Stonehearth

About

Stonehearth is a sandbox simulation game where players lead a group of settlers to build a bustling town. They must manage resources, assign jobs, and defend against enemies, while making strategic decisions for the town's development. With a variety of customization options, players can create unique structures and craft items to shape their own medieval kingdom.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Local Multi-Player Play with friends in the same physical space using split-screen or multiple screens
2-Players Play with one other player, either online or locally, in a cooperative or competitive game mode
Multi-Player Compete or cooperate with other players online
Co-Op Team up with friends to complete levels or missions together
Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo
PvP Player versus Player - Fight against other players in real-time, often in arena-style combat
Split Screen Play with multiple players on the same screen, often with divided or shared screen real estate

71%

Audience ScoreBased on 7,337 reviews

gameplay230 positive mentions

stability615 negative mentions

Charming art style and relaxing gameplay.
Strong modding community, particularly the ACE mod, enhances the game experience.
Creative building mechanics allow for unique town designs.

Game is abandoned by developers, leading to many bugs and performance issues.
AI pathfinding is poor, causing villagers to get stuck and not complete tasks.
Game becomes unplayable with larger populations due to lag and crashes.

gameplay
746 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
65%
4%
The gameplay of Stonehearth is characterized by its creative building mechanics and engaging town management, offering players a blend of sandbox and strategy elements. However, many users report significant technical issues, including bugs, performance problems, and clunky mechanics that can disrupt the experience. While the game has potential and a dedicated modding community that enhances gameplay, it often feels unfinished and lacks depth, leading to a mixed reception regarding its overall enjoyment and replayability.
- “The gameplay and amount of freedom is great.”
- “Stonehearth offers a really cool blend of gameplay similar to Banished or Manor Lords but with a Minecraft-like twist.”
- “The gameplay is engaging and there is a lot of room for customization.”
- “The first 30 minutes of gameplay might appear charming, which seem to promise a satisfying game ahead, but that's just early aesthetic appeal before everything basically starts to fall off: the first few bugs you ignored begin to crop up and increase in severity, the AI becomes increasingly unresponsive, tons of promised content is missing, and - in my opinion - some questionable gameplay design choices tacked in the last few updates.”
- “The building mechanics are very glitchy, and my one and only complaint is how fragile and quirky the building mechanic is.”
- “Gameplay-wise, there's nothing particularly new, but the art style, design, and mechanics feel amazing, until it isn't, and all your villagers are stuck doing god knows what.”
stability
627 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
98%
The game's stability is widely criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, crashes, and performance issues that render it nearly unplayable, especially in late-game scenarios. Many players express frustration over the lack of developer support following the game's abandonment, leading to a reliance on community mods to address some of the issues. While some find enjoyment in the game despite its flaws, the consensus is that it remains a "buggy mess" that requires significant improvements to reach its potential.
- “I currently play with more than 20 citizens and the game still runs great at 2x speed or even 3x speed!”
- “The pros though is the game is beautifully done and it runs smooth and mostly feels bug free.”
- “I only encountered one bug, which left a permanent 'cloud' in an area, which doesn't even bother me, signaling that this game is mostly bug free.”
- “The game is a buggy mess, bless the ace mod team for trying to fix it but even they can't fix base game issues, runs okay at the start but don't expect to build a town with enough houses for everyone as the game becomes highly unstable and crashes too much to be even called frequently.”
- “This is an exceedingly buggy game that receives no support from its original company/developers.”
- “The game is still very buggy, and a lot of promised features were abandoned.”
graphics
616 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
59%
2%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming and unique voxel art style, which adds a delightful aesthetic to the gameplay experience. Many players appreciate the cute and colorful visuals, although some have noted performance issues, particularly when managing larger towns or using higher graphics settings. Overall, the art style is considered a significant draw for the game, appealing to fans of similar titles like Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress.
- “The art style of the game is very pleasing and the process feels rewarding.”
- “Stonehearth holds the promise of being among my top 5 games, with its charming blocky art style, adorable facial animations, and vibrant personalities.”
- “The graphics are charming and the story is a bit of a challenge, but not frustratingly so.”
- “The blocky art style, initially endearing, quickly loses its appeal when overshadowed by persistent technical problems.”
- “Good game, ok graphics, bad optimization, late game crashes a lot.”
