Voxel Tycoon Pre-Alpha
- June 27, 2019
- Voxel Tycoon Devs
- 10h median play time
"Voxel Tycoon" is a strategy game centered around transportation, mining, and factories in infinite voxel landscapes, set to release on Steam Early Access. The Pre-Alpha version offers a stable and playable experience, providing the opportunity for large-scale public testing, community feedback, and improvements before its full Early Access release. By participating in the Pre-Alpha, players can receive a Steam key upon the game's Early Access release and potentially be featured in the credits.
Reviews
- Voxel Tycoon combines elements of Transport Tycoon and Factorio, offering a unique gameplay experience.
- The game features a clean and intuitive UI, making it accessible for both new and experienced players.
- The art style is charming and visually appealing, enhancing the overall gaming experience.
- The game suffers from significant performance issues as the map expands, leading to frustrating slowdowns.
- Key features such as rail crossings and more advanced signaling systems are missing, limiting gameplay options.
- The tutorial is lacking in depth, leaving players to figure out complex mechanics on their own.
- gameplay188 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its simple yet deep mechanics and engaging logistics systems, while others criticize the slow progression, confusing tutorials, and clunky mechanics, particularly regarding road and rail placement. Many users noted that the game feels similar to titles like OpenTTD and Factorio, but lacks depth and polish in its current state, leading to frustration with certain gameplay elements. Overall, while the core gameplay is seen as promising, it is hindered by various issues that detract from the overall experience.
“The mechanics are simple and easy to understand, yet result in deep gameplay.”
“The gameplay loop is fun, the graphics are very charming, and the dev team is active with the community.”
“Finally someone managed to take the transport tycoon formula, combine it beautifully with factorio mechanics, add some unique ideas and round off the whole package with an intuitive UI and a nice looking presentation.”
“The mechanics of this game make game progression very slow and just not very fun.”
“After playing a few more hours I've given up - the mechanics of roads, bridges, rails, and tunnels are so flawed as to make the game unenjoyable.”
“The tutorial was really glitchy (I get it, early access and all - but it feels like the devs don't really play the game much), and the gameplay felt really slow.”
- graphics144 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the charming voxel art style and captivating visuals that enhance the gameplay experience. While some players appreciate the aesthetic and modern interface, others feel the graphics lack depth and detail, comparing it unfavorably to more advanced titles. Overall, the visuals are generally seen as pleasant and fitting for a building and management simulation, though opinions vary on their sophistication and impact on gameplay.
“The game is beautiful and the visuals are quite captivating.”
“If you're a fan of building games and crave realism, challenge, and jaw-dropping graphics, then this game is nothing short of a dream come true!”
“Stunning graphics”
“Colours and graphics are tacky.”
“Crude voxel graphics but without taking any advantage of them (as Minecraft does) to support player creativity.”
“It's not terrible, but it's like a half-assed version of Transport Tycoon with pretty graphics.”
- optimization40 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received mixed feedback, with many players experiencing significant performance issues, particularly in the late game and on larger maps. While some users report smooth gameplay on lower-end systems initially, the performance tends to degrade as the game progresses and more regions are unlocked. Overall, there is a consensus that the game requires further optimization to enhance performance, especially for players with more complex setups.
“A lot of the game is full of temporary or missing features that could be useful, but the most recent addition of mass vehicle replacement scheduling has made the game a ton more convenient to play, and I can only assume the gameplay will continue to be refined and optimized in the coming months.”
“With my limited experience, it seems that it combines elements from Transport Tycoon and Factorio in a way that tickles the building and optimization parts of your brain.”
“It runs smoothly (except when saving) and I have only run into a single bug (which was easily resolved).”
“I've played 25 hours, two save games and each one of those worlds had massive performance issues on a fairly decent PC (R9 3900X, 3080, 32GB).”
“My only major negative is the performance goes to hell in the endgame on the biggest maps, when you unlock a few regions.”
