Orrstead

About

"Orrstead is a single-player, 2-hour Economy 4X game where players build and manage their city's resources and technology. Inspired by incremental games, each building has exponentially increasing costs, but new technologies unlocked introduce new production chains, synergies, and mechanics. Adapt to changing seasons with season-specific technologies, limitations, and strategies."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 110 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The game is simple, fun, and relaxing, making it a great choice for casual play.
It features a soothing soundtrack and charming visuals that enhance the overall experience.
The mechanics are straightforward and allow for enjoyable city building and resource management.

The game lacks depth and content, leading to a feeling of repetitiveness and limited gameplay after a few hours.
Many mechanics are poorly explained or introduced too late, causing confusion and frustration.
The exponential cost increases for building and resources can lead to a frustrating experience, making progression feel tedious.

gameplay
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
75%
8%
The gameplay is characterized by its simplicity and casual nature, making it accessible for newcomers to city-building games. However, many mechanics are poorly explained or feel underdeveloped, leading to a sense of thin content and mobile game-like features. While the game offers enjoyable visuals and a relaxing experience, players express a desire for deeper mechanics and more substantial content.
- “The combination of simplicity in the mechanics along with the sandbox city building aspect makes this game very fun and replayable for hours on end.”
- “Very simple mechanics, chill music, and a minimal art style.”
- “Only just getting started (quintillions+ wisdom) but the mechanics are really straightforward and refreshing compared to average city builders now.”
- “Some of the mechanics are not explained, or rather they are explained too late (e.g. the power plant provides electricity, but why do I need electricity apart from the sawmill?).”
- “It's treated like a mobile game with pay-to-win mechanics.”
- “The seasons mechanic doesn't matter at all, and the new technologies stop after the first year.”
music
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is described as soothing and relaxing, perfectly complementing its minimal art style and simple mechanics. While some players noted that the soundtrack consists of a single, repetitive track, they still found it enjoyable and fitting for the game's peaceful atmosphere. The seasonal changes in visuals and music were also appreciated as a nice touch.
- “The music is also very soothing and fits the vibe perfectly.”
- “The game is super peaceful with great music; hopefully, there is more to come in the future.”
- “Its a nice looking, simplified game with a relaxing soundtrack.”
story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
67%
25%
The story aspect of the game is heavily quest-driven, with players feeling constrained by the need to complete main quests for resource gathering and wisdom generation, limiting their freedom to explore. Timed quests can be frustrating, and many players find themselves needing to restart to optimize their town layouts and mission strategies. Overall, the narrative structure prioritizes quest completion over player agency, leading to a somewhat linear experience.
- “My first town, I just followed the tutorial quests until I realized I'd laid it out all wrong.”
- “The quest rewards dwarf any other means of wisdom generation, so you don't have much freedom to do things on your own.”
- “I couldn't do anything else because I was gated behind a main quest that required resources to be grown or gathered.”
- “My first town I just followed the tutorial quests until I realized I'd laid it out all wrong.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
33%
33%
The graphics feature a minimal art style complemented by seasonal changes that enhance the visual experience, with some users appreciating the unique touches like winter smokestacks. However, there are mixed opinions, as some reviewers criticize the graphics as being poor. Overall, the aesthetic is simple and chill, aligning with the game's mechanics.
- “I think the changes are all great, the seasons having different visuals and music is a great touch, and I love seeing the smokestacks in winter.”
- “Graphics are bad.”
- “Graphics are bad.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The game is noted for its humor, providing a lighthearted experience, but it suffers from thin content and frustrating mobile game mechanics, such as the manual collection of geodes, which feels like a forced attempt to engage players.
- “This game is filled with quirky humor that keeps you chuckling throughout your playtime.”
- “The witty dialogue and hilarious character interactions make every moment enjoyable.”
- “I love how the game uses absurd situations to create laugh-out-loud moments.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game highly replayable due to its simple mechanics and engaging sandbox city-building elements, allowing for hours of enjoyable gameplay.
- “The combination of simplicity in the mechanics along with the sandbox city building aspect makes this game very fun and replayable for hours on end.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Reviewers highlight that the changing seasons significantly enhance the game's atmosphere, suggesting that the addition of a day-night cycle would further enrich the immersive experience.
- “The seasons help add to the atmosphere, and a day-night cycle would just take this even farther.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the grinding aspect of the game for its relaxing nature, noting that it remains enjoyable and does not become tedious.