Imagine Earth

About

Imagine Earth is a single player economy city builder game with economy, post-apocalyptic and science fiction themes. It was developed by Serious Bros. and was released on July 9, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Imagine Earth is a real-time simulation game. Whole planets become your playground and keep the excitement going with strategy and puzzle element. Build up huge civilizations and deal with the self-inflicted climate change. It all depends on your individual development plans and growth management abilities.

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79%

Audience ScoreBased on 567 reviews

gameplay44 positive mentions

grinding5 negative mentions

Unique globe-based planetary city-building with a strategic focus on balancing economic growth and environmental sustainability.
Polished presentation with appealing graphics, smooth gameplay, and an intuitive UI that supports both mouse/keyboard and gamepad/Steam Deck.
Robust and challenging single-player campaign with diverse planets and replayable sandbox modes; frequent updates and developer responsiveness improve the experience.

Limited campaign content with short missions and no multiplayer, reducing long-term replay value for some players.
Some gameplay mechanics and UI elements feel unintuitive or clunky, including research systems, tech license usage, and building differentiation.
Strong environmental and political messaging may feel heavy-handed or divisive; some players find voice acting and dialogs awkward or distracting.

gameplay
113 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
56%
5%
The gameplay of this management and city-building game is engaging, blending classic mechanics with unique features like environmental sustainability and corporate competition across alien planets. It offers strategic depth through resource management, ecological balance, and varied planetary conditions, though some find it repetitive or somewhat simplified compared to other genre titles. Overall, players appreciate its thoughtful pacing, challenge, and meaningful integration of climate and pollution mechanics, making it rewarding especially for fans of strategic colony-building games.
- “That blends classic management mechanics with a thoughtful focus on environmental sustainability and corporate expansion across the galaxy.”
- “The environmental mechanics encourage players to consider long-term planetary health rather than pursuing short-term economic gains, adding a layer of strategy that is rarely emphasized so strongly in the genre.”
- “Its combination of globe-based construction mechanics, corporate economic competition, and dynamic ecological systems creates a layered strategy experience that encourages thoughtful planning and long-term sustainability.”
- “The game mechanics are quite simple and repetitive, so it’s not for seasoned city and colony builders.”
- “All of the interactive elements which should make the game unique to my experience are wiped away under mechanics heavily decided by what the developers think you should do instead of what you want to do.”
- “With the default settings, you can literally win a game in about 10-12 minutes every time, omitting a lot of game mechanics (hostile takeovers, pirates, asteroids, global warming), because there isn't simply enough time for them to come into play.”
story
106 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
86%
3%
The story in this game is generally considered basic and serves mostly as a framework for the campaign missions, which act like tutorials with limited narrative depth. Missions are diverse and progressively challenging, set across different planets, but overall the campaign is short with only a handful of missions, leading some players to feel the story lacks complexity and replay value. While the environmental and corporate themes add some interest, the narrative is not a standout feature and is sometimes marred by pacing and technical issues.
- “The campaign story follows a small company as they work to make sustainable colonies in a galaxy that's more profit focused.”
- “Great tech tree and interesting campaign, plenty of side quests as part of the main mission and multiple ways to achieve campaign objectives. I've only tried the campaign so far but it's kept me coming back for more.”
- “The strategy and choice involved keep the gameplay varied so that even campaign missions with pre-generated maps can be played in many different ways.”
- “It's a real shame that the main campaign has just 6 missions.”
- “But the campaign story is filled with tropes and a socialist speech that gets annoying real fast.”
- “The dialogue was clearly written by a non-native English speaker, and crashed after completing the first campaign mission.”
graphics
103 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
52%
5%
The graphics are generally praised for their colorful, stylized, and charming aesthetic that prioritizes clarity and accessibility over realism, creating a visually appealing and smooth experience across platforms. While some users find the art style delightful and unique, others note issues such as repetitive building designs, small or unclear sprites, and occasional rough or outdated textures. Overall, the visuals contribute positively to gameplay, though there is room for improvement in detail and UI integration.
- “Visually, the game adopts a colorful and stylized aesthetic that emphasizes clarity and accessibility.”
- “The visual design prioritizes readability and charm rather than hyper-realistic graphics, making it easier to track infrastructure networks and environmental changes across the planetary surface.”
- “Game graphics are utterly stunning, polished and very, very professional.”
- “The graphics is ok, could use more modern features to make it look more realistic, less cartoonish.”
- “What does frustrate me here is all the buildings are so samey and iconless, that the graphics (which take up most of the screen obviously) are just conveying very little information.”
- “Graphics start out at a garbage resolution, easy fix but then it still looks kinda ugly.”
music
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
43%
13%
The music is generally praised for its calming, inspiring, and fitting sci-fi ambiance, with many highlighting the well-composed soundtrack and how it enhances the atmosphere and gameplay. However, some users find the music repetitive or limited in variety, expressing a desire for more tracks to prevent monotony during longer play sessions. Minor audio issues, such as abrupt transitions during threat alerts, were noted but did not significantly detract from the overall positive reception.
- “Ambient music tracks create a calm atmosphere while players plan their next development steps, and subtle sound effects highlight the construction of buildings and industrial activity across the planet.”
