This week it is all about building, farming and have the most relaxing time. Creating visually stunning scapes and managing relationships in Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles. Then setting up a new life in Lightyear Frontier as I look at the early access release. The indie scene continues to be great!
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles
DEVELOPER: Tomas Sala
PUBLISHER: Wired Productions
Platforms: PC
Price: £15.99
Steam Deck: Unknown (Should get verified)
Getting that balance between a casual relaxing game, with one that offers up a challenge isn’t easy to do. Especially in a genre like a city-builder, stratefy game with minor 4X elements to it. But somehow Bulwark manages to do just that.
Thomas Sala’s glorious creation manages to be a little bit Townscaper, a little bit Cities Skylines and a little bit Civilization. With each part blending wonderfully to create a game that is a joy to play and one that you never really want to leave.
There is a freedom to creating, that makes you feel somewhat like a God, as you craft some beautiful lands that all come together seamlessly. Filling in the gaps for you and just making the world as picturesque as possible. This alone is worthy of your time.
However this is a strategy game and you do need to take into consideration things like, routes, materials, population, economy, etc. So making sure you can get access to stone for example could bve vital in upgrading certairn buildings, defences and the like.
Then you have the Civ elements, where you are managing relationships between your domain and those around you. As in Bulwark there is a constantly evolving world where balance needs to be kept. How you do that is up to you.
You can go a trading route, or try for domination via conquests. Plus a lot of other variables too. What I like though is rather than trying to give you the full experience of each part and compete with the other mentioned games, Bulwark take the approach of… ‘what can we take and make it fit with this vision’.
In all honesty Thomas Sala nails it. As with most games of its ilk, the more you play Bulwlark the more you understand. Yet at no point does any one part become overwhelming which makes Bulwark a great game to just pick up now and again and spend a cosy evening playing.
It even has a freebuild mode which essentially allows you to have a digital paintbrush to create your own perfect landscapes, all without the strategy elements. Something I’d love to see more of in builder games, so I am glad it is here.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles runs ever so well on the Steam Deck with full controller support and something a highly recommend.
Lightyear Frontier
DEVELOPER: FRAME BREAK, Amplifier Studios
PUBLISHER: Amplifier Studios, FRAME BREAK
Platform: PC, Xbox
Price: £20.99 (Early Access)
Steam Deck: Unknown (No issues at all)
Farming sims, exploration games, builders, automation, co-op… yadda, yadda, yadda. There surely isn’t space for more of these is there? Especially one that combines all of that. Well unfortunately for all the naysayers, there is another and it is pretty good too.
Essentially you and your mech crash-land on a strange planet, where you must survive, by growing, adapting and thriving. Building your homestead to become a place you want to call home on a map that plenty to discover and a fair amount to do.
I found Lightyear Frontier to be the bits from No Man’s Sky when you find a planet you like, want to explore and set up a base on. But without the intimidating scale that comes with it. Also without the constant threat hanging over your head.
Lightyear Frontier is a game about relaxing and living a calm life as you integrate yourself with your new surrounding. You’ll discover new materials, wildlife, recipes, etc. All whilst building a base to life life in and act as a base to start from.
The more you dicover, the more you can build, the more you can upgrade, the further you can go. But you can do this all at your own pace and whilst there are objectives and goals to meet, Lightyear Frontier never seems to put any pressure on you to get them done.
The early game is somewhat structured, but it is designed in such a way that it helps you get an understanding over the general gameplay loop and slowly introduces you to the planet. Because despite being no threat, it doesn’t mean there isn’t any itrigue or mystery.
It’s the exact opposite actually. Early on I came across some ruins, that led to me sort of abandoning what I was doing to explore. By doing so I uncovered some new things, both in terms of new materials, but also new intrigue. This is right up my street!
Lightyear Frontier is in early access, but it is definitely a feature rich game that doesn’t feel unfinished and is incredibally well polished already. Though I will now take a step back and check back in sporadically ahead of getting its full release.
