[b]first days of atlantis[/b] is yet another [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1046030]islanders[/url]-like, so a simplified and more puzzly city builder, on [b]hex-based maps[/b] in this case, and only one per run, [b]no island-hopping[/b], making it less ephemeral. also less polished and more buggy, so just about recommendable.
there's [i]normal[/i] and [i]long game[/i], the difference being... no idea. no in-game explanation, they play the same way, didn't notice anything. maybe it's the world size, but that doesn't necessary mean a longer game. the brief [b]optional tutorial[/b] teaches the absolute basics, has an annoying typewriter effect too, luckily without any sound.
[b]buildings and other placeables come in the form of cards.[/b] tooltips reveal what they do, which is mostly generating gold, collect enough to unlock more structures. there's a [b]buggy auto-sort setting[/b] to group the same cards together, has to be turned on again after every game. mouseover on tiles also provides info, but it's only whether it's fertile or not for more agricultural benefits, [b]terrain types don't matter at all[/b], sand, stone, dirt or whatever are just cosmetic.
I would've liked placed buildings to bring up the same info as their card, not just the provided amount, radius and icon. yes, I can tell a house apart from some wheat, but it takes a while to remember what should be placed next to what. the 'i' button toggles all the benefits from every tile, no need to individually mouseover everything one by one.
[b]there's no timer or turn limit[/b], but it's essentially a turn-based affair. each placement counts as one (except platforms), after which all the placed things pay out. [b]the game desperately needs a coin animation toggle[/b], it's really annoying to see and hear it after every. single. building. just increase my gold instantly.
[b]quests[/b] are also a thing, build what they want to get more cash and cards. there are 3 active ones at a time, and in such situations I always prefer a dismiss option in case it's something I can't (or can't be bothered) to do, yet it takes up a spot. no such option here. placement location doesn't matter at least, so if (and that's often a big if) you have the required buildings, they're not hard.
[b]the run ends when you run out of cards[/b], then you can compare scores on the [b]leaderboards[/b] and try again in a random new world. progress is saved when you quit, but as usual, [b]finished worlds aren't kept[/b] because no dev in the genre can be ♥♥♥♥♥♥ to make such a basic thing happen. [b]coins are kept and used for unlocking more color schemes[/b] that can be toggled individually, so they won't show up in your runs.
[b]controls aren't explained anywhere, but it's largely mouse-based[/b] and completely non-rebindable. wasd/arrows move the map (the mouse can do that too at the edge of the screen), mouse wheel zooms while also tilting the camera (not that great), holding it rotates the view. right click cancels the currently selected card.
the music is nice but [b]of all the games I've played in the genre, this looks the worst[/b]. I don't normally care about the graphics, but some of the fonts and a few color themes are simply ugly as ♥♥♥♥. what's really cool though, besides individual toggles for themes, is [b]people and animals appearing and moving around[/b] as your domain keeps expanding.
[b]menu navigation is bad.[/b] open windows act as if they're not there, the cursor highlighting stuff in the background, and in the main menu moving the mouse also moves the scenery/camera. as annoying as it is nauseating, and turning it off in the settings doesn't make it stop. mouseover can bring up more choices that don't go away while you're already somewhere else, and the options menu has 'options' and 'credits' instead of having the latter in the main menu because it has nothing to do with options. speaking of, there are separate volume settings, resolutions in a pull-down menu, windowed mode toggle and languages, also available while playing. [b]photo mode[/b] hides the ui, as usual. no graphics settings, though to be fair, it couldn't look a lot less appealing anyway.
I enjoyed my time with the game about as much as with others in this genre, but [b]it's not something to pay full price for[/b]. it's the second most expensive one of its kind (after [b]dorfromantik[/b]) but [b]doesn't offer more or much different, it's buggy and you can buy multiple others for the price of this[/b]. if you're not into more of the same, might as well pick another one, but I'd rather try different coats of paint instead of replaying stuff. picked it up at 75% off, good enough, but anything more than half price would be foolish even if it got polished a bit.