- “The first thing that struck me about this game is the absolutely masterfully composed music.”
- “The music is modern and relaxing but also sci-fi, which makes the atmosphere great.”
- “The soundtrack puts you to sleep, and graphics were disappointing.”
- “The soundtrack is also terrible, adding to the queasy vibe of the game.”
- “It is boring and repetitive, add more music please because it destroys gameplay (try to play this game for 1 hour listening to only one song).”
replayability
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
35%
18%
Replayability opinions are mixed: many praise features like custom planet generation, faction variety, workshop maps, and competitive modes for providing substantial replay value, while others feel the limited campaign and mission count reduce motivation to replay. Overall, the game offers depth and creative tools that appeal to those seeking strategic variety, though some find it lacking as a long-term engaging experience.
- “Custom planet generation tools provide additional replayability by letting players design unique worlds with different climates and resource layouts.”
- “You can choose which of several factions to play as, all of which have their own special powers. There are also a number of worlds you can download from the Steam Workshop, so there's plenty of replayability once you have finished the campaign.”
- “Added to that are time trials, challenges, free play, and planet creators, so the game has a decent amount of replay value.”
- “For me, there is no replay value and once it's completed it will be uninstalled never to be played again.”
- “No replay value.”
- “For the amount you spend, it is a little lacking in replayability; the campaign is good enough, but that's where it ends for me.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
12%
38%
The game is well-optimized, running smoothly across platforms including macOS and Steam Deck, with impressive graphics and performance. However, the user interface feels more suited for console controllers, which may complicate navigation for some players. Overall, optimization is a clear focus, contributing to a polished and responsive gameplay experience.
- “The game runs smoothly.”
- “Nice game, optimized for Steam Deck.”
- “It's fun, looks pretty, runs smoothly.”
- “Most focus is on optimization and outperforming your competitors and trying to not fail.”
- “From Big Pharma to Kings & Castles, SimCity, Transport Tycoon, Cities in Motion, Rise of Industry, I know my way around optimization.”
- “The game requires a fairly high level of space optimization if you want to get somewhere.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is generally well-received, described as amusing and stable with moments of clever, situational comedy, especially related to gameplay mechanics like empire growth and environmental themes. However, some find the humor to be corny and somewhat typical of the genre, with attempts at satire on serious topics feeling less effective. Overall, the humor adds enjoyment without detracting from the experience.
- “Stealing it with a border expansion tower hack and watching his empire growth grind to a halt was hilarious.”
- “I also think reaching the endgame if you are polluting a lot can be very funny, you should try it once.”
- “This game just keeps getting better and the humor is great.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by calming, sci-fi ambient music and subtle sound effects that immerse players in planetary development. While the relaxing soundtrack and environmental details create a captivating mood, some players note missed opportunities for interactive atmospheric mechanics, such as manipulating or stabilizing the planet's climate.
- “Ambient music tracks create a calm atmosphere while players plan their next development steps, and subtle sound effects highlight the construction of buildings and industrial activity across the planet.”
- “I really got submerged into the atmosphere!”
- “The music is modern and relaxing but also sci-fi, which makes the atmosphere great.”
- “Apart from the lack of military strategy, there was absolutely no way to combat the rising tides or to attempt to stabilize the atmosphere using technology.”
- “As a player, I wanted to 'play dirty' with nuclear energy and pump the atmosphere full of toxic chemicals.”
- “(It would change the atmosphere gas composition slightly, leading to many different effects, like intensified growth of green algae, etc., and when done too quickly, it would cause the greenhouse effect.)”
grinding
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is seen as slow and limited, often making progression feel tedious and repetitive, especially when relying on DLC content perceived as exploitative. Some players find that excessive grinding early on can ease difficulty but at the cost of engagement, contrasting unfavorably with more dynamic and detailed city builders like Anno 2070.
- “Slow, limited, grindy city builder.”
- “If you research everything early by going back to a planet after completing it and just grinding it, yes it will be too easy.”
- “And of course they pickup the DLC farming, another disgrace to crowdfunding (expected a full game, not a DLC farmer)!”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's monetization heavily involves in-app purchases, with data collection tied to financial transactions. However, some users feel it has shifted towards a "cash grab," expressing frustration over issues like installation problems potentially linked to these practices.
- “This game used to be my favorite but it appears it was another 'cash grab' by the developers as now the game refuses to install or download due to supposed corrupt files.”
- “In-app purchase data: when you make a purchase in the game, information about the transaction is collected.”
- “The opening cutscene shows spaceships flying past a giant television advertisement floating in space.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is generally functional but has some minor GUI bugs that can be worked around by restarting or using the escape key. Despite repeated troubleshooting attempts, users still encounter occasional issues.
- “The GUI is a bit buggy here and there, but not so bad you can't use the escape key and try again.”
- “Tried all the troubleshooting steps five times, but the issues persist.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users appreciate the emotional impact of the hand-crafted campaign, finding it more heartwarming and meaningful compared to randomly generated games.
- “As opposed to every randomly generated game out there, there's something heart-warming about going through a hand-crafted campaign.”