Banished is getting on in years now with over 6 years since its release and just about as much since it’s last patch. Never the less, I still remember my playthrough of it all those eons ago. It is fair to say it has stuck with me as a competent, pocket sized, town builder.

The game focuses on the smaller village to town setting. Preferring to engage the player with its economy system. I would describe it as similar but more lightweight than Blue Byte’s The Settlers. Villagers are tasked with gathering resources like ore or wood, other villagers process it into usable materials and yet others refine it. Balancing the supply and demand of materials and resources can be tricky but feels rewarding when done right. In some ways It fells like you are THE invisible hand. The point here being… without going too into the meta of what the point of life is, to make everyone happy, allowing a healthy expansion of the town and being self-sufficient in the process.

The settlers, villagers have needs that need to be met or else they leave your paradise on earth. Makes me wonder, where are they going to go? Weren’t they banished from everywhere else? They get hungry, so farms or fishers need to be placed. They get sick so a hospital is needed. They even have the audacity to get cold during the winter. Every job needs a villager assigned to it. This adds more difficult to expanding the town and opening the gameplay up a bit more. The goal here is preventing hunger, disease, cold, pest infestations...

Though it can be difficult at first, the foremost important thing I found was expanding very slowly. Knowing exactly how many people your town can sustain is key.
Helped by a simple interface, the game does a good job at explaining what everything is and how it works. There is no monetary economy and very little trading is done. No combat is present, no diplomacy or politics. Only the people and the land. I think this is what makes Banished great. It is a simple game with enough depth to keep players engaged, has an easy barrier to entry and hooks right away with is steep difficulty that can be mastered swiftly once one uses their head.

The downside is the end game. Once you’ve built everything and have balanced the economy, there is little left to do other than achievement hunting. I’m not going to say it is shallow, but the end game does feel like a swimming pool you’ve outgrown. If you find it particularly fun and don’t mind starting over, the challenge is there to start with fewer resources or on different sized maps. I had fun with my time with Banished. I think the asking price is fair but considering the age and alternatives out there today, I’d buy it on a sale if you enjoy city builders / economy sims.

Mods are supported but active development has ceased.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=281760356

Banished is getting on in years now with over 6 years since its release and just about as much since it’s last patch. Never the less, I still remember my playthrough of it all those eons ago. It is fair to say it has stuck with me as a competent, pocket sized, town builder. The game focuses on the smaller village to town setting. Preferring to engage the player with its economy system. I would describe it as similar but more lightweight than Blue Byte’s The Settlers. Villagers are tasked with gathering resources like ore or wood, other villagers process it into usable materials and yet others refine it. Balancing the supply and demand of materials and resources can be tricky but feels rewarding when done right. In some ways It fells like you are THE invisible hand. The point here being… without going too into the meta of what the point of life is, to make everyone happy, allowing a healthy expansion of the town and being self-sufficient in the process. The [strike]settlers[/strike], villagers have needs that need to be met or else they leave your paradise on earth. Makes me wonder, where are they going to go? Weren’t they [b]banished[/b] from everywhere else? They get hungry, so farms or fishers need to be placed. They get sick so a hospital is needed. They even have the audacity to get cold during the winter. Every job needs a villager assigned to it. This adds more difficult to expanding the town and opening the gameplay up a bit more. The goal here is preventing hunger, disease, cold, pest infestations... Though it can be difficult at first, the foremost important thing I found was expanding very slowly. Knowing exactly how many people your town can sustain is key. Helped by a simple interface, the game does a good job at explaining what everything is and how it works. There is no monetary economy and very little trading is done. No combat is present, no diplomacy or politics. Only the people and the land. I think this is what makes Banished great. It is a simple game with enough depth to keep players engaged, has an easy barrier to entry and hooks right away with is steep difficulty that can be mastered swiftly once one uses their head. The downside is the end game. Once you’ve built everything and have balanced the economy, there is little left to do other than achievement hunting. I’m not going to say it is shallow, but the end game does feel like a swimming pool you’ve outgrown. If you find it particularly fun and don’t mind starting over, the challenge is there to start with fewer resources or on different sized maps. I had fun with my time with Banished. I think the asking price is fair but considering the age and alternatives out there today, I’d buy it on a sale if you enjoy city builders / economy sims. Mods are supported but active development has ceased. https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=281760356