Steam is currently running its Steam Strategy Fest and as usual, there are a lot of demos to try out. Reus 2 is having its first public demo, by the way! Go check it out if you’re even vaguely interested!
But back to the actual topic: Mini Settlers. I started this demo not expecting much at all. Not because of the simplistic graphics, but because it reminded me of Masterplan Tycoon. A game whose demo I played as well and which I liked well enough, but never as much that I made the purchase (maybe now, though, because it is on sale).
So I was sitting here playing this game when my husband looked at my screen and commented that it reminded him of Settlers. The title of the game is fitting. And it does play like that. A peaceful version of Settlers. Only that the graphics are really simply. The roadbuilding makes me scratch my head constantly because you can only connect a new road or a building at the circles. Each road piece can be 4 to 7 “tiles” long and starts and ends at/with such a circle. That part was what confused me in the beginning. I tried but couldn’t connect roads because you can’t just connect them along the line.
The resources are transported along the road network and you need to make sure that they get transported on time, at least to the inhabitants who need water and food. Or else they will move away. For everything else, the resources need to be transported as well, of course, but other than having to wait, I don’t think there negative consequences (although, as with any city-builder, if that does take too long, your city may well collapse at some point when no food is produced, etc.).
There are currently three maps (and two more that are locked for the demo). Each with an increasing population goal. The maps note the best time it took you to complete it. The disclaimer states that at the moment, there isn’t a save function or random generation of the maps. So I assume both will be in the final game!
Altogether, it is a fun game with a focus on building an efficient road network. I love it!
Nerdy Bookahs 