Airborne Kingdom

Airborne Kingdom is a cozy, comfortable delight that mixes management and exploration flawlessly; the focus is not on keeping your citizens alive while crossing the open world, but keeping them fulfilled and thriving.

81%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

replayability, optimization

87% User Score Based on 1,314 reviews

Critic Score 83%Based on 14 reviews

Platforms

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About

Airborne Kingdom is a single player casual city builder game. It was developed by The Wandering Band LLC and was released on November 9, 2021. It received positive reviews from both critics and players.

Take a fantastical journey - fly the desert and build your domain. Airborne Kingdom uniquely blends city management and exploration, with a world and lore all its own. Build housing, gather food, satisfy needs, and grow your tribe. Maintain lift, discover resources, and explore the desert for lost technologies. The kingdom, your journey, their lives - all of it is up to you to decide.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+12

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87%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,314 reviews

story82 positive mentions

replayability21 negative mentions

Beautiful graphics and calming soundtrack create a relaxing atmosphere.
Unique gameplay mechanics involving city balance and resource management add depth.
Engaging story and quests that encourage exploration of the world.

Game is relatively short, with a main story that can be completed in about 6-10 hours.
Limited replayability, as the gameplay loop can become repetitive after the first playthrough.
Some quality of life issues, such as the inability to reassign workers without demolishing buildings.

