Microcivilization

85%
Game Brain Score Based on 610 reviews
  • gameplay
  • graphics
  • story
Microcivilization Game Cover
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"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."

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Reviews

85%
Audience ScoreBased on 610 reviews
gameplay36 positive mentions
grinding21 negative mentions
  • Engaging gameplay that combines elements of clicker and civilization-building genres, keeping players hooked for hours.
  • The game features a charming pixel art style and a soothing soundtrack, enhancing the overall experience.
  • Active developer support with regular updates and a promising roadmap for future content expansion.
  • The game can become repetitive quickly, with limited variation in gameplay mechanics across different eras.
  • Some players experience technical issues, including crashes and save file corruption, which can disrupt progress.
  • The price point may feel high for the current amount of content available, leading to concerns about value for money.
  • gameplay117 mentions

    The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, featuring satisfying mechanics and an engaging atmosphere, but it suffers from repetitiveness and a lack of depth as players progress. While some find the blend of clicker and strategy elements innovative and addictive, others criticize the core loop for becoming stale and monotonous after a few hours. Overall, the game shows promise with its unique mechanics, but it requires further refinement and content to enhance the gameplay experience.

    • “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.”
    • “An amazing active-clicker game with unique mechanics and progression.”
    • “The gameplay loop is repetitive and forces you to restart your good runs.”
    • “Firstly, the gameplay is extremely repetitive and offers very little variety.”
    • “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 spurts, grinding heroes at the end, etc.)”
  • graphics39 mentions

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming pixel art style and vibrant colors, which enhance the overall immersive experience. While many players appreciate the visual appeal and smooth interface, some note a lack of variety and depth in the graphics as the game progresses. Overall, the visuals are considered a strong point, contributing positively to the game's relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere.

    • “The art style is a delightful mix of charming pixel art and vibrant colors, which enhances the immersive experience.”
    • “Beautiful retro art style.”
    • “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.”
    • “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.'”
  • story27 mentions

    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 variety in quest lines and the potential for unique hero upgrades, but many feel that the overall narrative experience lacks depth and can lead to boredom after initial excitement.

    • “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.”
    • “I see a lot of interesting roguelite potential in regards to emergent storytelling.”
    • “Every region on the map has two 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.”
  • grinding23 mentions

    Reviews indicate that the grinding aspect of the game can become tedious, particularly in the late game where players feel a decline in power and face repetitive tasks such as research and hero farming. While the initial gameplay is engaging, many players find that the grind intensifies over time, leading to a sense of monotony and frustration as they strive for achievements and manage resources. Overall, the game offers a solid foundation but suffers from a lack of variety in mechanics as players progress.

    • “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...).”
  • replayability15 mentions

    Overall, "Microcivilization" is praised for its high replayability, attributed to its blend of incremental and grand strategy elements, along with roguelite features that encourage varied gameplay. Players appreciate the game's addictive loop, diverse scenarios, and strategic depth, which contribute to its long-term engagement. Despite being in early access, the potential for future enhancements further excites users about its replay value.

    • “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.”
  • music13 mentions

    The music in the game is generally praised for its relaxing and engaging qualities, effectively complementing the gameplay and enhancing the atmosphere. However, some users note that the soundtrack can be repetitive and lacks variety, with a few expressing a desire for additional tracks. Overall, while the music is enjoyable, it may require adjustments in volume for optimal experience.

    • “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.”
    • “The art, music, and gameplay are all beautiful.”
    • “I will most likely continue to play this if I am honestly braindead and just want to chill with some music and not require proper tactical planning and moving troops efficiently like in say Total War: Warhammer 3 or some such.”
    • “- 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.”
  • stability3 mentions

    The game has significant stability issues, with users reporting frequent freezes on the Steam Deck, particularly during combat and ascension sequences, which can lead to game restarts and loss of progress. Overall, these bugs detract from the gameplay experience.

    • “Sadly, the EA version freezes sometimes on Steam Deck while fighting, which leads to a dead civilization and requires a restart.”
    • “Also, it freezes sometimes while ascending, which ends the game as it freezes after reload over and over.”
    • “This seems like it might be a fun game, but it's either buggy or I just don't get it.”
  • optimization3 mentions

    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, earning it 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.”
  • monetization2 mentions

    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.”
  • atmosphere1 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is enhanced by a beautifully complementary soundtrack, which fosters a relaxing yet engaging experience for players.

    • “The soundtrack complements the gameplay beautifully, creating an atmosphere that is both relaxing and engaging.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    Players express a deep emotional connection to the game's narrative, often feeling sorrow when leaving behind characters they have grown attached to, highlighting the impactful storytelling and character development.

    • “Every time I ascend, I shed a tear for each citizen I have to leave behind. 😢”
  • humor1 mentions

    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 loved the witty dialogue and clever puns sprinkled throughout the gameplay.”
    • “The humor in this game is spot-on, making even the most mundane tasks enjoyable.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

10hMedian play time
17hAverage play time
5-30hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 16 analyzed playthroughs

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