TerraScape
- July 17, 2024
- bitfallstudios
- 18h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"TerraScape is a card game for 2 players, offering multiplayer and single-player modes, including PvP. Build your dream city by placing cards wisely to earn points and unlock new decks, while managing positive and negative influences. With procedural maps and exciting challenges, TerraScape promises excellent game mechanics, fantastic visuals, and wonderful music."
PC
Windows
Xbox
Reviews
- The game offers a relaxing and enjoyable experience, combining elements of puzzle-solving with city-building mechanics.
- Graphics and music are beautifully crafted, creating an immersive atmosphere that enhances gameplay.
- The merging buildings mechanic adds depth and strategy, allowing players to experiment with different combinations for higher scores.
- Limited content and gameplay variety can lead to repetitiveness after a few hours of play.
- The game lacks a clear city-building aspect, feeling more like a puzzle game with arbitrary scoring rather than a true builder.
- Some players have reported technical issues, including crashes and performance problems, particularly on lower-end hardware.
- gameplay226 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by a blend of strategic planning and creative map manipulation, offering a relaxing yet engaging experience. While many players appreciate the beautiful graphics and unique mechanics, some criticize the limited gameplay options and repetitive nature after extended play. Overall, the game is seen as enjoyable with potential for improvement, particularly in expanding mechanics and enhancing progression systems.
“The gameplay is beautiful and exciting at the same time.”
“The game combines strategic planning with creative map manipulation, allowing for unique and engaging gameplay.”
“Its colorful graphics and intuitive mechanics make it accessible while offering depth for more complex strategies.”
“Very limited gameplay, even for the genre and price point.”
“Stale gameplay with a hindered progression system.”
“The loop of gameplay consists of you just placing tiles in a way that gives you enough points to draw another set of tiles from a random deck of tile decks that you unlock by generating more points - not a bad idea, but it plays really boring currently.”
- graphics210 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the beautiful, detailed environments and charming art style, while others criticize the basic visuals and lack of distinctiveness in tile designs. Many players appreciate the relaxing aesthetic and how it complements the gameplay, though some note issues with readability and animation quality. Overall, the graphics are generally seen as appealing but could benefit from further refinement and detail.
“The graphics are very, very beautiful; it's a more comic-y style, not too realistic. The single items you place are very nicely detailed, and the map itself is rather pretty, too, with rivers, forests, monoliths, and wildlife having rather detailed models.”
“The graphics are well done and include good detail: there are animals roaming and birds flying; people move in and out of the buildings completing their tasks, and the buildings are detailed just like the rest of the landscape.”
“Visually, the game is pretty stunning and beautiful; I love the aesthetic and the music is calm and relaxing.”
“The graphics are a blurry mess and all of your builds are hard to see because they blend into the terrain too much.”
“The aesthetics, although clean, are very bland and not very distinct, leading to placed tiles just blending together in a mush, requiring you to mouse over them to differentiate what even was placed there to begin with; even worse is that the aesthetic of the tiles just lacks any character in my opinion.”
“Tile placing is a complicated chore that feels unrewarding and arbitrary at times; the graphical style is bland and just not evocative enough of something you'd want to see.”
- music96 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its relaxing and atmospheric qualities, complementing the visuals and gameplay effectively. Many players appreciate the soothing soundtrack, which enhances the overall cozy experience, while some noted that it is enjoyable enough to keep on rather than switching to their own music. Overall, the music is considered a strong aspect of the game, contributing to its appeal as a calming puzzle experience.
“The soundtrack perfectly matches the relaxing nature of the game.”
“The music is excellent (not too present, just calm and soft in the background, and it really fits the game).”
“Visually, the game is pretty stunning and beautiful, love the aesthetic and the music is calm and relaxing.”
“I can't tell you much about the game's music, because I don't think there is much to talk about.”
“Though I guess this is one of those games that you will play while listening to music or a podcast or something.”
“- I'm not overly fond of the music choice.”
- replayability26 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 73 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
Replayability in the game is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the randomization in kingdom mode and the potential for high scores through tech synergies, others feel limited by the restricted tech options and lack of visual variety. The game shows promise for long-term engagement, particularly for fans of deck-building mechanics, but currently lacks the depth and variety seen in similar titles. Overall, opinions on replayability range from moderate to high, with a general consensus that improvements could enhance the experience significantly.
“Most long-term replayability comes from the kingdom mode, which allows you to generate randomized maps and build your kingdom with a selection of any six of the twelve currently available building decks.”
“I am a MTG deckbuilder and fanatic, so I usually stay far away from other card games, but Terra Scape uses the card mechanic to add a little bit of randomness during gameplay, therefore improving the replayability; somehow it works here!”
“These types of games live and die by replayability, and this game has the potential to be the most replayable of this form.”
