Dystopika
- June 21, 2024
- Voids Within
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam"Dystopika" is a single-player strategy game with great gameplay, stunning graphics, and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack. Players can build their own cyberpunk-inspired metropolis without any objectives or stress of competition, just for the joy of creation and exploration in a unique atmosphere. It's an ever-evolving passion project by a solo developer, offering a relaxing and immersive escape into a dystopian dream world.
Reviews
- Beautiful graphics and atmosphere, perfectly capturing the cyberpunk aesthetic.
- Relaxing gameplay with no management or objectives, allowing for pure creativity.
- The ability to upload custom images for billboards adds a personal touch to city designs.
- Limited building variety and interactions, which can lead to repetitive gameplay.
- Lacks depth and complexity found in traditional city builders, making it feel more like a sandbox than a game.
- Some players may find the lack of goals or challenges unengaging over time.
- music136 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its atmospheric and relaxing qualities, with many players highlighting its dark synthwave and ambient tracks that perfectly complement the cyberpunk aesthetic. While the soundtrack enhances the immersive experience, some users express a desire for more variety in the music selection. Overall, the combination of beautiful visuals and a soothing soundtrack creates a chill environment ideal for casual gameplay.
“The music and atmosphere of the game are amazing.”
“A relaxing game that allows me to unwind and design a city with a dark synthwave soundtrack that fits wonderfully.”
“The music pulls you in and you find yourself wrapped in your own world.”
“This game has music that you will turn off right away.”
“I feel that most people will put their own jams on when they're constructing a city in this game, thus I have a very negative disposition towards this game's music.”
“I wish there was a digital soundtrack download option.”
- graphics136 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning cyberpunk aesthetic, featuring vibrant neon lights and intricate building designs that create an immersive futuristic atmosphere. While some users note that the visuals can be overly dark and lack detail, the overall aesthetic is described as beautiful and relaxing, making it a perfect fit for fans of the genre. The ability to customize visuals further enhances the experience, although some players express a desire for more content and gameplay depth.
“Stunning visuals and quite a lot of variability for sculpting an amazing cyberpunk/dystopian corporate city.”
“I feel like this sells the reality short - it's absolutely beautiful, and takes the cyberpunk/blade runner aesthetic to a relentless level, letting you place buildings of different designs and themes, various decorations from streams of flying cars to advertisement blimps to customizable holograms, and you can adjust the weather and time of day for whatever aesthetic you prefer.”
“Dystopika blends city-building with a cyberpunk aesthetic in a way that's both relaxing and visually stunning.”
“The visuals are overly dark because there really isn't anything to look at past the neon.”
“[i]dystopika[/i] feels graphically robbed of detail by the use of a very dark art style.”
“Graphics are the only feature of this game and they're rather underwhelming.”
- atmosphere79 mentions
- 66 % positive mentions
- 30 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive and relaxing qualities, enhanced by a beautiful soundtrack and stunning visuals that capture the essence of a cyberpunk city. Players appreciate the cozy, tranquil environment that allows for creative expression while building their dream cities, making it a perfect escape for fans of the genre. Overall, the atmospheric design and customizable settings contribute significantly to the game's appeal, providing a captivating experience that encourages exploration and relaxation.
“The game is so atmospheric, the music is gorgeous, and it's a total pleasure to immerse yourself in and build your dream cyberpunk city.”
“The immersive atmosphere of the cyberpunk genre would blend perfectly with the complexity of managing a sprawling futuristic city, balancing growth, technology, and societal needs.”
“Beautiful, relaxing, and very atmospheric.”
“I can only hope the dev will add more buildings, decor, atmosphere and camera options.”
“A rare stress-free cozy game with a grim and dark atmosphere.”
“It has a cozy atmosphere with rain, smog, and slow music.”
- gameplay56 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 80 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this city-building game is characterized by its simplicity and focus on creativity, allowing players to build and customize their cyberpunk city without the pressure of resource management or specific objectives. While some players appreciate the relaxing and casual nature, others find the lack of depth and mechanics limiting, leading to a quick sense of boredom. Overall, it caters to those seeking a stress-free, artistic experience rather than traditional gameplay challenges.
“The game is quite nice, very reminiscent of older city builders - without worry of running out of resources or bringing down some bar mechanic that would be detrimental to your playthrough.”
“Gameplay is fluid, as if you're dynamically painting on a 3D canvas that only allows the palette of towering mega-complexes and neon lights to take form.”
“Paired with a chill, no-stress style gameplay... this game is perfect for anyone, like me, who wants to play more city building games but are easily overwhelmed by complex and cumbersome game mechanics.”
