoles. The title delivers a new take on city building and management.
A short intro explains that the robots of this science fiction future are looking for a way off their planet, which is coming apart. An abandoned mine gives them access to the underground, where they can find the ancient rocket pieces they need to put together before they can launch for the stars.
Characters intervene as the game progresses but their banter isn’t very interesting. The focus is on building a city above ground while miners expand a mine and explore new biomes. The two constantly interact with each other and good performance only happens by mixing careful planning with a willingness to re-build sections for improved efficiency.
The mining town features classes of citizens, each of them with an associated set of buildings. To upgrade, players need to meet all their needs and pay a cost of both money and resources. Certain numbers of different citizen types are required to hit milestones that unlock options for the mine.
Underground, players need to spot promising veins and set up a full extractive industry. Digging is intuitive, although after the initial exploration phase, it’s a good idea to build machines to deliver a constant resource stream. Players have to add support to dangerous areas, use bridges for access to new areas, and find the all-important rocket pieces.
The two layers interact constantly and it’s satisfying to see how time dedicated to one opens up new opportunities for the other. All the city development mechanics are solid, even if they don’t introduce much innovation to the genre.
SteamWorld Build mixes Western and science fiction ideas for its presentation. It mostly works, with above-ground buildings that have clear visual identities and a variety of underground biomes to explore and exploit. The interface also manages to give players information on resource flow, building needs, and more. The voice acting isn’t the most engaging, with some forced twangs for most robot actors, and the soundtrack is pleasant.
Conclusion
To push the mine deeper, the town above it also needs to develop. The mechanics here are more familiar, with a focus on good planning and solid production chain management. The full release of SteamWorld Build will benefit from more innovative ideas for this side of the experience and from the addition of an extra speed option.
A preview key was provided by the publisher
