Cliff Empire

About

Cliff Empire is a single player strategy game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Lion's Shade and was released on August 6, 2019. It received positive reviews from players.

"Cliff Empire" is a city-building game set in a post-apocalyptic world covered by radioactive fog. Your mission is to restore life on Earth by managing the development of independent cities on cliffs, trading with an orbital station, and choosing between ecological and harmful power supply. The game features dynamic climate changes, 48 university researches, over 120 structures, and 15 quests to explore.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+20

Skip User Reviews

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,556 reviews

graphics207 positive mentions

grinding19 negative mentions

Unique city-building mechanics with a focus on resource management and inter-city trade.
Beautiful graphics and a relaxing atmosphere, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.
Challenging gameplay that requires strategic planning and adaptation to survive disasters and meet objectives.

Steep learning curve with insufficient tutorials and unclear mechanics, leading to potential frustration.
Slow pacing, especially in research and resource accumulation, which can lead to long periods of waiting.
Game-breaking bugs and balance issues, such as unresponsive drones and harsh penalties for failing objectives.

graphics
349 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
39%
2%
The graphics of the game have received a generally positive reception, with many players praising its beautiful art style, clean visuals, and attention to detail. While some reviews mention that the graphics can appear simplistic or reminiscent of mobile games, the overall aesthetic is described as unique and engaging, particularly in the context of city-building mechanics. Regular updates and graphical improvements from the developer have also been noted, enhancing the game's visual appeal over time.
- “The graphics and attention to detail are outstanding.”
- “Amazing graphics as the cities spring to life in a day/night cycle, and all sorts of settings to create the game challenges you want to face.”
- “The graphics are beautiful, not complete but beautiful.”
- “The graphics look like that of a mobile game; UI elements that are locked can still be clicked on for some reason.”
- “The graphics are a little clunky sometimes - but overall very nice to look at.”
- “Graphics are meh, a lot of things look unfinished.”
gameplay
308 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
62%
4%
The gameplay of "Cliff Empire" is characterized by its unique mechanics and engaging city-building experience, offering a blend of strategic resource management and environmental challenges. Players appreciate the gradual introduction of new mechanics, which keeps the gameplay fresh and addictive, although some find the learning curve steep and the interface somewhat clunky. Overall, the game is praised for its beautiful graphics and depth, despite some criticisms regarding the clarity of mechanics and occasional balancing issues.
- “The gameplay is engaging and the art style/design is very smooth and futuristic, which I personally like a lot.”
- “This game is the definition of a hidden gem and will blow you away if you're not prepared; it masterfully and seamlessly expands its scope several times, continuously surprising you with new mechanics, buildings, and dynamics between your cities.”
- “It's one of those 'easy to learn, hard to master' games, where taking the time to learn the mechanics of the game is rewarding.”
- “The gameplay is boring and has too many 'disasters', with no option to turn off.”
- “While the visuals are pleasing and concept interesting, everything that relates to actual gameplay feels half-done.”
- “The mechanics are overly simplistic and the game does a terrible job at explaining itself.”
story
139 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
77%
5%
The game's story is often described as limited yet intriguing, with a backdrop of rebuilding civilization after a catastrophe. While some players appreciate the atmospheric setting and the sense of progression through missions, many criticize the lack of a cohesive narrative and the repetitive nature of quests, which can feel tedious and punishing. Overall, the story serves as a framework for gameplay rather than a central focus, leaving players wanting more depth and memorable events.
- “Great game with an awesome plot and theme, well recommended.”
- “One of my all-time favorite city builders, very in-depth, fun for hours on end, with an amazing story and lore.”
- “The atmosphere and backstory are great and help build a world in which the game exists.”
- “The campaign has no real plot and there's no internal logic here.”
- “There's no way to refuse a mission, even if it's for something you know you won't be able to complete.”
- “No plot to speak of really, your usual post-apocalypse something something, build a city.”
music
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
51%
6%
The music in the game is widely praised for its relaxing and immersive qualities, enhancing the overall gameplay experience. Many players appreciate the soothing soundtracks and atmospheric sound design, which complement the game's aesthetics and create a laid-back environment. However, some users note that the music can become repetitive over time, and while it is generally well-received, a few find it less impactful compared to other titles in the genre.
- “The music is wonderful.”
- “The soundtrack in the background is really good and adds a nice touch to it.”
- “Beautiful aesthetic, relaxing soundtrack, and a solid city-building RTS.”
- “Apart from that, music will get old quickly; exploring the city with a car or in a free form is pretty great, art style is interesting but optimization isn’t so good.”
- “Whats up with the overly cheerful music in a post-nuclear, end of the world, freezing humans to survive scenario?”
- “Graphics are nice and effective, the game does not lag at all, instant loads of saved game, soundtrack is probably a weak point.”
replayability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
61%
12%
The reviews for "Cliff Empire" present a mixed perspective on replayability. While many players appreciate the game's potential for experimentation and the ability to adjust pre-game settings, leading to enjoyable and varied gameplay, others criticize its limited depth and repetitive nature, suggesting that replay value diminishes after mastering the initial challenges. Overall, the game's ongoing development and frequent updates offer hope for enhanced replayability in the future.
- “However, even without marauders enabled, be prepared to learn from a grievous lack of foresight at times and accept that you need to restart rather than struggling to re-coordinate resources, power, and population. With every restart, I have become much more efficient while learning and figuring out this game. The amount you would like to manage can all be altered in the pre-game settings before you start, and it's the pre-game settings that make Cliff Empires so replayable.”
- “It seems like there are many ways to approach each of your city's needs (food, water, power, money, etc.), so I think there will be a lot of replayability and room for experimentation.”