“Performance issues on Ryzen 2700X make it unplayable within 5 hours of gameplay.”
- music40 mentions
- 65 % positive mentions
- 28 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many players praising the soundtrack as phenomenal and relaxing, enhancing the overall gaming experience. While some noted a primitive quality reminiscent of early mobile games, the majority found the music to be a standout feature that complements the gameplay beautifully. Overall, the sound design is described as excellent, with a perfect balance between being prominent and subtle, contributing to a zen-like atmosphere during play.
“The game's soundtrack is phenomenal.”
“Music is world class 10/10.”
“Absolutely great music and sound implementation.”
“--the music is primitive, like an early mobile game.”
“It's prominent enough that you will enjoy it when it's going through its tunes, but subtle enough that you will often not notice that there is music playing at all until the track actually stops for an intermission.”
“(I also think it's rather cheeky that the songs get muffled when you pause the game lol)”
- grinding34 mentions
- 6 % positive mentions
- 6 % neutral mentions
- 88 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is described as both fun and tedious, with many players noting that the micromanagement and repetitive tasks can become overwhelming. While some appreciate the depth of planning required, others find the user interface and controls cumbersome, leading to a sense of busy work that detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the game offers a grindy experience that may require significant time investment, but players can adjust settings to mitigate some of the tedium.
“It's a bit more grindy than I expected, but it adds to the challenge.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding, but the rewards are worth it.”
“The micro management is so tedious.”
“So in the current state, this feature just leads to tedious chores, and adds nothing positive to the game.”
“It took me 5-10 minutes to buy a truck and plan a route and cannot fathom how tedious it would be to manage a fleet of 50+ vehicles like this.”
- story26 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely criticized for its lack of depth, with many users noting that there is essentially no narrative to engage with. While some players appreciate the gameplay mechanics and value, they express a desire for more complexity in quests and the tech tree. Overall, the consensus is that the story aspect is minimal and not a focal point of the experience.
“I'm hoping for a bit more depth in the quest/tech tree, but for the money, it's a great value even now.”
“☑ no story”
“🔲 bad story”
“1/15 story”
- stability20 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 80 % negative mentions
The game is currently plagued by numerous bugs, particularly affecting vehicle loading and unloading, as well as issues with the railroad and logistics systems. While some players report a relatively stable experience, many others highlight significant frustrations with gameplay mechanics and design flaws. Overall, the game's stability remains a major concern, especially in its early access state.
“Runs great with over 250 really inefficiently laid out trucks and a few terribly designed train loops on my Intel HD 520 (1GB flex from 16GB RAM @ 2.4GHz) laptop.”
“For being an early access game, it's bug-free, at least in my playthrough.”
“Unfortunately, this game worked extremely buggy since day 1 on Mac.”
“A fairly buggy early access title with quite some promise behind it.”
“Another fairly game-breaking bug which is also included in the logistics system are buggy conveyors.”
- replayability16 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
Players consistently highlight the game's high replayability, driven by an ever-adapting world and diverse tech tree that keeps gameplay engaging and challenging. The simplistic graphics and broad accessibility further enhance its replay value, making it feel nearly infinite. Overall, the game offers a compelling experience that encourages multiple playthroughs.
“The ever adapting world allows for immense replayability, allowing you to be engaged in immersive and often times challenging gameplay.”
“The graphics are very pleasant and the tech tree is diverse enough to make the game replayable.”
“Other than that, this game has pretty simplistic graphics and can be run on almost any PC, and the replayability seems infinite.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with many users noting its strong connection to and appreciation for its predecessors, contributing to a rich and immersive experience.
“A great spiritual successor with a fantastic atmosphere and a real appreciation for the games that came before it.”
“I want to make a specific note of something I really like, and it adds to the game and atmosphere.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by the notably brief tutorial, which users find amusingly concise.
“The tutorial is hilariously short.”