Farlanders

I don't normally like puzzle games, but am very fond of city builders and the like. This has such a wonderful look to it of always feeling like you are in a tight squeeze of managing resources. You spend turns arm wrestling your resources into the positive, maybe even sometimes havign a large amount of excess. But bring in new citizens to get more things done and you find that some resources are now in decline. You always feel like you are walking a tightrope, and it's great. It reminded me a bit of DotAge, but without the manual allocation of population. The tutorial and campaign is good and it introduces each new mechanic (and there are quite a few unique, yet intergrated systems here). I am still working my way through the story campaign and loving it, but it can be hard to get your initial colony up and running, and I have had to restart runs a few times. The between level dialogue is largely unessecary, but can be skipped, and is not essential to undertsanding the game. Not all systems are completely clear and there may be times you don't quite know why something isn't working, but usually you can nut it out. Some folks complain about the random nature of the terraforming tools you are offered every few turns. Yes, you can sometimes wait a very long time for that one thing you are after, but a) that keeps you on your toes and feels awesome when you survive through the tough time, and b) it is largely mitgated in later levels when the terraforming tool market comes online, even if the better things are VERY expensive. So they should be, this game should be a challenge and it feels great to overcome the odds and have things swing your way. So, if you like resource management, almost board game style puzzlers on a procedural map, with tight-rope, skin of your teeth survival, then you'll like this - you may just need to push throgh a campagin leel or two in order for you to sink its teeth into you a little more.