Poly Skies

About

Poly Skies is a single player casual city builder game. It was developed by Red Phoenix Studios and was released on January 23, 2023. It received very positive reviews from players.

Beneath the clouds, mythical beasts have overthrown the land. It has become desolate, deviant and dangerous. The only safe haven left is up above the clouds. Here, it is peaceful, safe and gives us hope that we can one day return to the mainland below the clouds. Each villager has a life in Poly Skies, they will go to work, gather in social areas or do housekeeping at home. Do your best to car…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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92%

Audience ScoreBased on 13 reviews

optimization2 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

Relaxing and cute art style providing a chill, zen-like experience suitable for newcomers and casual players.
Simple and accessible gameplay mechanics that serve as a great introduction to city building and base management genres.
Active development with regular updates, responsive developer engagement, and smooth performance on various platforms.

Lack of content variety including few building types, limited crops, and absence of deeper mechanics such as offspring or complex economy.
Technical and design issues including bugs with building placement, inability to customize controls, no autosave, and missing quality-of-life features like notifications and better UI stats.
Overall barebones, low-quality assets and simplistic design leading to a perception of the game as lacking depth and polish compared to other titles in the genre.

gameplay
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
49%
38%
The gameplay is simple, relaxing, and gradually expands as players unlock buildings across floating islands, supported by a clear but overly simplified happiness system. While there is no traditional tutorial, a quest sequence effectively guides players through the mechanics. Overall, it's a well-made base-building experience offering around 90 minutes of smooth play, though some quality-of-life improvements could enhance it further.
- “The game doesn't have a tutorial, but it does have a quest sequence that guides you tightly through all the mechanics and teaches you how to play the game.”
- “The game was designed with the goal of providing an easy and relaxing experience, and for that reason the mechanics are intentionally simplified.”
- “There is a happiness system in place, but like pretty much all other mechanics of the game, it’s overly simplified and very transparent (the exact parameters that influence this mechanic are unclear): during the day, the happiness decreases as people go to work, and at night it goes back up as long as they have enough food and some relaxation buildings accessible (campfire and a later-unlocked shrine).”
- “The gameplay is simple and you slowly start unlocking more buildings and things for your different floating islands.”
story
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The story is guided through a structured quest sequence that effectively teaches gameplay mechanics, though players must follow quests precisely as prior progress may not count. However, the lack of visual notifications for new or completed quests and lore fragments can make tracking story progression confusing, despite attempts to keep the HUD uncluttered.
- “The game doesn't have a tutorial, but it does have a quest sequence that guides you tightly through all the mechanics and teaches you how to play the game.”
- “In the beginning of the game, it’s advisable to follow the quests closely because even if you build things ahead of time, you’ll have to build them again when the quest requires you to do so (a quest that asks you to place a certain building will not autocomplete if you already placed that building before you received the quest).”
- “There are no notifications about new quests or new lore fragments collected - these are hidden under some panels that are always collapsed by default (and return to a collapsed state every time you press escape to exit the building view). While this keeps the HUD uncluttered, a visual hint for players to know when a quest is new or completed would be helpful, as the audio clue alone is not sufficient.”
- “In the beginning of the game, it’s advisable to follow the quests closely because even if you build things ahead of time, you’ll have to build them again when the quest requires you to do so. A quest that asks you to place a certain building will not autocomplete if you already placed that building before you received the quest.”
- “There are no notifications about new quests or new lore fragments collected. These are hidden under some panels that are always collapsed by default and return to a collapsed state every time you press esc to exit the building view. This would be fine to keep the HUD uncluttered if there was a visual hint to know when a quest is new or completed, but the audio clue does not suffice.”
- “There are no notifications about new quests or new lore fragments collected. These are hidden under some panels that are always collapsed by default and return to a collapsed state every time you press esc to exit the building view. This would be fine to keep the HUD uncluttered if there was a visual hint to know when a quest is new or completed, but the audio clue does not suffice.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The game is well-optimized for average Windows PCs, running smoothly without lag or crashes. Its design encourages a relaxed gameplay experience, avoiding complex micromanagement or resource optimization by providing abundant resources and low building costs.
- “However, it can well appeal to more experienced players too, as a zen-like escapade from the micromanagement and over-optimization hell that even the blockbusters of the genre make one get used to.”
- “According to my personal experience, the game runs more than fine without any noticeable lag spikes or crashes, so it is well-optimized for the average Windows PC.”
- “The economy doesn’t require any kind of optimization: there are plenty of resources, and they pile up very easily because the population consumes little amount of food compared to what you produce, and the buildings are overall very cheap to build.”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's graphics feature a neat and cute art style that contributes to a relaxing, non-intimidating atmosphere. While visually charming, the visuals could benefit from further polishing to enhance the overall experience.
- “The game is relaxing with a cute art style.”
- “The music doesn't feel intimidating in any way, the graphics are neat and quite cute, and there is no sense of danger to be found anywhere.”
- “I enjoyed the music, art style and the building process, so for that I’ll stick with it and hope they can make it really shine in the future once it’s polished a bit more.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
33%
The music is soothing and non-intimidating, complementing the game's neat, cute visuals and relaxed atmosphere. Players appreciate its calming effect, enhancing the overall enjoyable experience.
- “The main menu has some soothing music that sets a relaxing tone for the game.”
- “The music doesn't feel intimidating in any way, complementing the neat and quite cute graphics, creating a calm atmosphere.”
- “I enjoyed the music, art style, and the building process, which makes me hopeful the game will really shine once it is polished further.”
- “The music doesn't feel intimidating in any way, the graphics are neat and quite cute, and there is no sense of danger to be found anywhere.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization is criticized for resembling asset flip or cash grab scams, with poor quality that raises concerns about the game's value and integrity.
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the grinding aspect tedious due to the lack of a quick way to cycle through inhabited islands, making it time-consuming to manage and defend multiple colonies as the empire expands.