Platforms: PC
Genre: Simulation, Strategy, Building Management

I’m not sure if this new building game in the Steamworld universe was good for my anxiety, but damn, was it a really good game. When I say I was addicted as soon as I started, I mean, I finished every single map available… If you don’t know what it is, the game is a pretty simple city-builder. A group of robots are eager to leave this unstable planet and reach right for the stars. To gather the necessary rocket parts for your interstellar escape, you must rebuild a bustling town above ground while mining resources and facing monsters below in a multi-level city-building adventure. This involves setting up accommodations, shops, and other essential services to maintain a well-functioning workforce while you explore the depths below.

Down In The Underground

We take on the roles of Jack and Alice Clutchsprocket, a grandfather and granddaughter managing our town. Gunn-Britt Gildenwire oversees our efforts as we handle the population, town expansion, and underground exploration. The game starts out slow; you start placing worker buildings and connecting them with roads to the train station which is currently down. You’ll need a certain amount of worker buildings up and running to fix the station before it works.

I know they are robots but their satisfaction remains crucial to making sure your town runs well. Adding residential buildings attracts more bots to your city, but it’s you will have to address their wants and needs. Neglecting this might lead some of your workforce to leave. Certain buildings require a specific number of worker bots, so balancing resources, happiness, and tasks is the key to transforming your little town into a bustling metropolis. The placement tool is highly effective, indicating unavailable spots with a red glow and permissible locations with a blue glow. What I love also about this is that when you place a resource-producing building, highlights its area of influence by outlining connected roads and buildings.

Not only are you figuring out how to maintain worker satisfaction, you’re also trying to ensure a steady flow of various resources, and avoid destabilizing your economy when implementing new upgrades. With a lot to manage, things might get a bit confusing, but the admin menu lets you track production and demand. This way, you can easily identify where your focus should be and quickly get back on track.

After a lot of hours on this game (and by that I mean 50 hours), I’ve come to realize where you place your resources making buildings matter. I ended up putting all my factories in an area close to my mining shaft so that it delivers things fast and production won’t take as long. Don’t worry though, When your bots become dissatisfied, an icon appears above them, and a quick click reveals what they need! If you’re a fan of progression games, this one is perfect for you. The game gives you milestones to nudge you in the right direction so you consistently have a clear understanding of what the next item on your agenda is.

Now once you fix the train, your next goal is to fix the mine shaft. Every five minutes, a new train arrives with a fresh set of three potential trades, and you can also trade money for supplies you need, or vice versa. To upgrade the mine shaft, you’ll need a certain number of engineers to start working for you, which means, some of your workers will have to be upgraded. Engineers also happen to be some big partygoers, cause they need a saloon and some moonshine to keep them happy. Once you have enough engineers, you can finally repair the mine shaft to venture down below.

Now this is where the fun really begins! We have to manage operations above ground as usual,  but now we also have to construct housing for the mining bots to live. Don’t worry though, they apparently have no needs to satisfy, so you just place tiles down and get these bots to start doing the work. This is where the comparison to Dungeon Keeper comes into play. Switching between the town and the mines is instantaneous with the click of a button, ensuring there’s always something to do. There’s something really satisfying about clicking blocks and watching your miners get to work. It’s a symbiotic cycle of progress. The resources you obtain down below will help you return to the city above and construct new buildings that, in turn, support your efforts underground. But why are we down here? Well, you’re here to find the rocket parts to dig up! There are six parts you will have to find. You’ll eventually unlock prospectors and mechanics to help you make things easier down below. Miners start with basic digging, but with a tools shop above, they can use pickaxes for better resources soon enough. For scrap metal and water veins, you’ll need drills and workshops. Down the line, you will able to build bridges to provide access to areas that were previously unreachable.

Structural integrity is extremely crucial and ensuring you’ve constructed enough pillars to support the ceiling above your robots is essential for smooth operations. Neglecting this can lead to rocks falling from above, hindering your bots’ work and progress. Fortunately, pillars are affordable to install, and they can share the same space as any underground living quarter. It’s easy to overlook the importance of pillars at times. On a few occasions, I had my bots digging tiles while I attended to tasks on the surface, only to come back and discover an ominous rumbling and several new rocks on the ground. And yes, this can lead to destroying quarters and your machines down below. You’ll unlock radars and constructing these radars will scan places underground and reveal the locations of valuable resources. I didn’t use this as much on my first run, but in my second I actually realized just how much of a difference it makes being able to see everything.

Things really start to get messy once you unlock the third and fourth floors in the mines. Yes… It goes further down below. You’ve got annoying little creepers now who will attack you in waves. They never attack simultaneously on different floors which is really nice and they indicate where the enemies will spawn. You get a 5 minute warning before they attack so you’ve got plenty of time to build a defense! When you unlock the third floor, you get little Guards, who will help you defend.

My favourite is giving them flamethrowers to burn away the creeps. You will also unlock an armoury with pretty cool defence turrets to help you with these pesky creeps. Remember to always check the train store and buy items that give you +Guards or well, anything that gives you additional bots is great. I really struggled at first when it came to defending and I’d watch my tiny bots flee floor after floor when being attacked. Honestly, the little animations are a perfect touch! In the end, I placed my Guards quarters close to the attacks so that they wouldn’t waste time running to the hive to kill the enemies. It helps a lot, trust me. Things can get rather chaotic down below, even with a good defence so you’ll definitely need one to keep track when you’re being attacked. I won’t spoil much of what happens on these floors but let’s just say things get hectic up above and down below.

Once you’ve completed the rocket you will have to fuel it! But you can only do so if you’ve hit every single milestone in your city. Not only that, everyone has to be 100% satisfied, so you really gotta get to work. Once you launch your rocket, you’ll get a bittersweet cutscene. My heart clenched. I didn’t realize just how invested I got into building my little city. But after completing different maps, you will get different rewards to help you onto your next playthrough, so it is 100% worth finishing the maps.

WORTH SPELUNKING FOR

Every aspect of this game feels meticulously designed. The goals are clearly emphasized so you don’t get lost. Even dragging and dropping units is satisfying, and arranging paths or placing mining equipment functions perfectly well. The interaction between the above-ground and below-ground elements feels well-paced and thoughtfully designed. The familiar art style of the series shines through in every little detail, with its bright and eye-catching colours that make every aspect of the game absolutely loveable.

The dialogue and cutscenes were charming and made me chuckle. It was witty and quirky. You can’t help but love the characters. It seems more challenging to tear yourself away from this game. Whether you’re a devoted city builder or a casual gamer seeking some entertainment, SteamWorld Build is unquestionably worth adding to your collection.

PROS

• The story is engaging & heartwarming.
• The art style is eye-catching and vivid.
• The goals are clearly emphasized.
• Dragging, dropping & clicking units is satisfying.

CONS

• You will lose sleep over this.

FINAL SCORE: 90/100

Review copy provided by publisher.