A bit of a nod to Studio Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle here, as The Wandering Village has a village. And it wanders.
As city-builders go this one does its best to stand out in the genre, with a cute concept designed to drop jaws. And it does manage to deliver an enthralling time of it.
Build and Manage Symbiotic Relationships in The Wandering Village
Okay, this is still in early access (meaning its still being finished) but is available on Steam and Xbox. It launched in September 2022.
Some gamers have classed The Wandering Village as a hybrid of Spiritfarer (2020) and Stardew Valley (2016). That's kind of about right.
From 10 person indie team Stray Fawn Studio in Zurich, Switzerland, the dev is headed by Micha Stettler and Philomena Schwab (the latter has been active in the gaming press promoting the title).
The plot of the game has a toxic spore infecting the plants of the land. The result is humans must flee to safer ground, which leads them to a gigantic rock-turtle host (an Onbu) with a lush forest on its back.
Once upon this host, they must live off its back in classic city-builder fashion (think Settlers III from 1998) through building, developing, and resource management. If all your tribe members die... it's game over.
As always in this genre there's all sorts of elements to battle against. But one of the neat touches is the rock-turtle will get up from time to time and amble along. It's all rather dramatic, but oddly soothing.
Philomena Schwab notes there the game is inspired by Studio Ghibli. But not what we initially thought, it's the studio's lesser known Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984).
Okay, the obvious draw is this is a city-builder on a giant moving rock-turtle.
That's a most excellent premise and is very eye-catching, driven along further by the gorgeous graphics.
However, as a gameplay experience it's fairly standard to the genre. There aren't any innovations going on here, other than how Onbu the rock-turtle does provide the villagers on its back with gameplay implications.
Other than that it's resource management, build, and expand. Not quite as intricately as something like Surviving Mars (2018) as The Wandering Village's other big charm offensive is its relaxing qualities.
You can just bask in the soothing nature of it all and watch the villagers build stuff, all whilst sunsets kick in and the music romps along.
There's a very chilled soundtrack to go with that, with some African tribal chanting alongside percussion heavy chillout numbers. Good vibes from visual artist, composer, and sound designer NukeTan.
The Wandering Village may not be fully done yet, but as an early access title it's polished and a busy title.
Often frustratingly complex to begin with (and the tutorial isn't exactly helpful at times), once you get your head around the city-building basics you're away. There's lots to enjoy here, it's challenging, there are surprises, but you're never expected to knacker yourself out.
It's a mixture of chilled resource management and challenge, one that's balanced well to provide a game we can recommend. Nothing outstanding just yet, but one to keep an eye on as Stray Fawn Studio adds more to the experience.
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