Microcivilization

About

"Microcivilization is a single-player strategy game with sensational pixel-art graphics, offering a unique blend of exploration, expansion, exploitation, and extermination. Build a powerful nation using various methods, such as button smashing or harnessing the productivity of your people. Overcome numerous challenges, including disasters, wars, diseases, and social unrest, with the help of government combinations, unique heroes, and technology upgrades."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 666 reviews

gameplay40 positive mentions

grinding21 negative mentions

Engaging gameplay that combines clicker mechanics with strategy elements, making it enjoyable and addictive.
Charming pixel art and a well-designed interface enhance the overall experience.
Offers a unique take on the clicker genre, with a focus on civilization building and resource management.

Gameplay can become repetitive quickly, with limited variation between different eras and crises.
The game requires constant attention, making it less of an idle game and more of a clicker, which may frustrate some players.
Technical issues such as lag and crashes can detract from the overall experience, especially during critical moments.

gameplay
129 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
58%
11%
The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, featuring a blend of clicker and idle mechanics that some players find engaging while others criticize for being repetitive and lacking depth. While the game offers interesting mechanics and a decent progression system, many users feel that the core gameplay loop becomes monotonous after a few hours, with limited variety and innovation as players advance. Overall, it shows promise but requires further refinement and content to enhance the experience.
- “This game has several intricate mechanics which are fun to study and experiment with.”
- “The game brilliantly condenses the complexities of civilization-building into bite-sized gameplay without sacrificing depth.”
- “It's got a fun gameplay cycle where you can choose to stay in an era as long as you want to build up rewards and resources and expand, or rush eras ahead if you prefer to advance faster.”
- “At the same time, the game mechanics are far too scarce for an active focused gameplay, which feels really weird.”
- “The gameplay loop is repetitive and forces you to restart your good runs.”
- “Firstly, the gameplay is extremely repetitive and offers very little variety.”
graphics
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
37%
7%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming pixel art style and vibrant colors, creating an immersive and visually pleasing experience. While some users note minor issues like lack of variety and occasional graphical clipping, the overall aesthetic is considered superb for an incremental game, enhancing the gameplay without overwhelming it. Many reviewers appreciate the clean interface and relaxing atmosphere, making it a delightful choice for casual play.
- “The art style is a delightful mix of charming pixel art and vibrant colors, which enhances the immersive experience.”
- “Addictive, actually active and fun to play, has all the neat little accessibility things I'd want (holding keys for clicking, game speed setting), and has a gorgeous pixel art style.”
- “Beautiful retro art style.”
- “You can get extra housing, for example, but it won't update the graphics of older housing to the new ones, which bothers me.”
- “The graphics and sound design are also rather average and do nothing to enhance the gaming experience.”
- “When this game came into my discovery queue, my immediate thought was, 'ugh, more retro-graphics.'”
story
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
79%
10%
The game's story is primarily driven by a series of quests that unlock research and technology, offering a mix of emergent storytelling through random generated quests and character interactions. While the quests provide opportunities for strategic gameplay and resource management, they can become repetitive and tedious over time, especially after multiple resets. Players appreciate the potential for unique experiences in each playthrough, but many find the quest structure lacks depth and variety, leading to a decline in engagement as the game progresses.
- “Thanks to the ability to speed up the game (+/- keys) and to take on multiple quests at once, every playthrough was a white-knuckle ride constantly using different abilities barely in time to stop the next crisis.”
- “You will also collect and upgrade hundreds of unique heroes, each with their own abilities and traits, that will help you in your quests and battles.”
- “- every region on the map has 2 quest lines that provide different rewards, so there is some customization and strategy in every loop.”
- “The exploration missions are overly repetitive and the payouts don't scale well at all.”
- “You are just unblocking the same tree, with pretty much the same missions available to you.”
- “The quests get very boring and very annoying after the third reset.”
grinding
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
91%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly in the late game where progress feels stagnant and the need to restart after ascending adds to the grind. While the initial gameplay is enjoyable, many reviewers note that the mechanics become monotonous, leading to a decline in engagement as players are forced to repeatedly manage similar tasks without significant variation. Overall, the grind can detract from the overall experience, making it feel more like a chore than a rewarding challenge.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The tech itself isn't tedious; it's the quests on the world map.”