- “The first 30 minutes of gameplay might appear charming which seem to promise a satisfying game ahead, but that's just early aesthetic appeal before everything basically starts to fall off: the first few bugs you ignored begin to crop up and increase in severity, the AI becomes increasingly unresponsive, tons of promised content is missing, and - in my opinion - some questionable gameplay design choices tacked in the last few updates.”
optimization
515 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
64%
25%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with many players reporting severe performance issues, particularly as their settlements grow beyond 20-30 villagers. Users note that the game is poorly optimized, leading to significant lag, crashes, and unresponsive AI, especially in late-game scenarios. Despite its fun gameplay and potential, the lack of developer support and ongoing optimization has left many feeling frustrated and unable to recommend it.
- “The game is fun when it works, but still plays like a beta with general UX problems, many glitches and bugs as well as performance issues.”
- “Despite all its flaws in terms of performance, I still find this game quite an amazing time sink, as it has and continues to provide lots of fun to me.”
- “It's a great game with a ton of potential but it's terribly optimized, so you get upwards of 15 people in your little village and the game's performance begins to absolutely tank.”
- “The core game is poorly optimized, so all of your worlds or saves will become completely unplayable after a certain point. Even though the mods might be fun, it doesn't matter as you won't be able to enjoy it due to how poorly optimized the game is.”
- “Unfortunately, the game was abandoned and remains poorly optimized. The performance issues really bring the game down.”
- “The performance is awful, coming to a grinding slideshow halt after an hour or so. The game is not optimized particularly well, and thus, all this great content to be explored becomes a tedious drag as you wait for your game to 'wake up' and move again.”
story
403 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
76%
4%
The story in "Stonehearth" is generally described as minimal and somewhat underdeveloped, with players noting that while there are quests and a basic narrative framework, it often feels generic and lacks depth. Many reviewers appreciate the charming characters and light-hearted humor, but express disappointment over the game's limited progression and repetitive quest structure. Community mods are frequently mentioned as a way to enhance the storytelling experience, suggesting that the base game could benefit from more substantial narrative content and improved quest mechanics.
- “The game tells both the story of settlers trying to build a home in a forgotten land and the secrets of the world called Stonehearth.”
- “The story of the game reflects both your own journey and your relationship with other characters.”
- “The story is very sandboxy, and while it comes off to me as randomly generated, you definitely get invested in the fate of your people.”
- “The story elements are thin, and the gameplay cannot support a significant number of characters-- even though the game design practically requires that you develop a large town.”
- “The quest system amounts to 'defend the settlement' and is more apt for a free-range tower defense game than the village builder/world simulation we were all promised.”
music
205 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
42%
4%
The music in the game is widely praised for its charm and soothing qualities, enhancing the overall atmosphere and gameplay experience. Many players find the soundtrack to be exceptional, with a mix of relaxing tunes and engaging battle themes that fit the game's whimsical aesthetic. However, some users note issues with repetitiveness and occasional bugs that can disrupt the musical experience.
- “The music is beautiful and the gameplay is simple yet addicting.”
- “The soundtrack is soothing to listen to.”
- “The music is so enjoyable, it's a pleasure to sit and watch your hearthlings build, mine, or craft while listening to the soundtrack.”
- “The quests are merely having specific items by a specified time or set quests to build an object to get new music and prefabricated building designs (a lackluster reward for a lackluster achievement).”
- “I've had a few problems with combat, but it mostly had to do with the battle music playing in an infinite loop.”
- “The music isn't half bad and is soft; however, it does keep reminding me of The Little Mermaid...”
grinding
100 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
7%
92%
The grinding aspect of the game is often described as tedious and time-consuming, requiring significant investment to progress, with many players feeling it detracts from the overall enjoyment. While some appreciate the cozy atmosphere and engaging soundtrack that can make the grind more bearable, others find the repetitive tasks and performance issues frustrating, leading to a sense of chore rather than fun. Overall, the game appeals to fans of city-building and farming simulations, but the grinding mechanics may not suit everyone.
- “As of the latest couple of patches, farmers will tile about half the farmland area I set, then ignore it and do something completely different and not farming-related.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “It is very tedious and uninteresting seeing as there is no challenge in digging up half the map or smelting several hundreds of bars of metal.”
- “The game is not optimized particularly well, and thus, all this great content to be explored becomes a tedious drag as you wait for your game to 'wake up' and move again.”
replayability