story
319 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
70%
4%
The game's story is generally described as light and simplistic, primarily serving as a framework for the gameplay rather than a compelling narrative. Players engage in repetitive fetch quests to ally with various kingdoms, which can become tedious over time, though the charming visuals and relaxing atmosphere help maintain interest. While some appreciate the unique premise and the integration of storytelling with city-building mechanics, many feel the overall depth and replayability of the story are lacking, making it a short experience that may not warrant multiple playthroughs.
- “Airborne Kingdom has an intriguing story about rediscovering lost civilizations and unlocking the secrets of an ancient world.”
- “The story is interesting and cool, and it's very fun to try to rebuild and reconnect a broken world.”
- “It's a very lovingly crafted storyline that has linear progression.”
- “The main game mechanic is literally doing fetch quests after fetch quest for towns; you never do anything more interesting.”
- “The story is very short and the game's mechanics are too shallow to justify another playthrough.”
- “The quests themselves are repetitive, since there are only two types.”
gameplay
282 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
60%
6%
The gameplay of "Airborne Kingdom" is characterized by its unique mechanics of managing a flying city, balancing resources, and maintaining citizen happiness, which adds a refreshing twist to traditional city-building simulations. However, many players find the core gameplay loop repetitive, primarily revolving around simple fetch quests and resource collection, leading to a lack of depth and replayability. While the game offers a relaxing experience with beautiful aesthetics and intuitive mechanics, it ultimately feels limited in complexity and variety, making it more suitable for casual gamers rather than those seeking a challenging city-building experience.
- “The gameplay encourages thoughtful decision-making and rewards careful planning, making for a satisfying journey.”
- “The balance mechanic is fun (your people don't like walking up and down hills so you'd better plan out your lift engines to keep them on the level) and managing your city's routes around needed resources while you're traveling is enough to keep things interesting.”
- “The unique blend of mechanics, art, and world-building creates an atmosphere that’s hard to beat.”
- “The main game mechanic is literally doing fetch quests after fetch quest for towns; you never do anything more interesting.”
- “The gameplay loop is quite repetitive; you fly around the map, collect resources, upgrade your kingdom, unlock technologies, and complete quests (which all amount to basically fetch quests).”
- “The mechanics that do exist aren't that fun to work with and the buildings you use and the ways you need to care for your population are super basic and boring.”
graphics
231 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
41%
2%
The graphics of the game have received a mixed but generally positive reception, with many players praising its unique art style and beautiful visuals that create a relaxing atmosphere. While some users noted issues with optimization and performance, particularly on lower-end systems, the overall aesthetic—often described as charming and reminiscent of Middle Eastern architecture—enhances the gameplay experience. Despite some criticisms regarding simplicity and occasional graphical glitches, the game's visuals are frequently highlighted as a standout feature that contributes to its appeal.
- “Beautiful graphics and uplifting content.”
- “The graphics are beautiful, the game is stable, I did not encounter any bugs, the gameplay is easy and chill, it is perfect for a bit more than casual gaming.”
- “The artwork is beautiful, using simple shapes and pastel shades to bring its world to life, easily capturing the sense of height and scale required to make you believe you’re hundreds of meters above ground.”
- “I’ve tried every possible graphics setting, but nothing helps.”
- “There are many poor design choices, the graphics are terrible, and the game is overall too simple for my taste.”
- “The game runs way worse than it has any right to do given the graphic fidelity.”
music
207 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
32%
1%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its calming and immersive qualities, often described as beautiful, soothing, and perfectly complementing the game's aesthetic. Many players highlighted the soundtrack's ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with some expressing a desire to purchase the music separately. However, a few reviews noted that the limited variety of tracks could lead to repetitiveness over extended play sessions. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature that significantly contributes to the game's relaxing experience.
- “Overall though its relaxing nature, nice music, mystical style, and city management all blend together quite wonderfully to the point I do want more and will likely check out Airborne Empire next.”
- “The music is soothing, with orchestral tunes that underscore the feeling of calm exploration and steady progress.”
- “The soundtrack is absolutely to die for and the camera tends to be easy to work with, letting you coast along with the city as you change the layout of the hedges.”
- “Music and voices are adequate, but I'm glad the game ended when it did as the nice Middle Eastern music was a bit too much on loop and started to get old.”
- “Even the music is painfully mediocre.”
- “The music (basically 1 song playing on loop) gets really bland, and the unlockable color patterns for your city are not really eyecatchers.”
replayability
95 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
64%
22%
Overall, the game exhibits limited replayability, with many players noting its short playtime of around 5 to 10 hours and a lack of significant endgame content or challenges. While some users mention potential for replay through modes like New Game+ or creative challenges, the consensus is that the game feels more suited for a single playthrough rather than repeated sessions. Many reviewers suggest that the game's price does not justify its minimal replay value, making it less appealing for those seeking long-term engagement.
- “There is some great replayability here too, surprisingly enough.”
- “Less than 10 hours to complete in easy mode, but definitely has replay value.”
- “The story mode is pretty short but there's some replayability.”
- “However, while the core experience is enjoyable, the game lacks significant endgame content and incentives for replayability once the main storyline is completed.”
- “Finished the final goals in only six hours, and there isn't much replay value.”
