Stranded: Alien Dawn – Quick Impressions

Stranded: Alien Dawn is a colony builder in the style of Rimworld that just left Early Access for its 1.0 release. It’s made by Haemimont Games and published by Frontier Foundry. This is far from a review since I have only clocked in about three hours of the game before I asked for a refund on Steam. I will explain why.

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Exogate Initiative – Demo Impressions

If you ever wondered what it would be like to run something like StarGate, now you get your chance. At least for a little while in this demo of Exogate Initiative. Gameplay-wise it’s a base builder, and I think it could be best compared to Evil Genius, except that are you not hellbent on world domination. Here it’s about catching specimens from far-away worlds, analyzing them, and earning money from the patented research that follows.

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Dwarf Fortress Steam Edition – Quick Impressions

Been playing the new Dwarf Fortress version on Steam for about twenty hours now, and I think I got enough time under my belt to give some quick impressions. First off, I want to praise the new UI, in general at least, and the new graphics. It’s way more detailed than any visual pack I have used for the free version of the game. While I didn’t think the keyboard controls were that painful – just a bit archaic, I do appreciate the new mouse controls. It feels a bit more casual, and it requires less from you, which at least lets me focus on something else while playing – like listening to a good audiobook or watching a show on the second monitor.

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Manor Lords – Demo Impressions

Manor Lords is a village/city builder by Slavic Magic, and going by the demo it is showing great promise. It’s basically Kingdom Come: Deliverance but as a builder. The theme, setting, and even graphics are very similar. Now, the demo is pretty darn buggy, since it’s pre-EA, pre-alpha even (I hope). That is expected, though, so it’s not something I hold against the game in its current state. However, stuff that works, feels and looks good. It got the classic builder stuff that we all are used to now, but its focus on authenticity, and the realistic “slowness” of things make the title interesting to me. The focus on simulation over raw gameplay is what stands out. Which also has the effect of slowing down the game, making it a more relaxing experience, especially in combination with the fabulous music.

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Surviving the Aftermath – Tarps for Everyone!

Surviving the Aftermath is a colony management game set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic event that turned the world into a radioactive wasteland. It’s made by the Finnish developers Iceflake Studios and published by Paradox Interactive. Imagine building a fishing hut in any other similar game to this, but now add rusty sheets of metal, a plastic tarp, and other apocalyptic flavor items to the building, and you got Surviving the Aftermath!

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