What this game mostly has is aesthetics and story. That, combined with the fact that it was made by a small studio, is what I believe earned it the high ratings it received. Beyond that, there isn’t much to care about. The game mechanics are just okay, nothing particularly special. It’s riddled with strange design decisions, such as workers falling ill if they spend the night at +10°C without tents, yet being able to go three days of manual labor without food before merely becoming hungry (not starving). These "inconsistencies" makes it hard to anticipate what the game expects from the player. Overall, the gameplay can be described as trial and error, which makes the experience frustrating. Frequent loading breaks immersion and undermines the potential impact of the story. The aesthetics, while impressive, actually make it harder to distinguish buildings and navigate the city. Steam and smoke from the generator sometimes obscure the view, visually appealing, perhaps, but highly impractical. Another immersion-breaking issue is that the scenarios are heavily scripted, with seemingly arbitrary and punitive events. Sometimes the game warns the player to prepare, and sometimes it doesn’t. In the latter case, the player often has no choice but to load, more often than not several saves back, and start preparing in advance. Mistakes do not manifest early, game lets player struggle for days, letting him think that he can make it, until it breaks his neck with one of those events. When I judge a game, I try to reflect on how I feel after each time I play it. Was I relaxed or entertained? With this one, I mostly ended up angry and frustrated.
