The game is essentially a better banished. It's not even pretending to be anything else.

In other words, this is a variable speed, real time, city builder, where every individual citizen is simulated. If something needs to be moved from A to B, someone must carry that. However the game is very forgiving. It gives you the ability to deconstruct for full refund, move buildings essentially for labor, free resource wise. While buildings are being moved or upgraded, they still function for the vast majority of the time.

For example, moving a saw mill, will mark it as a target for deconstruction, will mark a target for moving. While the destination is being cleared, paved, and leveled, the saw mill is still functioning. Then when the destination is ready, you need some labor to pack it up and some labor to unpack it. Only once everything is packed up, does work stop. But unpacking is many times faster than building. So realistically, you'll stop production for a minute or two on average.

Other than that, it has all the banished things. Foragers that require you to find stuff on the ground. Arborists that will cull trees and later (after an upgrade) also plant them for infinite wood. Though placing this arborist in a historic forest (there already is a forest there now, or there was before you cut it down) will result in much taller and thicker trees. While making the forester in a desert might not produce much of anything.

Hunters also require, especially at first, to actually find wildlife on the map. Later they can be upgraded with iron traps that will passively gather food from critters that don't actually apear on the map.


Now that we've talked about similarities, it is time to talk about differences. Starting with desirability, better trading (land trading, no rivers here, only lakes). And most of all, farming and production.


Whereas in banished you just started farming and hoped for no drought or harsh weather, here you need to consider:

* Base Soil Quality (you can improve it, but it will always trend towards base)
* Each crop influences soil quality
* Fertilization
* Weeds and rocks
* Soil nature, clay or sandy? And adjusting. Each crop prefers something else.
* Crop diseases and spreading and lingering diseases


Next you also have animal husbandry that can be lead to eat cover crops on fields and fertilize the land. You can plant fruit trees, though these are much simplified in comparison. They're fairly easy to manage, and generally speaking a net boon. So it's best to build animal enclosures asap, and once a merchant has some on hand, get them. And as long as you have a pair, they'll start reproducing.


Next major departure, you have production chains. Not Anno production chains, but much more than you have in banished. You are no longer just making tools and clothes. Your people will start wanting luxury. The game gives you quite a number of tools to make your settlement pretty. Starting with planting trees of your choice, to gardens, paved walk ways, festival areas, pubs, theathers, statues, parks, etc. And most of these aren't just for you, but also for your citizen. Once desirability goes up, they will evolve their homes, wanting new and better goods, more diverse food, etc. Very similar to Anno, but this is the only thing about the game that functions like an Anno game.


However, you will find yourself overproducing industry by quite a bit. The reason for this is because the traders in this game play a pivotal role. On the first baby maps you'll have every resource you'll ever need, and fertile land, and plenty of animals to slaughter and hang their mantle piece over a fireplace. But other maps lack in one, two, or more key resources. And you have no choice but to trade for them.

Now, ofc, the traders also help a lot in the early game. Over producing something you have easy access to, and trade it for something that you simply can't make yet, to upgrade or build a crucial building that will make your life easier.

Not to mention all the gold involved. And you'll need quite a bit of it.


Lastly, you have soldiers and raiders. I won't go much into detail here since I haven't played much with these mechanics. Unless you set raiders to maximum, there's plenty of ways to cheese them, so I'm not the person to talk on this aspect of the game. It's honestly not bad, even for people that despise combat in city builders. But to note, there will be raider camps on the map. Limiting expansion in certain directions. But you are not completely surrounded by them. It's just RNG.

This game is so addictive that I got so carried away playing that I forgot to go to bed and had to be sleepy at work all day... Damn Monday :(

My type of game, you can play for survival or mostly in a sandbox and see if you can build big beautiful settlement. Its consumed a few hours from me and I do it all over again and will keep playing it in the future. Devs have been great, listening to feedback, addressing issues and concerns. Highly recommend the game.