Townsmen VR
- March 24, 2022
- HandyGames
- 6h median play time
Townsmen VR is a medieval city-building game in virtual reality. Gather resources, construct buildings, and manage your town's economy and population. Experience a new level of immersion with intuitive controls and 360-degree views of your bustling kingdom.
Reviews
- The game features charming graphics and animations that enhance the overall experience.
- Gameplay is engaging and allows for satisfying town-building mechanics, reminiscent of classic games like Black & White and The Settlers.
- The VR implementation is well-executed, providing an immersive experience that allows players to interact with the game world in a fun and unique way.
- The game currently lacks content, with many players reporting that it feels more like a tutorial than a full game, leading to a short playtime.
- AI pathfinding issues can lead to frustrating gameplay, as villagers may get stuck or fail to prioritize tasks effectively.
- The pacing of the game is slow, which can lead to repetitive gameplay and a lack of engaging activities during downtime.
- gameplay106 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally described as slow-paced but engaging, with a solid loop and well-integrated VR mechanics, making it suitable for a relaxed gaming experience. However, many users note that the current content is limited, often only providing around 30 to 60 minutes of gameplay, which raises concerns about its long-term depth and replayability. While the game shows great potential with polished graphics and mechanics, it is still in early access and requires further development to enhance its gameplay experience.
“The gameplay loop is on the simpler side but just about right for a VR game of this type.”
“The gameplay is relaxed and allows you to move at whatever pace you want.”
“Game mechanics are solid, and the gameplay loop is satisfying.”
“Very little gameplay here.”
“Don't waste your money, there's not even an hour of gameplay.”
“But after about an hour, it becomes, defend your island and not much more, a very repetitive gameplay loop.”
- story52 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as charming and engaging, providing a simple narrative that enhances the gameplay experience, particularly in town building and missions. While some players appreciate the depth and evolution of the story, others note that the campaign feels more like an extended tutorial with limited content, leaving them wanting more. Overall, the story is seen as a strong aspect, but there are calls for additional missions and content to fully realize its potential.
“The story is simple and charming.”
“I didn't want the game to end, and was sad when I completed the story.”
“Overall, this game has an amazing story and is becoming one of my favorite VR games.”
“If there was any roadmap toward a main mission series, or a larger map to work with, there is no real reason to buy or keep this.”
“As it stands, Townsmen managed to offer me 50 minutes of playtime before I ran out of content, so it clearly has a lot more work ahead, although the experience of management sims lies mostly in empowering the player to write their own story in a sandbox experience, rather than follow a shorter, railroaded script.”
“But the game has no missions, no campaign, no free play (unless you count after the tutorial when everything is already built).”
- graphics52 mentions
- 81 % positive mentions
- 13 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their charming, cartoony style and high-quality animations, with many reviewers noting that they are well-optimized and enhance the overall gameplay experience. While some minor issues were mentioned, the visuals are generally described as top-notch, contributing to a pleasant and immersive atmosphere. Overall, the graphics are considered a strong point of the game, with ratings often reflecting a high level of satisfaction.
“The graphics are top notch, the animation is amazing, and things seem well optimized.”
“Great performance, amazing graphics, fun to play.”
“The aesthetics are wonderful, and moving the folks in VR is very funny and entertaining.”
“Graphics: 5/10”
“The graphics, voice acting, controls and mechanics are well polished (with a few minor hiccups here and there, nothing game breaking or off-putting).”
“Cute, cartoony graphics, the sense of being a terrifyingly clumsy kind of god and resource management make for a simple but fun and relaxing building game.”
- humor12 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its humor, with players finding joy in the comedic interactions, such as tossing characters into the ocean and their amusing reactions. The engaging aesthetics and entertaining VR mechanics contribute to a lighthearted experience that keeps players laughing and immersed for hours. Overall, the humor is a standout feature that enhances the gameplay and enjoyment.
“The artistry is awesome, it's fun to interact with the world and the characters, and it's made me laugh several times.”
“Really love the humor and building part, you will really forget the time when you play this game <3”
“The devs even tossed in a bit of humor to lighten things up.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is praised for its top-notch graphics and impressive animations, indicating strong optimization. However, some users have noted sporadic performance issues, particularly when rotating the map, which slightly detracts from the experience.
“The graphics are top notch, the animation is amazing, and things seem well optimized.”
“Great performance, amazing graphics, fun to play.”
“Quality & performance”
“There is a noticeable lack of content, and I experience sporadic performance issues when rotating the map, which is a downside.”
- stability8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is marked by occasional glitches and AI issues, such as characters getting stuck and a freezing build menu. However, it runs smoothly on the Quest 2, and the sandbox mode is well-received, providing a solid experience despite the bugs.
“Runs great on Quest 2, and the sandbox mode is a great option.”
“The build menu freezes for 1-2 seconds when you misplace a building.”
“The AI is pretty buggy; the characters get stuck a lot, and there aren't many different types of enemies to make it challenging.”
“There are a few glitches here and there.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
Players express a desire for increased replayability, noting that the game currently lacks options for replaying content after completion. While some enjoy the experience and hope for future updates to introduce modes like sandbox or freeplay, the consensus highlights a significant gap in replay value as it stands.
“I have only recently bought and started playing this game. I ignored the initial bad reviews and only took into consideration the updated reviews with the recent update. I just have to say this game is absolutely amazing! I'm really enjoying the time I can spend in VR playing this game. I'm hoping that once I finish it, there's some sort of sandbox mode or freeplay mode at the end to give it some replay value.”
“This is just my opinion, and I hope for more replayability in the future.”
“{-replayability increased-}”
“The most glaring problem is that there is zero replayability.”
“This is just my opinion and I hope for more replayability in the future.”
“I'm hoping that once I finish it, there's some sort of sandbox mode/freeplay mode at the end to give it some sort of replay value.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly due to the requirement of constructing multiple additional buildings to gather resources for a single unit-producing building. This leads to a frustrating experience as they are left waiting for villagers to complete repetitive tasks.
“It becomes really tedious to have to build 3 extra buildings to get the resources for the 1 building you want to produce units.”
“Instead, I had to float around while the villagers tediously completed tasks.”