Banished

This game tops all the other city Simulators I've ever played. You have an city of people that was banished from another civilization to build an new one, yes its hardwork but is very rewarding in the end.

I like it, and really tried to make it work, thinking I need to "git good", but goes belly up for all the wrong reasons. At 12/2/2 people started to die due to famine, with 4/4 gatherer and 3/3 hunter. "How could that be??!!" I stupidly ask myself. Well ofcourse, the resources are laying on the floor all over the forest because reasons... "Maybe I need a closer barn", I dumbly continue. "Up yours" says the game, as the laborers idle instead of clearing the barn build site...

I have been waiting almost a year for this game to come out, and I really thought that I had built up too much anticipation and would be disappointed. Nope! I bought it the day it came out, and have been playing it hours a day since. It's a beautiful simulation, with an amazing amount of complexity. Hopefully one day we can look forward to mods or expansions to build upon this wonderful game and engine.

If you're a fan of simulation games such as Tropico, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Capitalism, Dwarf Fortress, etc, then "Banished" is a must buy. I love these types of games and this one is a true gem. "Banished" is brilliant for a few key reasons: (1) the controls and interface are simple, intuitive, and effective; (2) the simulation mechanics are also simple to comprehend and challenging, allowing players to plan and build without trying to decipher a foreign language; (3) the game-play doesn't try to go over the top with micro-management, technology, or other abstract elements (like politics or religion) "Banished" is easily one of my favorite PC games among a library of 100+ games, and I'm very picky about simulation titles. It's too easy to get into the game and realize you should have gone to bed 2 hours ago but you can't stop... just gotta finish up those new houses and figure out a way to boost food production... 2 hours later and another task to do. It's really that good.

Banished is a solid city builder with few if any bugs (which is honestly a huge achievement). The graphics are quite nice but on mid-to-older machines, the game starts to chug once the population starts getting into triple digits, and there doesn't seem to be any way around this. My main complaint with the game, aside from the slowdown, is that it's simply too easy. The first few hours can be touch-and-go, but once you've got the nucleus of the town running, the only real way to kill yourself is to overexpand so that you run out of food or firewood. But then, there's no real reason to expand beyond 200 people or so except to earn achievements. There's no pyramid that needs building. No barbarians that need conquering. There's no ... goal. In short: Neat concept. Decent execution. Pretty graphics. Good for 10 hours of fun if you like a challenge, but ultimately unsatisfying.