Terra Nil

Beautiful puzzle game. Sadly a bit short : 8-9 hours for 100% completion.

==Summary== A city-builder, a puzzle game, with the skin of ecology. ==Pro== Beautiful when the land is transformed. Nice airship take-off scene. ==Negative== Made a bad placement? You can't delete it. Made too much wetlands? You can undo it. Tedious start-up phase. Tedious clean-up phase. Water flow is not logical - it flows a certain distance, then stop? Then when you recycle those pumps, what does it keep flowing? Controlled burning can't be controlled. Grass don't spread - unless it rains. Vegetation don't spread. No proper save feature.

Is this a good game for what it is? Probably. But the description is so extremely misleading I can't help but feel deceived. It claims that "Terra Nil is a game about transforming a barren, lifeless landscape into a thriving, vibrant ecosystem." and "A reverse city builder". But it really is just a puzzle game with an unusual (if very beautiful) theme. There are many extremely unrealistic restrictions on what you can do that obviously just exists so there is a puzzle to be solved. Especially the main restriction of the last phase, only being able to use waterways, is completely unjustified with the level of technology you see before. Should I have watched more gameplay footage before buying, including spoilers for the last phase? Maybe. Is the game's description still very misleading? Absolutely. TL;DR: This is not a game with an immersive world. It's a puzzle with a beautiful theme.

When I was pitched Terra Nil, I was promised a reverse SimCity, where you reclaim the cities back to nature. I was imagining Sim Park style game, with a mix of Zoo Tycoon. But instead what I got was a fun puzzle game, of trying to optimize the space given to see all the check list animals and habitats. This is a game I'd recommend a strategy guide for, as the requirements are obtuse and hard to understand. That said, it's an extremely fun game, with unique scenarios, a wonderful soundtrack, and a fun puzzle game. I do wish there was more (or an endless mode), but what is here is nice.

The game is really nice and relaxing. Clean up the environment and enjoy reviving landscapes. A refreshingly different type of game. Free Update "Vita Nova": On Steam and in some gaming news you might have read that Terra Nil got a free update on Steam. Well, it also got it on GOG - but with no fuzz and quietly in the background. No news, no release note ... you devs are allowed to speak up more, we wont bite you for that :D In any case, I checked, the free update is there. Waiting for you in your game backlog on your shelf.