"Pure" is the best word I can use to describe this game. You'd be forgiven if you thought that a city building sim without rival city builders to dominate or enemies to slay, or indeed any kind of combat at all would be dull. In actual fact it feels truely special because behind it's seemingly simple premise you constantly walk a tightrope balancing your resource production against need and city expansion against population growth. Absolutely elegant in what it delivers as a gaming experience. Why 4 instead of 5 stars? There are some minor flaws which could simply be small bugs in the AI. Although it is easy to mismanage your city and incur mass starvation or an ageing population no longer able to reproduce, it is also the case that common sense solutions to hunger and hypothermia are ignored by your villagers sometimes. This can mar the experience somewhat when your thriving town can perish at the hands of the citizens sudden lack of self preservation instinct: running round in the cold instead of taking refuge in a warm building ( as the tutorial advises is the design) or passing several well stocked houses and storage barns en route to their home only to drop dead of starvation a short way from their front door. Despite this common issue, the game itself is extraordinary in its elegance, subtlety and general game balance. The game continues to be developed too with mod support due to be implemented, so hopefully any remaining bugs will get resolved too.
