Scorchlands
- July 25, 2024
- ringlan
- 7h median play time
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Get on itch.io Store"Scorchlands is a single-player, fantasy open world game that takes about 3 hours to beat. It features hex grid-based city-building, complex resource management, and terraforming on procedurally generated maps. The technology system allows for new discoveries and gameplay options as you progress."
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Reviews
- Scorchlands offers a unique blend of puzzle and city-building mechanics, allowing for creative experimentation without the stress of resource stockpiling.
- The game features a relaxing gameplay experience with no time pressure, encouraging players to optimize logistics and building placements at their own pace.
- The visuals and humor, particularly the charming bird characters, add a delightful touch to the overall experience, making it engaging and enjoyable.
- Some mechanics, such as resource transfer via lasers and the use of mirrors, can feel tedious and convoluted, leading to potential frustration during gameplay.
- The combat system is underdeveloped and may not provide the depth or excitement that some players expect from a game with combat elements.
- Players may encounter issues with logistical supply chains that can lead to significant setbacks, requiring careful planning and management to avoid mistakes.
- gameplay29 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a unique blend of resource management and puzzle mechanics, offering an innovative twist on the factory genre that emphasizes terraforming and logistical challenges. While many players find it addictive and engaging, some criticize certain mechanics as tedious and lacking cohesion. Overall, the game presents a fascinating and complex experience that rewards strategic planning and city-building skills.
“Massively underrated base building/factory game with fairly innovative gameplay, since you have to terraform the land first, then create colonies to claim the land, then build your factories inside those colonies.”
“The gameplay is an interesting twist on the classic factory genre, with free production buildings but a big logistical challenge to move the goods around and a puzzle challenge to balance the buildings' positions to get production bonuses.”
“Really fun, straightforward, easy to pick up with a lot of mechanics that make the game more interesting and complicated the longer you play. Well worth its price; it feels like an actual game on release, not an early access.”
“The game seems intriguing at first, but the mechanics end up being really tedious and lack cohesion.”
“The way resources are transferred between bases is bizarre, the mirror stuff is silly, and the core gameplay loop seems like it could use a bit more thought and planning.”
“This figures into combat a bit, but I'm not sure that really added much and didn't feel as central to the gameplay as it does in Factorio or something.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while it initially satisfies the desire for puzzle-solving and base-building, many feel that the mechanics become tedious and lack cohesion, particularly when it comes to resource management and colony expansion. The repetitive nature of transferring resources detracts from the overall enjoyment, leading to frustration.
“The game seems intriguing at first, but the mechanics end up being really tedious and lack cohesion.”
“If I have a complaint, it is that it can be very tedious to transfer resources and expand colonies.”
“I set up an entire biome to make gold when I realize these flux rocks I tilled over were actually resources and not just obstacles for farming.”
- graphics6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are consistently praised for their charm and appeal, featuring lovely hex designs that enhance the overall relaxing experience. Players appreciate the combination of nice visuals and pleasant music, contributing to a stress-free and enjoyable atmosphere.
“Very nice, stressless, easy to learn hard to master, base building game, with lovely hex graphics and pleasant music.”
“Nice music, nice graphics, relaxing puzzler :)”
“The game is well balanced, simple to understand, has nice graphics.”
- music4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is consistently praised for being pleasant and relaxing, complementing the overall stress-free experience. Reviewers appreciate how it enhances the game's atmosphere, making it enjoyable to play while engaging in base building and puzzle-solving.
“Very nice, stressless, easy to learn, hard to master base building game, with lovely hex graphics and pleasant music.”
“Nice music, nice graphics, relaxing puzzler :)”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's building placement optimization is similar to Civilization 6, focusing on adjacency bonuses; however, players can place a large number of buildings without the need for meticulous planning, allowing for a more relaxed approach to optimization.
“The optimization of building placement works essentially the same as Civilization 6 districts, where it is all about adjacency bonuses. However, unlike Civ 6, you place buildings all the time—hundreds, even thousands of them—so you don't need to hyper-focus on maximizing every single building you place down.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express that the game evokes a sense of intelligence and accomplishment, particularly for those who may not typically excel in logistics games, enhancing their emotional engagement and satisfaction.
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players consistently praise the game's humor, particularly enjoying the character Donnie and the cleverness of the default colony names, which adds a playful touch to the experience.
“Another thing that I love about this game is its humor. I love Donnie and I love the default colony names (I see what you did there, XD).”
