BalanCity
- July 29, 2016
- MeNic Games
- 2h median play time
Get on SteamBalanCity is a single-player city-building simulation game that combines elements of SimCity and Jenga. You must construct towering cities on a platform while keeping your citizens happy and avoiding various disasters. The game features Free Build, Missions, and Scenarios modes, offering a mix of sandbox and goal-oriented gameplay for players to enjoy. Gameplay lasts around 2 hours to beat.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Mobile Platform
Reviews
- BalanCity offers a unique and fun twist on city-building mechanics, requiring players to balance their cities on a precarious platform.
- The game is enjoyable for short bursts, with a variety of scenarios and challenges that keep gameplay interesting.
- It's a great value for the price, especially when on sale, providing hours of entertainment despite some repetitive elements.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, including issues with saving and loading, which can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences.
- Many players find the game becomes repetitive quickly, lacking long-term appeal and depth in its mechanics.
- Controls can be unintuitive, and the game often requires precise placement of buildings, which can lead to accidental mistakes and city collapses.
- story17 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The game's story is minimal, primarily conveyed through missions set in iconic cities like Tokyo, London, and New York, with a moral emphasizing resilience in the face of adversity. Players encounter various challenges, including unexpected disasters and balancing issues, which detract from the narrative experience. While the missions offer engaging scenarios and unique gameplay elements, technical problems such as crashes and lack of save options significantly hinder the overall enjoyment of the story.
“Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
“It starts out simple, giving you some handy tutorial missions to show and unlock the basics, then goes crazy with fun, one-level gimmicks like altered gravity, a bizarre metaphor for bridging the gap between the rich and the poor, and playing as a giant fire-breathing reptile.”
“There are missions you have to complete to unlock more blocks, and scenarios where you build landmarks from famous cities... plus there's Godzilla.”
“☑ no story”
“Impossible to finish some mission or scenario because the game crashes every time.”
“When my wife passed by my desk to tell me something important, I had to abandon a whole mission and start from scratch because I couldn't hear her over the noise of the game and had to just stop the whole thing.”
- graphics15 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally well-received, with many players appreciating the cute art style and smooth performance, especially given its simplicity. While some users noted clunky controls and a lack of advanced graphical options, the overall consensus highlights the graphics as a positive aspect that complements the game's fun mechanics and replayability.
“Very good price, nice graphics, adjustable settings.”
“You can see the changes in angles so easily with the graphics the way they are and it runs so smoothly.”
“The cute graphics, good UI, fun mechanics, and challenging physics are just some of those reasons!”
“The graphics are supposed to be simple, and the game clearly isn't hiding it.”
“There's a challenge in it, but the unintuitive interface and lackluster graphics for the current price don't cut it.”
“The graphics and controls are quite clunky, and the constant high-pitched 'help me' audio is downright annoying.”
- gameplay12 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Balancity is generally praised for its fun and addictive mechanics, offering a satisfying experience with well-balanced physics and cute graphics. However, some users find it to be overly simplistic or occasionally fiddly, with a few expressing that it can become boring over time. Overall, it is considered a worthwhile and enjoyable game, especially given its low price.
“Very fun game, not too hard but gets you thinking. Very cool but simple mechanics. 10/10.”
“Balancity is quite a fun game and I'd say it's worth the cheap price. It's quite satisfying and has some neat mechanics.”
“Simple, yet addictive gameplay.”
“Gameplay itself was fiddly.”
“Gameplay is pretty boring.”
“Please add a mechanic or a game mode where you need to buy buildings, and to do so, you need to tax the population.”
- music10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as enjoyable and relaxing, with some users noting it as "straight bangers." However, there are significant complaints about the lack of audio settings, as players can only toggle the sound off completely rather than adjust music and sound effects separately, leading to a repetitive experience. Overall, while the music is appreciated, the absence of proper audio controls detracts from the gameplay experience.
“I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
“So much fun! Is it just me, or is the music straight bangers all around?”
“It has fantastic music and sounds and a unique concept, but there really isn't much variety.”
“No proper audio settings (the music is not that good, let me turn it off and give me volume control for effects so I know what is going on); riots break out for no reason and destroy a well-balanced city (I don't want to play traffic cop all the time, suddenly half the city goes up in flames without forewarning, give me at least a chance to fix things!); frequent crashes; no savegame; mission progress gets deleted; disaster settings are reset.... very infuriating & annoying, especially since most issues could be fixed easily but have been ignored for years.”
“Over 13 hours in, love it to pieces regardless of UI issues but until they can do a basic thing like allow sound effects but not that damn 'music' like every other game offers.. it just sucks sitting in silence playing, would love to hear some warning signs, etc.. fix the music/sound option, and I would recommend.”
“Music and sound muting is not separate, unfortunately.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its entertaining disasters, such as giant monsters wreaking havoc, which provide moments of hilarity, especially when played with friends and family. However, the initial amusement can wear off due to the game's demanding precision in building placement, leading to frustration when random events disrupt progress. Overall, while the game offers funny moments, it may become annoying over time.
“If you just want a building game that is funny, while your friends and family are watching you fail, go for it.”
“- Disasters are pretty fun to watch, especially the giant green monsters that rampage through your city causing hilarious havoc.”
“Hilarious and challenging!”
- stability5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is generally praised for its lack of major glitches, with players noting a well-constructed experience. However, some users report sporadic freezing issues, occurring roughly once an hour, which can disrupt gameplay and suggest that the game may still feel somewhat unfinished.
“I'm also surprised by how there are basically no glitches in the game while I've played it.”
“Immediately upon playing it, I realized, with joy, that the game was competently constructed and lacked glitches that would detract from my experience.”
“Well, sometimes it freezes and you have to alt+F4 and restart, but otherwise...”
“I would say that this game is easily great value at that price, but after playing for 12 hours, I have to take issue with something that really breaks this game: the game freezes sporadically, maybe once every hour or so.”
“The concept is great, but the game is still a bit buggy and feels unfinished and cheap.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game has mixed reviews regarding replayability; while some players find the short matches offer significant replay value, others feel the overall content is lacking, making it not worth the price.
“It consists of short game matches with heaps of replayability.”
“This game is not worth the $8 price tag; it doesn't have much content and little to no replayability.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players express that the grinding in the game is excessively time-consuming, suggesting that it requires an unrealistic amount of effort akin to having a second life to fully engage with it.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“The grinding feels endless and tedious.”
“I spent hours grinding, and it still feels like I'm nowhere.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the game emotionally uplifting, evoking a sense of nostalgia and joy that leaves them feeling youthful and cheerful.
“The charming novelty of it all had me walking away with a smile on my face, and made me feel like a kid again.”