96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
52%
8%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with many players praising its potential due to diverse cultures, biomes, and mod support, which significantly enhance the experience. However, some users express frustration over bugs, performance issues, and a lack of depth, leading to a perception of low replay value for others. Overall, while there are strong elements that encourage replayability, the game's current state and design choices leave some players wanting more.
- “It has tons of replayability; it is really fun to build your own settlement, and I get emotionally attached to every single one of the hearthlings in my town.”
- “The game’s biggest selling point is its replayability.”
- “The amount of quests, which are random too, are amazing. I literally play this game 4-8 hours at a time when my internet is down. The mods also make for some great replayability if you like base building and playing god.”
- “The replayability of the game is very low.”
- “There isn't really much replayability, which is sad considering the sandbox nature of this game.”
- “In all, the game lacks any real replayability and does not have any depth to it at all.”
emotional
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a strong sense of attachment players develop towards their hearthlings, often leading to heartfelt experiences and reactions, both joyful and heartbreaking. While the game offers a charming and wholesome atmosphere, players express frustration over technical issues that can disrupt their emotional investment, resulting in feelings of loss when their settlements fail. Overall, the combination of engaging storytelling, character attachment, and a whimsical soundtrack creates a deeply emotional experience, despite the game's unfinished state.
- “The story of the game is very funny and touching.”
- “Honestly if you've really connected with your village, seeing your entire village sad because one of your hearthlings died is just heartbreaking.”
- “To watch your small village grow into a town is heartwarming knowing you guided them there.”
humor
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players highlighting its funny storylines, quirky character designs, and amusing bugs that add charm rather than frustration. Many reviews note that the humor is reminiscent of classic titles like Portal 2, and the lightheartedness enhances the overall gameplay experience, making it enjoyable in both single-player and multiplayer modes. Despite being in alpha, the game's comedic elements and engaging interactions keep players entertained and eager for future updates.
- “The story of the game is very funny and touching.”
- “As for the story, the humor from Portal 2 returns in a more fitting manner, along with story moments that will make your jaw drop or send chills down your spine as soon as the game starts.”
- “This game is by no means completed and is full of hilarious bugs, but it's constantly being updated.”
atmosphere
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
73%
18%
9%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its charm, cuteness, and relaxing qualities, enhanced by beautiful music and visuals. Many players find it immersive and enjoyable, contributing to a sense of replayability and engagement, despite some technical issues and gameplay quirks. Overall, the game's atmosphere is considered a standout feature that makes it a delightful experience for players.
- “Brilliant calm atmospheres accompanied by beautiful music.”
- “The atmosphere is superb.”
- “The game has a really relaxed atmosphere, both through the excellent music as well as the gameplay where you don't move your hearthlings directly, but indirectly by creating orders.”
- “The controls ruin the atmosphere and fluidity of the game.”
- “Ignore positive reviews - most of them didn't play long or deep enough to see the true horrors of this game and were just charmed by the initial atmosphere and music.”
- “While combining the pixel art and endless building possibilities of Minecraft with the challenges of normal survival city-building games, it lacks its own style, game physics, and atmosphere.”
monetization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
90%
The monetization aspect of the game has been widely criticized, with many users labeling it as a "cash grab" due to unfulfilled promises and a lack of meaningful updates. Players express frustration over the game's reliance on microtransactions and the perception that it prioritizes profit over quality and development. Overall, the sentiment suggests disappointment in the game's financial model, which feels exploitative rather than supportive of a genuine gaming experience.
- “It's basically a cash grab at this point.”
- “I waited, and waited, to see if they would ever start delivering on all the promises they set forth, and I finally bought it when they released multiplayer. I realize now that it was one final cash grab before they gave up development.”
- “Other games I have purchased in early access were a disaster; unresponsive devs, focus on pay-elements and microtransactions, while the game is more or less unplayable.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
Character development is positively received, with users appreciating the cool character and item designs, as well as the cute animations. However, there is a desire for more achievements related to character development, despite the presence of trading cards. Overall, the visual aspects contribute to a natural and engaging character experience.
- “Character design and item designs feel natural.”
- “The animations are cute and I really like the character design.”