Dream Engines: Nomad Cities

About

Dream Engines: Nomad Cities is a single-player Science Fiction Role Playing game with masterful visuals. As the last surviving society, you must build and manage a flying city, ensuring your population and economy thrive. Fortify and defend your city against the Dream Plagues, but be prepared to pack up and flee when the danger becomes too great. The game features heavy grinding elements to challenge players.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 426 reviews

gameplay22 positive mentions

grinding26 negative mentions

Unique blend of city building, resource management, and tower defense mechanics.
Visually appealing with a charming art style reminiscent of Tim Burton's work.
Engaging gameplay loop that encourages strategic planning and resource management.

Combat mechanics are repetitive and lack depth, making exploration tedious.
Resource management can feel overwhelming due to the numerous interconnected systems.
The game can become monotonous as players are forced to rebuild their city frequently after moving to new maps.

gameplay
132 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
74%
9%
The gameplay is a blend of factory management and light hack-and-slash mechanics, offering a mix of resource management and combat. While the core mechanics are solid and provide some engaging choices, many players find the gameplay loop repetitive and lacking in unique surprises, with some design choices leading to frustration. Overall, the game shows potential for improvement and expansion, particularly in its exploration and combat elements, but currently feels like a simplified version of similar titles.
- “A fun factory/logistics sim with some light hack & slash ARPG mechanics too them in the form of a little robot avatar.”
- “The gameplay is a mixture of simple combat, medium complexity production line management, and very complex base management.”
- “Great game, a great combination of automation/defense (Factorio style) gameplay mixed with perk building (light RPG elements).”
- “Unfortunately, as of writing, maps don't really contain any kinds of unexpected surprises or unique gameplay mechanics, as much of the variation comes from resource availability and stat altering bonuses and penalties.”
- “There does not seem to be anything that unique about the core gameplay loop.”
- “It does nothing particularly well and in its current state, it plays like a stripped down version of Factorio that lacks the detail in mechanics, but doubles the tedium making you remake your base every hour.”
graphics
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
45%
5%
The game's graphics are generally praised for their unique and appealing art style, particularly the steampunk aesthetics, which many players find captivating. However, some critiques highlight a lack of graphical diversity in environments and assets, leading to a somewhat repetitive visual experience. Overall, while the visuals are well-executed and enjoyable, there are calls for more variety and detail to enhance exploration and engagement.
- “Loved the aesthetic and the gameplay :)”
- “This game has great potential and a beautiful art style, a very good buy.”
- “Great visuals and idea!”
- “Fuzzy, undetailed graphics.”
- “But mostly same enemies, resources, etc. not much graphically diverse; very few assets.”
- “So apart from biome visuals, the landing zones don't really stand out much from one another.”
grinding
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
10%
87%
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being excessively tedious, with players noting that resource mining and exploration can feel like a chore rather than an enjoyable experience. While some players may find satisfaction in the grind, many others feel it detracts from the overall fun, leading to a repetitive and unpolished gameplay experience. Suggestions for improvement include implementing blueprints to streamline resource management and reduce the monotony.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “It gets quite tedious for a single long run, and even after release some areas feel unpolished enough.”
- “Right now it is very tedious to clear the maps and by the time you're done the resources are depleted or the danger level is too high.”
- “From the outset, there are too many resources to manage, too much going on, and it is more tedious than it is fun.”
music
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
71%
13%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising it as fantastic and immersive, while others find it limited and repetitive, particularly noting that there are only a few tracks available. Many hope for additional soundtracks to enhance the experience, although the existing music is often described as setting a good mood and complementing the game's art style. Overall, while the music is appreciated by some, there is a consensus that more variety would be beneficial.
- “Different rule sets and maps to play with and sick music to set the mood.”
- “[*] Music is fantastic and immersive.”
- “They seriously stepped up in all aspects this time - graphics, music, gameplay, UI, and overall feel.”
- “If you spend the time and look at the detail of your city it's beautiful, but the Halloween-type music gets old and again, the drep (bad guys) look pretty lame.”
- “Music is alright but the game only has a few tracks, so hopefully they add more.”
- “There's only a few music tracks, but I'm guessing they will expand on that.”
story
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
56%
19%
The game's story and setting receive mixed reviews, with some players praising them as great, while others find the narrative lacking or unremarkable. Additionally, issues with resource placement can detract from the overall experience, leading to repetitive gameplay that overshadows the story. Overall, the story is seen as average, with potential for improvement.
- “The story and setting are great as well.”
- “The game graphics are good, and the story is okay.”
- “Update, January 2023: unfortunately, the same story.”
- “No story.”
- “Story?”
- “Update, 2023 Jan: unfortunately, same story.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game is reported to be stable and free of bugs, particularly in its early access phase. However, some users feel that despite its stability, the overall experience is lacking and does not meet expectations.
- “Tons of potential and a solid, bug-free early access.”
- “It's not buggy at all, it's just bad.”
- “It's not buggy at all, it's just bad.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game highly replayable due to the introduction of new tribes with unique advantages, enhancing the gameplay experience and making it suitable for speedrunning. Overall, the game's design encourages multiple playthroughs.
- “New tribes with unique advantages will be added, which alone will make this game very replayable and fit for speedrunning.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's atmosphere is described as whimsical and reminiscent of Tim Burton's style, appealing to fans of that aesthetic. However, players express frustration over a lack of clarity regarding certain gameplay mechanics, such as the meaning of specific tags like "harvesting."
- “If you are a huge fan of Tim Burton or just tempted by the whimsical atmosphere of the game, this one might be just for you! :D”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express strong emotional reactions to the game, with some feeling disillusioned enough to uninstall it and remove it from their favorites, indicating a significant disappointment and a lack of desire to return unless major improvements are made.
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
100%
The game experiences minor performance issues, particularly slowing down during the end-game, but remains playable overall.
- “There are some small performance issues that cause the game to slow down towards the end-game, but it's still playable.”
- “There are small performance issues that cause the game to slow down towards the end-game, but it's still playable.”
- “The game experiences minor performance issues, particularly noticeable as you approach the end-game, yet it remains playable.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization approach of the game is viewed positively, with players appreciating the developers' commitment to quality and their non-exploitative practices, especially in contrast to many early access titles that often feel like cash grabs. Users express support for the developers, highlighting the rarity of a polished 1.0 release in the current gaming landscape.
- “I mainly bought it to support the devs; their games are nice and well polished. A 1.0 release from an early access title that isn't a cash grab is like a unicorn on Steam. You can throw a rock and hit an early access title with 5-10 years.”