SteamWorld Build LadiesGamers

SteamWorld Build Demo Impressions

Demo code used, with many thanks to Keymailer.

I love the SteamWorld games and have played them all. So when we got the offer of a demo code to try out the newly announced SteamWorld Build by Thunderful Development, I jumped at the chance to play it.

SteamWorld Build, like all the previous SteamWorld games, is in a different genre from each other. All the games are set in a post-apocalyptic steampunk world. We have had SteamWorld Dig, a platformer action adventure with digging, and SteamWorld Heist, a Turn-based tactics shooter, to SteamWorld Quest, a roleplaying card game, to name a few.

City Building

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Let’s get building.

SteamWorld Build is a city-building strategy game where you play the architect of a SteamWorld mining town. The demo introduces you to the story; Jack, a prospector and his daughter Astrid Clutchsprocket have found the AI Core. The AI core is a purple-eyed sphere with wires hanging out of it.

Unfortunately, the core can’t do anything in its current state, but with the help of the good SteamWorld robots, that should be fine to sort out. However, buried deep underneath the desert are the broken remains of ancient technology that can lift the robots away from their crumbling planet and into space. So all the robots must work together to build an old western-style town in the desert. In addtion, the town you build supports the mine, and the mine supports the town.

Gather Resources

SteamWorld Build LadiesGamers
Build a city in the desert

You’ll have to gather resources underground while contending with mine-dwelling monsters. On the surface, you’ll build your town beside the local railway station, creating housing, providing food for your citizens, and ensuring they stay entertained.

Mine Underground

SteamWorld Build LadiesGamers
Mine underground

Meanwhile, you’ll also need to venture underground to explore an old abandoned mine. You are searching for ancient technology that could save your fledgling community from certain doom.

Underground, you can employ miners, prospectors’ and engineers to gather ores and other resources from below ground and use them to build up your town on the surface, with the ultimate goal of getting off-planet entirely.

SteamWorld Build LadiesGamers
Upgrade the buildings

The demo is short but long enough to give you a taster of what the full game will entail. Building your town is simple as long as you have the resources; you can place homes and cactus fields to supply water for your folk.

You can trade when the train arrives at the station to get more resources. Then you can upgrade the buildings and attract different classes of workers. Finally, visit the item shop to purchase items and equipment to increase the resources you can collect or provide you with new mining machinery.

SteamWorld Build LadiesGamers
Trade station

As yet, there isn’t a confirmed release date for Steamworld Build other than coming soon. In the meantime, you can wishlist the game on Steam, give the demo a whirl, and see what you think of it yourself. I’m looking forward to playing the game when it is released, as city building is my kind of game.

 

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