- “Later on, some of the events do start to feel grindy, like I can never catch up to how powerful I felt in the early game; it feels like I get less powerful as the game goes on, when it'd probably be best to have peaks and troughs.”
- “The game's grind cycles are somewhat tedious and it is a slightly more advanced 'clicker' game.”
- “Sadly, once you reach the mid-tier era, the mechanics stay the same and it quickly became boring doing the same stuff over and over again (research, map clearing, managing growth spurt, grinding heroes at the end, etc...).”
replayability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
40%
20%
Overall, the game is praised for its high replayability, attributed to its roguelite elements, strategic depth, and engaging gameplay loop. Players appreciate the variety of content and scenarios that enhance replay value, making it a unique and addictive experience. Despite being in early access, there are promising developments aimed at further increasing replayability.
- “It's early access and the recent development logs are suggesting adding some really interesting replayability features.”
- “There's very little replayability, if any, because of the roguelite elements, which I liked.”
- “Microcivilization is a game that offers a lot of content, variety, and replay value.”
- “This game is a very unique blend of idler & civ-like, with some rogue-like features that encourage replayability.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
50%
21%
The music in the game is generally well-received, enhancing the relaxing and engaging atmosphere, though some players find it repetitive and wish for more variety. While the soundtrack is described as pleasant and satisfying, a few users noted that it tends to be quiet, leading them to adjust their audio settings. Overall, the music complements the game's charming graphics and gameplay, making it a suitable choice for casual play.
- “The soundtrack complements the gameplay beautifully, creating an atmosphere that is both relaxing and engaging.”
- “Microcivilizations is a gorgeous game with satisfying music and sound effects.”
- “Firstly, it's made by a person who knows all mixed genres a lot, putting a lot of effort into every aspect of the game, including music.”
- “Sound effects and music are ok, but I hope more music will be added.”
- “- charming graphics, ok soundtrack (a little repetitive due to lack of variety)”
- “My only feedback, it seems the music is generally on the quiet side, so I find myself turning everything up and then murdering my eardrums on other games.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with users reporting frequent bugs, poor balance, and instances of freezing, particularly on the Steam Deck. These issues can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences, including game crashes during critical moments.
- “It's quite monotonous, poorly balanced, and buggy at times (e.g., extra development points you get at the end of each round which I received from a skill are not counted).”
- “Sadly, the EA version freezes sometimes on Steam Deck while fighting, which leads to a civilization dead and restart.”
- “Also freezes sometimes while ascending, which ends the game as it freezes after reload over and over.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization has been criticized for significant technical performance issues, including lag, low frame rates, and stuttering, which detract from the overall gaming experience, resulting in a low rating of 2 out of 5 stars.
- “Optimization issues.”
- “Technical performance: ⭐⭐☆☆☆ (2/5 stars)”
- “Issues with lag, low frame rates, and stuttering significantly affect the gaming experience.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game's narrative, particularly feeling sorrow when ascending and leaving behind citizens, highlighting the impact of their choices on the game's world. This emotional weight adds depth to the gameplay experience, evoking genuine feelings of loss and attachment.
- “Every time I ascend, I shed a tear for each citizen I have to leave behind. 😢”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization model for the game appears to lean towards a free-to-play structure, potentially incorporating ads or pay-to-win elements, which has sparked interest among users. Additionally, advertisements for the game have effectively captured players' attention, contributing to its visibility.
- “On the phone, this would have been free with ads or pay-to-win, so there's that.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is enhanced by a beautifully complementary soundtrack, which fosters a relaxing yet engaging environment for players.
- “The soundtrack complements the gameplay beautifully, creating an atmosphere that is both relaxing and engaging.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The humor in the game is noted for its interesting core idea, complemented by several humorous elements that enhance the overall experience.
- “The game has an interesting core idea and some genuinely humorous elements that kept me entertained.”
- “I love how the humor is woven into the gameplay; it adds a delightful twist to the experience.”
- “The witty dialogue and funny scenarios had me laughing out loud throughout my playthrough.”