“As much as I appreciate its focus on relaxation, it makes me really want a full-fledged cyberpunk city builder with deeper mechanics, challenges, objectives, and resource management.”
“The game is exactly as advertised: a dystopian city building game without any mechanics beyond placing down your buildings and decorations.”
“There are absolutely zero gameplay elements - no progression, no goals, no nothing.”
- monetization25 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is centered around user-generated content, allowing players to create and customize their own advertisements using personal images and gifs, which enhances the immersive experience of building a cyberpunk city. Players appreciate the freedom to design their environments with various ads and decorations, although some express a desire for more streamlined options to integrate custom media. Overall, the monetization strategy appears to foster creativity and engagement, making the game feel personalized and unique.
“It's sad to say that I won't be playing this game for half the time I spent looking for the ads.”
“I spent two hours, more than playing this game, in searching and downloading interesting-looking ads on Google.”
“Move and resize options for placed ads, decorations, and buildings (if these already exist I couldn't figure out how to do it).”
- story22 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The game features no predefined story, allowing players to create their own narratives through city-building and customization. While some users appreciate the freedom and sandbox nature of the experience, others express a desire for structured objectives or missions to enhance engagement. Overall, the emphasis is on personal imagination rather than a guided storyline.
“There is a lot of customizable images and writing to give your city its own story.”
“With the tools available to you, you can craft your own little future dystopian world ready for you to headcanon a story together for it.”
“I'm the target audience for a game like this: the type of individual who loves just making a city in a sandbox and having a little story/justification for everything I place down in my head.”
“Absolutely no story at all.”
“There are no quests or goals, just build and watch your city grow.”
“The game truly delivers a chill sandbox feel with no strings attached, no story, no rules... just your imagination.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be minimal, with no resource farming required, allowing for a more relaxed experience focused on city building. However, some users note that extended play sessions can become tedious and repetitive, suggesting that while the game is enjoyable in short bursts, it may lack depth for longer gameplay.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“That said, I would expect extended play may become a little tedious after several hours of gameplay unless the developer has more plans for the development of the game.”
“Dystopika overall, however, is a fun yet challenging game to play, yet sometimes repetitive and it does get boring and tedious if being played for a long time.”
- emotional5 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the game emotionally soothing and comforting, providing a welcome escape from more intense and graphic titles in the genre. Its simple, heartfelt design resonates deeply, offering a sense of tranquility and relief during tough times.
“Most days I'm so emotionally exhausted that I just need a chill game, and this is perfect for me.”
“Seeing the skyscrapers at night made me feel comfort in the possible infinite expanses that were cities.”
“I had a garbage week, and then I played this game for 3 hours, and it made me feel better.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for its cleverness and creativity, with players enjoying the ability to incorporate amusing elements, such as iconic characters, into their creations. Many find the experience both entertaining and engaging, highlighting its potential for generating laughter through imaginative gameplay.
“It was funny, short, and sweet to play this.”
“10/10 simply because you can put images everywhere; it's hilarious.”
“One example: I built a city and added Mr. House from Fallout as the 'big brother' of the city. I suggest you try it if you like Fallout; it is pretty funny and cool.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Players find the game highly replayable, with many expressing hope for ongoing updates that will introduce new buildings and features. The developer's roadmap also suggests future enhancements aimed at increasing replayability.
“It's very replayable.”
“I do hope that the developer continues to add new buildings and features to the game to keep it replayable.”
“As if that wasn't enough, the roadmap promises further refinement and replayability.”
- stability3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been reported to have several bugs and glitches, particularly with the unlock system and some in-game textures, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these issues, players appreciate the game's graphics and aesthetic appeal.
“Unfortunately, this game is a little buggy.”
“I'm also not a fan of the unlock system (which others have also reported as buggy), and some poorly rendered in-game textures.”
“Although the game offers some nice graphics and a really beautiful aesthetic, there are some ugly glitches here and there.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
While players appreciate the game's content, they report ongoing optimization issues, particularly with performance drops during the rain feature, even on capable hardware.
“There are still some issues around optimization that need to be resolved, but I enjoy what's there.”
“I would love it if you could fix the performance when using the rain feature; it caused some significant drops in frame rates (I have a decent rig).”
“I would love it if you could fix the performance when using the rain feature; it caused some significant drops in frame rates, even though I have a decent rig.”
“The game struggles to maintain a stable frame rate during intense action sequences, making it nearly unplayable at times.”
“I've noticed frequent stuttering and lag, especially in open-world areas, which really detracts from the overall experience.”
