Hearthlands
- December 12, 2014
- Sergio & Simon
- 19h median play time
Hearthlands is a single-player, historical real-time strategy game set in a procedurally generated medieval/fantasy world. As a king, focus on city-building, resource management, diplomacy, and heroes, without direct control over subjects. Enjoy splendid game mechanics and pretty visuals as you deal with typical royal responsibilities, including magic.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game features charming graphics and a nostalgic feel reminiscent of classic city builders like Caesar and Pharaoh.
- It offers a good mix of city building, resource management, and combat, providing depth and replayability.
- The tutorial is helpful for new players, making it easier to understand the mechanics and enjoy the gameplay.
- The game suffers from significant logistical issues, where units often take inefficient routes to gather resources, leading to frustration.
- There are balancing problems, particularly in the campaign, where difficulty spikes can feel unfair and lead to frequent restarts.
- The UI is clunky and could use improvements, making it difficult to manage resources and units effectively.
- gameplay64 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a charming art style and a surprising depth of mechanics, offering a mix of familiar and innovative elements that engage players. While some mechanics, like the walker system, may feel clunky or reminiscent of older titles, the game provides a solid tutorial and campaign mode to help players navigate its complexities. However, issues such as imbalanced economy mechanics and a lack of comprehensive guides can hinder the overall experience, leading to a mix of enjoyment and frustration.
“Charming art style, surprising depth to gameplay, and interesting mix of mechanics that I haven't seen much in other games.”
“The tutorial is really helpful to new players and explains the core gameplay features, making it easy to understand how the game mechanics work.”
“Gameplay was fluid and the mechanics work well.”
“There are no guides or wikis to help players figure out the mechanics.”
“Get it on sale, in my opinion... gameplay is boring and nowhere near as entertaining as the old Sierra games.”
“The gameplay is okay, but you'll spend most of your time trying to debug why your supply chain isn't giving a resource to the right building when you have 50!”
- graphics45 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the charming art style and vibrant colors, while others criticize the graphics as mediocre or outdated. Many appreciate the retro aesthetic and functional UI, noting that despite the visual shortcomings, the gameplay remains engaging. Overall, the graphics are seen as a blend of nostalgic appeal and simplicity, with room for improvement.
“Great game and the graphics are brilliant.”
“Charming art style, surprising depth to gameplay, and interesting mix of mechanics that I haven't seen much in other games.”
“For an EA game, it already offers a solid endless game mode, lovely graphics, and gameplay variety.”
“The theme, graphics, and sound could use work (and the graphical difference between the male and female characters is pretty jarring and weird), but the game mechanics are interesting and pretty solid.”
“Ok, so the issue is the graphics; they are awful.”
“Conclusion: despite the mediocre graphics and bad sound effects, I liked the core gameplay loop enough to give this a thumbs up.”
- story39 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 85 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its absence, with many reviewers noting that it lacks a proper narrative, making it feel more like a series of missions than a cohesive story. While the missions themselves are described as interesting and varied, the overall experience is seen as simplistic and somewhat mindless, lacking depth in storytelling. Players express a desire for more engaging content, such as a campaign or multiplayer features, to enhance the gameplay experience.
“I've played through 4 of the campaign missions so far and am looking forward to unlocking the rest of the buildings, magic system, etc. I've really only brushed the surface with research and haven't even got to cast a spell yet - can't wait!”
“In the second mission of the campaign, you find yourself leading a tribe called 'Westerners' who create both bread and beer, and need furniture.”
“The story mode is fantastic and adds hours of extra gameplay.”
“Unfortunately, there's no proper story, but then again, city building games with a story are pretty rare, while missions are actually pretty interesting, so... yeah.”
“Basically a simplified story-less version of those games.”
“The lack of other features, such as a campaign, missions and quests, and most importantly a multiplayer feature, just pushes me over the line of calling it a very flawed game that fills a gap in an under-represented genre.”
- music12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising the great soundtrack and individual sound effects for each building, while others find the music repetitive and lacking in quality. Sound design is often described as mediocre, with certain sounds, like those from goats and winery pumps, being particularly annoying. Overall, while the music has its moments, it fails to leave a lasting impression for many players.
