Atomic Society

About

Atomic Society is a single player survival real-time strategy game. It was developed by Far Road Games and was released on August 9, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Construct and rule your own post-apocalyptic city. Judge the lives of the people under you. Set the laws people live by. Be cruel or kind and learn how to survive.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

66%

Audience ScoreBased on 498 reviews

gameplay19 positive mentions

graphics11 negative mentions

Unique post-apocalyptic city builder with deep societal mechanics involving laws and punishments.
Playable early access game with engaged developers providing regular updates and community support.
Interesting leader character mechanic providing direct control and adding a personal touch to gameplay.

Gameplay can become repetitive and shallow quickly with limited content and lack of depth in progression.
User interface and controls are often clunky and unintuitive, with slow citizen movement and burdensome micromanagement.
Resource gathering and building decay mechanics are frustrating, with lack of renewable resources and excessive building maintenance.

gameplay
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
70%
7%
The gameplay offers a unique blend of survival and city-building mechanics with engaging elements like laws, individual citizen personalities, and religion, though many find it shallow, repetitive, and underdeveloped. While some mechanics show promise and provide a fun, strategic experience, others are frustrating, poorly balanced, or lack meaningful impact, leaving the overall gameplay limited and in need of further content and polish. The game has potential for growth but currently suits players willing to tolerate its rough edges and minimal depth.
- “When I played this game years ago, I had so much fun trying its mechanics and new features.”
- “This gameplay is most similar to Banished but the gameplay has just absolutely blown me away by how much more evolved and developed it feels compared to Banished.”
- “Great core survival mechanics that allow for a few hours of fun.”
- “Some incredibly frustrating mechanics around migrants and managing population are just plain strange and fail to provide any real control that you would expect when making a wasteland settlement (e.g., can hang the population at will, but no fences or basic stockade?).”
- “Food is practically a non-factor and is barely even mentioned as a need (people get cranky if they have to eat outside of a canteen, that's about it; starvation is almost never an issue), and there is no interesting mechanic for growing it.”
- “The mechanics are very shallow, and a lot of the choices are very obviously 'correct'.”
graphics
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
54%
28%
The graphics are generally considered outdated, basic, and lacking in detail, with many reviewers describing them as bland, crude, or reminiscent of early 2000s games. However, the art style and atmosphere suit the post-apocalyptic theme and are functional enough to support gameplay, though they fall short of impressing visually. Overall, while not a highlight, the graphics are acceptable for fans focused on gameplay over visuals.
- “I am a fan of city builders and I love the 'post apocalypse' aesthetic, this game has both and well enough to draw your attention for a few hours.”
- “The artwork is very well done.”
- “If you can get past the 20+ year old graphics, you will find a solid and challenging city building game that tackles all aspects of building a society from the ground up.”
- “The graphics are not very good and feel more like something from the early 2000s.”
- “The graphics are undeniably bad.”
stability
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from frequent bugs and glitches, including freezing during saving, which hampers the overall experience. While some players find the bugs somewhat tolerable or expected in early access, many view the instability as a major drawback that detracts from gameplay.
- “One particular issue is that when you save your game, the progress bar freezes at 51%.”
- “It gives a warning that it will 'take a long time, but it will work' when you try to save, but it freezes and I can't save at all.”
- “The game freezes for me when I save, but bugs are expected for early access.”
story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The story offers a basic but engaging narrative with optional arcs and world-building elements, though it lacks visible combat and depth. Some users find it underdeveloped and hope for expanded quests and clearer gameplay/story integration. Overall, the story serves more as background flavor than a fully fleshed-out experience.
- “It's worth a play, particularly for the story.”
- “About 6 hrs of gameplay and I've built every building, won the basic storyline.”
- “But there's a few bits and pieces laying around for story on each of the maps which means that you can kind of piece together what it was like for the world to end.”
- “Hopefully this is another work in progress because it was a big letdown considering the buildup of a couple of storylines leading to it.”
- “Laws are more story than anything at the moment and I don't quite understand how enforcers affect the crime level or the synergy between all these things.”