“I can't see how there is any replayability at all.”
“Replayability but right now as it stands - not worth it.”
“Random level generation means more replayability but I think we're really waiting on some reskinning of assets to give us some real variety in the look department.”
- optimization20 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while it runs smoothly for an early access title, users report occasional lag during specific actions and a need for quality-of-life improvements. Many players express hope for further optimization before the full release, particularly for platforms like the Steam Deck. Despite these issues, the game's foundation is solid, with appealing visuals and engaging gameplay elements.
“The early-access version runs smoothly; I didn't see any bugs.”
“The game is a visually appealing score-optimization puzzle.”
“Love the music, the general aesthetic, and the gameplay of building and puzzle elements to go for that ever more optimized building placement.”
“The game clearly still needs a lot of optimization, and will hopefully get it before leaving early access.”
“I only wished it was optimized for my Steam Deck too.”
“The only 'issue' I've come across was around optimization, which I can see from the devs' current roadmap is on there (the game runs great, but at times zooming out can lag the game a bit, and placing a few cards in the same area around the same time can cause lag too).”
- grinding18 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and boring, often feeling forced to repeatedly farm low-level cards to unlock higher ones. The micro-management required for building placement and resource gathering adds to the frustration, making the gameplay feel overly repetitive and lacking in variety. Overall, many reviewers express dissatisfaction with the grinding mechanics, which detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
“The main issue so far is that you have to play lower level cards until you unlock the higher cards in a particular deck, and sometimes that can get a bit tedious.”
“The game is a bit too tedious and gets boring quickly.”
“Finding the perfect place to place a tile gets tedious.”
- story14 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game is widely criticized for being underdeveloped and lacking meaningful plot progression, leaving players feeling that the game is incomplete. Many reviewers express nostalgia for more traditional campaign structures with well-defined missions and mechanics, indicating a desire for a richer narrative experience. Overall, the game is seen as having potential but requires significant improvements in its storytelling to engage players effectively.
“This really feels like an incomplete game, where the developers haven't fleshed out any meaningful story plot or advancement; it's a pity as it has potential but needs more work to give the player something to play for.”
“You can play in 'story' mode, where you get medals if you achieve a certain amount of points.”
“This really feels like an incomplete game, where the developers haven't fleshed out any meaningful story plot or advancement. It's a pity as it has potential but needs more work to give the player something to play for.”
“I miss the days where games had 20 mission campaigns, each introducing a few new mechanics at a time.”
“"use place game".... awesome quest objectives.... have no clue what that even means... :(”
- atmosphere10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its cozy and relaxed vibe, enhanced by a strong soundtrack and detailed visuals. However, some users feel that despite the appealing atmosphere, the gameplay can become tedious, and there are suggestions for improvements in visual quality. Overall, while the atmosphere is a highlight, it may not be enough to sustain engagement for all players.
“The soundtrack is very atmospheric.”
“There are so many variables to take into account; it surely is cosy and relaxed in atmosphere, but more than a little crunchy in execution.”
“Terrascape's atmosphere, music, and detailed assets make this gem a relaxing puzzle game.”
“I think I would find it so boring that even the great graphics and atmosphere of the game can't make up for it.”
“Could improve visual quality and atmosphere.”
“There are so many variables to take into account, it surely is cosy & relaxed in atmosphere, but more than a little crunchy in execution.”
- stability8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is praised for its stability, with users reporting no significant glitches and a well-crafted experience. However, some minor optimization issues were noted, particularly related to lag when zooming out or placing multiple cards simultaneously, though these are acknowledged as being addressed in the developers' roadmap.
“An excellent, and seemingly bug-free, chill game for the price.”
“The only 'issue' I've come across was around optimization, which I can see from the devs' current roadmap is being addressed. The game runs great, but at times zooming out can lag the game a bit, and placing a few cards in the same area around the same time can cause lag too.”
“No glitches on my end.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by its absurd scenarios, such as using the fishing deck so much that the water becomes invisible, which adds a comedic twist to the gameplay. Players also appreciate the nostalgic elements reminiscent of similar games from the early 2000s, contributing to the overall lighthearted and amusing experience.
“It's absolutely hilarious to use the fishing deck so extensively that you can't see the water anymore.”
“Funny puzzle game.”
“I remember playing a game similar to this around 2001 with a similar tile-floating island upgrading mechanic.”
- emotional6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the game to be wholesome and relaxing, evoking a sense of satisfaction when achieving goals, but also a mild heartbreak when mistakes are made. The emotional experience is enhanced by the game's scoring system, which can create anxiety around decision-making, particularly in relation to environmental choices.
“Extremely satisfying when you get it right, and mildly heartbreaking when you don't.”
“Wholesome and relaxing.”
“Wholesome and relaxing.”