- “The devs are adding new useful buildings and variable tweaks with sometimes new features every week on a consistent basis, making this well worth the price with a promise to be replayable and fresh in several months with more mechanics coming like diseases, more complex tourism, and more export possibilities.”
- “The only negative thing I can say about Cliff Empire is limited replayability.”
- “You will get a few weeks of enjoyment before the routine kicks in because the replayability is dampened by the limited depth in buildings available, events, and singular development strategy at the start.”
- “Almost no replay value, but for a cheap game that's fine.”
optimization
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
37%
13%
Overall, the game's optimization is generally praised, with many users reporting smooth performance even during late-game scenarios and on lower-end machines. However, some players noted occasional performance spikes and issues with the tutorial and UI that could benefit from further refinement. While the game runs well, there are suggestions for improvements, particularly regarding resource management and dynamic features that may impact performance.
- “Runs smoothly even to endgame.”
- “As a city building/managing game type enthusiast, I totally recommend this game; it brings up a futuristic idea of optimization in a very well-designed and balanced environment.”
- “Gameplay is smooth and optimized very well even for a slow-mid tier computer like me.”
- “For a game that is about optimization and management, the UI is extremely important.”
- “The tutorial isn't really the most optimized either in terms of instruction or build priority.”
- “There is no option to turn off the day-night cycling and dynamic weather, which could help in game performance.”
atmosphere
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
22%
14%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its relaxing and engaging qualities, featuring beautiful graphics and unique aesthetics that create a zen-like environment. Players appreciate the blend of serenity and challenge, with scripted disasters adding dynamic changes to the atmosphere. Overall, the game successfully immerses players in a captivating world that enhances the city-building experience.
- “There is this zen atmosphere that makes you want to spend time in it.”
- “The atmosphere and backstory are great and help build a world in which the game exists.”
- “I love the atmosphere this game offers.”
- “Limited space, fulfilling people's needs, sci-fi atmosphere... survival elements.”
- “Add more figures of citizens on the street, more motions of citizens and buildings that can give a city a more active atmosphere.”
- “The graphic is really neat and it does show a futuristic urban atmosphere.”
grinding
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
5%
86%
The reviews highlight a mixed experience with grinding in the game, noting that while the early to mid-game can feel tedious and slow, particularly due to obscure mechanics and repetitive tasks, the late game offers rewarding moments. Players express frustration with the need to frequently reallocate resources and complete tedious quests, which can detract from overall enjoyment, although some appreciate the clean interface and meaningful challenges. Overall, the game is seen as requiring significant time investment, with grinding being a prominent aspect that may deter some players.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “You could get all achievements in one playthrough, no grinding required.”
- “A frustrating exercise in good and bad design choices, the game is initially interesting and engaging but the lack of polish and idiotic tasks become irritating as you are forced to grind to make progress - "we see you've built a nicely sustainable city here - you need to completely re-gear it to earn money from office blocks for the next six days despite already swimming in cash, then knock the offices down immediately after so you can get ready for the next bizarre request" - it's not 'hard' so much as tedious.”
- “Gameplay makes little sense, the tutorial doesn't teach you anything, and it's grindy as heck.”
- “Not a bad game for the price, but the research is so tediously slow it kinda ruins it for me.”
stability
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
86%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many users reporting various bugs and glitches, particularly related to the user interface and gameplay mechanics. While some players have experienced a relatively smooth experience without significant issues, others have noted that the game feels "buggy" and has persistent problems that detract from overall enjoyment. Overall, the game's stability appears to be inconsistent, with a notable divide between those who encounter frequent issues and those who report a bug-free experience.
- “Sadly, there is no native Linux version, but it runs great on Proton.”
- “Sweet game, bug-free.”
- “Bug-free.”
- “The main issue I had with this game is some UI glitches, where if I click away from a trading window, it won't fully close and some parts of it will stay on screen until I click away again.”
- “Island trading is broken, populations are picky, drones are buggy or broken, and food is impossible for a large population.”
- “Other than that glaring issue, you got your typical buggy, glitchy experiences: civilians not walking on roads, demolish objects not disappearing, etc.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as both amusing and frustrating, with players finding comedic moments in the absurdity of their citizens' situations, such as starvation despite abundant food resources. While the humor is engaging and adds charm to the gameplay, it can become repetitive over time. Overall, the game is noted for its quirky details and entertaining scenarios that keep players invested.
- “A hilarious detail is that you can walk around the town.”
- “So this game is really, really funny; the first time I played it, I almost spent 3 hours in it.”
- “Embellished with a trace of humor as a final touch.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The monetization aspect of the game is generally well-received, with users appreciating the absence of intrusive advertising. However, some players feel that the game leans towards a cash grab model, particularly when it comes to in-game features that allow for the commercialization of their creations, such as the ability to add advertising to their cities.
- “There is no advertising, which is great.”
- “The in-game purchases are fair and don't feel necessary to enjoy the game.”
- “I appreciate that the monetization model allows for a balanced experience without pressure to spend.”
- “Like a victim of a cash grab.”
- “I was really impressed when I found and built a parliament and passed a law to allow advertisers to erect gaudy and equally depressing holographic advertising all over my cliff cities - turning my starkly beautiful buildings into money-making billboards.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express that the emotional aspect of the game alleviates feelings of guilt associated with certain actions, suggesting a connection between gameplay and personal feelings.