- “Expanded storyline: Who is this master guy that sends you a warning at the beginning? Can I kill him and take his slaves, lands, and women? Can I string him up in my punishment center aka the happy fun time enhanced education center?”
atmosphere
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
30%
10%
The game's atmosphere is notably unique, presenting a quirky, post-apocalyptic setting that many find engaging despite its modest graphics. While some users praise its distinctive vibe and sound design reminiscent of classic titles, others feel the atmosphere, though good for an early access game, could benefit from further development and additional content. Overall, the atmosphere is a strong and defining aspect that enhances the gameplay experience.
- “It's an apocalyptic atmosphere, unlike anything seen in other games.”
- “Fantastic atmospherics, brilliant building system, thought-out lore, and a slew of other unique and well-designed features.”
- “Great game with a unique experience in city building, great sound design, and gameplay mechanics that create a really cool post-apocalyptic atmosphere.”
- “The graphics are not outstanding but are used just right to make the atmosphere work for it.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
Replayability is currently limited due to a small number of pre-made maps and some shallow features, resulting in a relatively short experience. However, the game's simplicity and upcoming updates from a responsive and dedicated dev team show promise for increased replay value in the future. Overall, it offers some replay potential now, with potential for improvement as development continues.
- “It has a lot of replayability, and the developers are actively working on adding new content to the game.”
- “Lots of replayability due to its simplicity.”
- “Currently, there are several hours of interesting and relatively challenging gameplay, plus different maps that enhance replayability, showing great potential.”
- “The only downside I can see is that there is only a set amount of pre-made maps, so replayability after development is over will be an issue.”
- “Cons: graphics are okay at best, still buggy, low replayability, many features are still shallow.”
- “Great start, but only limited gameplay and replayability at this stage.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is generally seen as tedious and repetitive, with limited variety in activities such as farming restricted to static greenhouses and a lack of traditional resource management features. While some enjoy the experience initially, many find the gameplay becomes monotonous after a few hours due to repetitive tasks and minimal progression elements.
- “3-4 hours of tediously trying to get enough citizens to win the game.”
- “It has been a fairly enjoyable few hours spent going through the things that have been completed, but once that is done, it is a little grindy, doing the same things over and over.”
- “Right now, it's grindy and not much happening.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The music in the game is generally praised for its immersive and ambient qualities, effectively enhancing the post-apocalyptic setting, though some find it bleak or limited in variety. While a few users appreciate its calming and non-repetitive nature, others feel the soundtrack is underwhelming or lacks impact. Overall, the music contributes well to the atmosphere but may not appeal to all tastes.
- “The music is really immersive and sets the scene of the struggle of a post-apocalyptic society.”
- “Soundtrack is on point for ambiance.”
- “The setting is unique for the genre, and the music (which only has two or three tracks) does a fantastic job at amplifying it.”
- “The music soundtrack was almost too bleak and depressing for me.”
- “The music only has two or three tracks, which limits variety.”
- “The music does a fantastic job at amplifying the unique setting, but the limited number of tracks might affect long-term enjoyment.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game generally receives positive feedback for its optimization, with many users noting smooth performance and minimal bugs despite its early access status. However, some users report poor optimization and performance issues, indicating inconsistent experiences across different systems.
- “Absolutely fantastic game, and for it being honestly quite well made and well optimized, even though it's early access, I personally believe it is still worth the $15.”
- “Optimized really well.”
- “I have yet to encounter major bugs or have performance issues.”
- “Game is boring and trash, and funny yet, it's poorly optimized, doesn't run well.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is noted as somewhat funny but inconsistent, with some players finding it weird. However, overall enjoyment is diminished by poor optimization and technical issues.
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's attempt to evoke emotion through social decision-making on sensitive human rights issues largely falls flat, failing to meaningfully engage players.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization in this game is poorly received, with players criticizing its misleading advertising and lack of meaningful goals, viewing it as catering to immature and unrealistic gameplay experiences rather than offering substantive content.