Rain, just not that awful rain
Our main opponent in the game is nature. It rains all the time (even when the sun is shining), and there are also cyclical storms with lightning, which make life even more difficult. Now, probably many of you will ask, “What do I care about any storms in a city building game?” Well, they do care, because rain and broadly understood weather conditions affect everything, e.g. during a storm, a merchant will not come to us (who is, in fact, crucial for the entire game, but more on that later), during a storm there is a small chance that one of the our settlers will be killed by lightning, etc.
Anyway, we must remember that the hearth is always the most important element of our settlement. If the fire goes out in it, the settlement will die, and therefore we must remember not to run out of fuel to support the fire. By standing at the hearth, settlers increase their Happiness rating, known in the game as Motivation, which can drop for a variety of reasons. When we are with the settlers, they are people, lizards and beavers. They all live together in symbiosis, and each has their own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is always important to keep an eye on the needs of different species, because if the inhabitants are dissatisfied, they leave the settlement, and this results in fewer hands to work, which in turn could end tragically for us.
The beginning of the game
Here we come to one of the elements that stand out against Against the Stormamong other city builders, because units cannot be created in the game. At the start, we get three inhabitants of each species, and more will come to us in caravans sent by the queen. Each time, two such groups come to us, differing in the number of settlers and the resources they bring with them, and we will have to choose which of them will join us, and which will go to another settlement. Yes, the queen needs settlements and resources to rebuild her kingdom and our head, including it, to succeed. In each game, we receive tasks that must be performed to satisfy her height and win prizes that can make the game easier for us. The ruler’s satisfaction is key to winning each game. Only our good reputation, built by fulfilling tasks, can guarantee us victory.
Ubiquitous RNG
While an impatient queen is something we have to worry about, the real drawback of the game is its randomness, which makes every playthrough a challenge. You must know that at the very beginning we have a basic range of buildings at our disposal, and the rest is unlocked during the game and here the stairs begin …
Unlocking new building plans is to choose one of the three that we get from the queen as a reward for increasing reputation. The problem is that we never know what buildings we will have to choose, and we have to choose wisely, after all, it will often be related to the tasks that we will have to perform, and the list of tasks within one game of course … is also random (the only plus is such that the tasks at the very beginning are relatively easy to implement).
Upgrade selection window
However, this is not the only random aspect of this game, because on each board we start with a small area of land, which we will have to gradually enlarge if we want to further develop the settlement (otherwise we will simply run out of space for new buildings). In order for our little village to become a bustling metropolis, we will have to cut down and clear the forest to get to clearings of various sizes shrouded in fog. Okay, but what’s the problem? Exactly in this unfortunate randomness. In city building games, it is obvious that you will need to acquire resources, and to do so, you need to build buildings that make it possible. But again in Against the Stormit looks a bit different, because here we can only come across resource sources that we will not have to extract, because among the selection of buildings to unlock, there will be no one that will enable us to do so.
We can, and basically have to, break through the walls of trees to other clearings, but we do not know what awaits us either (we only have information whether a given undiscovered place is safe or not, i.e. whether there is no waiting for us there. danger). In this way, we can have a lot of sources of raw materials and not be able to extract them, and we will not have access to those that we can extract, because they are nowhere near us, and before we get somewhere further, our settlement will, for example, starve. . I forgot to add that cutting the forest itself is not only an element of expansion, but also a way to obtain wood, which is used basically everywhere, be it for production or for fuel. Unfortunately, this has its drawbacks, because going deeper into thick forests causes fear in our inhabitants, and this in turn affects their determination.
Coming back to these unfortunate resources, assuming that we survive long enough, the merchant’s stand comes to our aid. At the aforementioned merchant, we can exchange goods, the availability of which is also random. We can also build trade routes with other nearby settlements that we have created, because if one of our settlements wins the game, it can be used as a trade route in the next game to supply the new settlement with goods.
Schemes selection window
Yes, in Against the Storm we don’t build big cities, but rather many small settlements that can cooperate with each other. To win, all you need to do is understand the complex network of dependencies and mechanics, and hope that you will be lucky with resources and buildings at the beginning of the game. Otherwise, it’s best not to waste time and quit right away and start the game again (that’s probably what we’ll probably do often).
Bread and circuses, or rather … beer and cookies?
As mentioned earlier, in order for our residents to be satisfied, we need to meet their needs, such as services and food. Products that can satisfy the residents are, for example, cookies and beer. All we have to do is build the right buildings and have the right resources available. Sounds simple, right? In theory, yes, but in practice, the entire system of goods and services seems more complex and opaque, as are the needs of residents (despite numerous tips and information windows popping up on the screen here and there).
As the game progresses, we receive certain buffs or debuffs that will affect our plans to a greater or lesser extent. Overall, Against the Storm is a complex city builder with a roguelike twist. Each game can last from 5 minutes (assuming we were not lucky) to even 3 hours. We start on a small piece of land, and our residents do their work on their own, provided that they have been assigned to them. The only way to expand our settlement in one game is to discover new glades. However, we do not know in advance what resources will be there, we only get a warning about the danger lurking there, which is usually a curse or deterioration of the morale of our units (there is no question of fighting). As with a typical roguelike, we have to be prepared for more frequent losses than wins. However, there is nothing bad that would not work out for good and we can learn a valuable lesson from each loss, and no, it is not just a metaphor,
A developed settlement
I have a good dozen or so hours of gameplay behind me and although I know that I am far from mastering the mechanics and deeper strategies, I cannot say that I had a bad time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a great title, but it’s not bad either. Needs a few more tweaks, but it’s a pretty solid product. The roguelike character makes each game interesting, regardless of skill or style of play. Careful planning is crucial to winning, and I feel like I’m learning with each reboot and that’s how it should work.
Against the Storm is currently in development and can only be purchased through the Epic Games platform . Accordingly, it is far from a finished product. This does not mean, however, that we are dealing here with a game that is not worth giving a chance.