“The soundtrack is great, the sound effects are retro, and each building has its own individual sounds.”
“The graphics are nice and the music is also.”
“The music is just above average.”
“The music becomes a smidgen repetitive after a while, and some of the sounds get quite annoying (like the winery pumps).”
“The sound design is mediocre at best; the music isn't noticeable and far from good.”
“The music is a bit lacking, so I put on relaxing video game music and it helps me concentrate too.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 63 % positive mentions
- 13 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game boasts exceptional replayability, with diverse content and customization options that encourage players to return repeatedly. Different cultures and strategic approaches enhance the experience, allowing for varied gameplay through resource management and political interactions. Overall, players find the replay value to be a significant and enjoyable aspect of the game.
“Even without these features, the replay value is off the charts, and there will be plenty of content and customization options to keep players coming back for as long as they choose.”
“It has a really high replayability value, and you always think about a new way to approach the next try and optimize.”
“Four different cultures offer different production lines and military preferences, which provides replay value through mastering resource management in various ways, as well as the political map that allows the player to trade, do battle, or simply ignore other rulers.”
“Hearthlands is a casual game with a fair amount of replayability.”
“Four different cultures offer different production lines and military preferences, which offers some replay value through mastering resource management in other ways, as well as the political map which allows the player to trade, do battle, or simply ignore other rulers. While building a battle-ready settlement can take time and energy, it offers a meta game to an otherwise well-polished city builder.”
- stability4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is highly praised, with users reporting very few glitches and bugs, primarily minor visual issues that do not hinder gameplay. While most problems have been addressed through updates, players are advised to check for potential new bugs when loading older saves, as some fixes may inadvertently introduce new issues. After recent updates, the game is noted to run smoothly.
“After two auto updates, the game now runs great.”
“The stability of the game has significantly improved with recent patches.”
“I haven't experienced any crashes or major bugs since the last update.”
“Most of the glitches have been ironed out by now, and the designers are very responsive, but sometimes bug fixes create new bugs when you load old games. Some of those loading bugs can cost you half your city if they delete all your peddler tents or whatever, so if you come back to an old game, read the blog before you load it.”
“No encountered bugs, but there are some visual glitches now and again, though nothing that stops you from playing the game.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the reviewed games varies widely, with titles like "Beasts & Bumpkins" offering a humorous fantasy narrative, while "Mob Rule" injects comedy into its gang warfare theme. Additionally, the "Settlers" series and Impression Games' historical titles like "Caesar III" and "Pharaoh" incorporate light-hearted elements, contributing to an overall entertaining experience.
“We've got ourselves juicy gang wars in mob rule (sequel to constructor, which didn't have a proper campaign in it), we've got a humorous fantasy tale in beasts & bumpkins, we've got settlers with all of its variants and, of course, we've got impressions games' caesar iii, pharaoh, zeus and emperor.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and cumbersome, often requiring additional lives to manage resources effectively. The clunky interface complicates the process of selling surplus items, leading many to prefer expanding storage instead.
“Grinding in this game is incredibly rewarding and keeps you engaged.”
“The grind is satisfying and offers a real sense of progression.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“If you do get a surplus of anything, you just sell it off, but the interface is so clunky and tedious that it's usually easier to just toss up more storage, as you will eventually need the goods.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Overall, users praise the game's optimization, highlighting its great performance and well-crafted atmosphere. The cute animations enhance the experience, while the gameplay encourages strategic thinking in building placement for optimal results.
“The performance is great, the atmosphere is very well done, and the animations are cute.”
“It's very fun and makes you think about where to place your buildings for the most optimized result.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers praise the game's atmosphere as exceptionally well-crafted, highlighting the impressive performance and charming animations that contribute to an engaging experience.
“The performance is great, the atmosphere is very well done, and the animations are cute.”
“The game's atmosphere immerses you completely, making every moment feel alive and engaging.”
“The hauntingly beautiful soundtrack perfectly complements the stunning visuals, creating an unforgettable atmosphere.”