- “It's a very simple game, offering very little content, no challenge, and no replayability.”
atmosphere
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
70%
23%
7%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its unique blend of stunning visuals, calming music, and immersive world-building, creating a relaxing and engaging experience. Players appreciate the harmonious integration of art and sound, which enhances the overall ambiance and makes the gameplay feel serene and enjoyable. While some note a lack of replay value, the game's charming atmosphere and creative design make it a standout in the city-building genre.
- “The unique blend of mechanics, art, and world-building creates an atmosphere that’s hard to beat.”
- “Awesome game... really surprised me with unique challenges and it's extremely immersive setting and atmosphere, from the stunning art (map design) to the music... the game mechanics are delightfully captivating and original.”
- “Great atmosphere, fantastic soundtrack, relaxing gameplay.”
- “Help, my airborne kingdom is wildly mismanaged and the citizens are about to defenestrate me into the atmosphere.”
- “Ok so, atmosphere can make or break a game for me.”
- “Setting aside the absolutely fantastical optimism of a technologically-advanced society that didn’t use their powers for conquest, this is a marvelous premise for a game and fits extremely well with the serene atmosphere of the gameplay.”
optimization
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
69%
21%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, especially in late-game scenarios with large populations. While some users noted improvements following updates, others found the game poorly optimized for high graphical settings, leading to performance hitches and a lack of smooth gameplay. Overall, further optimization is needed to enhance the experience, particularly for those managing complex cities.
- “The final third is just around optimization and exploration.”
- “Just enough optimization to make you think, but not so much as to be micro-managey.”
- “The semi-recent performance update did wonders for this game.”
- “It's a shame that it is very poorly optimized for large populations, so I felt discouraged to keep playing it. I wanted to; I really like managing big cities, exploring, and expanding, etc.”
- “My only complaint is that it is kind of badly optimized, so it is hard to run it on higher graphical settings, especially in late game, when you have a lot of buildings.”
- “Game has interesting premises, but because it's using the Unity engine, it is badly optimized and therefore unplayable on high-end laptops (even at lowest settings).”
grinding
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
92%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly in resource collection and research, which can detract from the overall enjoyment. While some appreciate the need for constant resource management, many feel that the mechanics become stale and overly time-consuming, especially towards the endgame. Despite these criticisms, a few players still find the experience engaging, noting that it can be relaxing and addictive, albeit with some grindy elements.
- “It can be a bit grindy sometimes, but it adds to the overall experience.”
- “The game feels a bit grindy, yet it keeps me engaged and motivated.”
- “This part of the game just got tedious, and while resource scarcity is a normal mechanic in these games, constant resource collection isn't a great answer from a gameplay mechanic standpoint.”
- “Research can be sometimes long and tedious in the game and will require multiple academies to properly progress.”
- “At the point of writing this, everything is really variations on a delivery quest, which thematically fits but does get a little tedious when you realize that's all the quests.”
emotional
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
91%
9%
The emotional aspect of "Airborne Kingdom" is characterized by its wholesome and heartwarming narrative, complemented by beautiful visuals and a relaxing atmosphere. While some find the story simplistic, many appreciate its charm and the gentle pressure of resource management, creating a delightful and casual gaming experience. Overall, it evokes a sense of warmth and tranquility, making it a feel-good title in the city-building genre.
- “At the heart of it, Airborne Kingdom is an incredibly wholesome game.”
- “Very casual and relaxing, the sweet atmosphere and heartfelt story is very easy to get behind and the only pressure you feel is the one to balance your kingdom, and the desire for coal.”
- “The game is just atmospheric, super wholesome, and relaxing!”
- “An incredibly simplistic and boring story.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is notably compromised by various glitches and bugs, including issues like obstructive descriptions in the research window and frequent crashes. While some players appreciate the game's concept and visuals, many agree that it lacks polish and requires significant improvements to enhance overall performance.
- “There are also some glitches, like descriptions not fading away in the research window, which then obstruct the rest of the research window.”
- “It's a cool concept, but the game lacks polish and is buggy.”
- “Well tried it again, and again it freezes and crashes. I will say it looks good, but the way it plays is going to take a lot of work from what I see.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users appreciate the humor in the reviews, noting it as a standout feature that adds entertainment value. The inclusion of "super funny humor" is highlighted as a key element for those who enjoy a lighthearted approach.
- “We do, however, have some amazing tips for those of you who count on our super funny humor portion of our reviews.”

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83%Critics’ scoreBased on 14 critic reviews

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11h Median play time

13h Average play time

6-15h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 25 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Airborne Kingdom is a casual city builder game.

Airborne Kingdom is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Windows and others.

On average players spend around 13 hours playing Airborne Kingdom.

Airborne Kingdom was released on November 9, 2021.

Airborne Kingdom was developed by The Wandering Band LLC.

Airborne Kingdom has received positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its replayability.

Airborne Kingdom is a single player game.

Similar games include Airborne Empire, The Wandering Village, Endzone: A World Apart, Stacklands, Timberborn and others.

Airborne Kingdom

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