14 DAY TRIAL // The working class can farm, extract resources from the group, and then process them to create a budding industrial base. But I’m struggling to create the complex resource chains required to then convert everything into rubles or dollars to give our Soviet nation a chance to cover consumer needs and thrive.
A railroad is half-completed and the energy infrastructure could use some work. Most people are educated and have medical services but their loyalty to the Party isn’t what it should be. And the general layout of my settlements is messy, making it harder to create efficient neighborhoods and then implement efficient transportation solutions.
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic is developed by 3Division and published by Hooded Horse. I played the Early Access version on Steam on the PC. The game uses classic city-building concepts but incorporates a political point of view video games rarely feature.
As the name makes clear, the aim is not to create a thriving capitalist utopia of over-the-top consumption but a Communist one. This means there’s no invisible hand moving the market. Everything in the economy is planned. The buildings are gray concrete, the secret police are keeping an eye out for dissidents, and the Western block is unwilling to share new technology with a Soviet republic. Everyone should ideally be an atheist with a strong devotion to the party.
Workers & Resources can’t decide whether it is a faithful recreation of the latter half of the 20th century from a Communist perspective or a parody of it. The game features secret police that keep an eye on the population and a one-party state and many people might find them a poor addition to a city builder. But the campaign features mission briefings that sarcastically parrot classic Communist propaganda.
The game’s tone might be uneven, but its mechanics are uncompromising. It tasks players with handling everything from resource extraction to cross-border trade to neighborhood development to water and electricity delivery. And to build everything players will need to decide when they can use homegrown resources and when to spend hard-earned foreign currency.
There are a lot of mechanics to master, many of which overlap to create situations that are difficult to solve. It takes time to understand how each system affects others and the campaign doesn’t do a great job of communicating everything.
The game already has a modding scene and is designed with tools that give community members space to show off their creativity. The campaign offers a good introduction to the core concepts and there’s plenty of freedom delivered in the Custom Game mode.
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic isn’t a graphics powerhouse but looks good for its genre. Buildings are suitably drab, there’s not a lot of color to be found, and it seems to be raining more often than normal weather patterns might suggest. The interface is busy and it will take players time to learn how to access all information and options. The soundtrack is suited to the theme, although some of the tracks seem like parodies.
Conclusion
The game has a strong foundation and uses a unique perspective. It is deep and not always intuitive, the kind of city builder that will appeal to gamers who have already engaged deeply with the genre. Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic is a unique experience and I want its developers to make it accessible to as many players as possible.
Preview key provided by the publisher.
