Wastelander

About

Wastelander is a single player survival city builder game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Appstronaut Studios and was released on July 12, 2024. It received positive reviews from players.

Wastelander is a minimalist turn-based colony building game with roguelike and deckbuilding elements, where you start from nothing as a castaway on an alien world, build your colony, collect resources and protect yourself from mysterious and destructive atmospheric storms while using the secrets of the alien ruins to find a way to escape. As your colony expands you'll find alien artifacts and buil…

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89%

Audience ScoreBased on 37 reviews

replayability3 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

Highly replayable with procedural map generation and varied randomly unlocked technologies making each game unique.
Engaging strategic resource management and puzzle-like gameplay balancing exploration, building, and storm mitigation under turn limits.
Challenging but rewarding learning curve with active and responsive developers, plus a fitting atmospheric soundtrack.

Some technical and UI issues including visual glitches, missing pop-ups for upgrades and tutorial info, and limited polish in audio-visual presentation.
The time-limited turn mechanic and 'beat game in X turns' achievements can feel like forced speedrunning, which isn't enjoyable for all players.
Gameplay pace can feel slow due to many small turns requiring incremental actions, leading to occasional frustration if lacking the right resources or answers.

gameplay
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The gameplay is praised as the strongest aspect, offering an appealing theme and solid foundation, though it is slow-paced with many small turns and lacks time pressure. Some users find the mechanics initially flat and note a steep difficulty curve after the tutorial, but experience improves with familiarity. Technical issues and rough edges, particularly in menus and settings, detract from the overall experience but improvements are anticipated.
- “The gameplay itself is the best part though.”
- “After a few rounds, everything really started to click as I got more familiar with the various mechanics, buildings, and passives.”
- “The gameplay loop is a little slow, featuring lots of small turns where you do one or two things, which is not unlike a 4X game.”
- “As for gameplay itself, it's very slow paced because there is no element of time pressure at all.”
- “The tutorial is quite easy and explains the basic mechanics of the game, but there is still definitely a difficulty jump when you are let loose to tackle the game on your own.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers strong replayability, largely due to its procedural map generation and engaging gameplay, making it enjoyable for repeated daily sessions. Reviewers consistently highlight its high replay value as a key strength.
- “Very replayable due to the procedural map generation.”
- “The fun thing about it is that it's very replayable, a game that is nice to pick up to do one run daily.”
- “As other reviews have stated, there is fantastic replay value here.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
20%
20%
The music in the game is widely praised for fitting well with the themes and enhancing the experience, with several users calling it awesome and a great bonus. While some note the visuals and looping tracks could be improved, the soundtrack overall receives positive remarks.
- “The music is very fitting for the themes involved.”
- “The soundtrack is a fun little bonus!”
- “The music is awesome and the developers are very friendly and responsive.”
- “The tile visuals and looping music tracks are a bit lacking but the game is a great value and I have not encountered any bugs or UI issues.”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Users find the graphics visually appealing despite the typically dull desert setting, though some note that tile visuals and looping music feel somewhat repetitive. Overall, the graphics are considered very nice and free of bugs or UI issues.
- “Oh and the graphics are very nice.”
- “Also, I'm not actually that big a fan of 'wasteland' games since aesthetically I find deserts to be the most boring ever, but here the stress of trying to 'win' in a certain number of turns makes it feel like I feel.”
- “The tile visuals and looping music tracks are a bit lacking.”
- “The graphics are underwhelming and fail to immerse the player in the game world.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Stability reports are mixed, with some users experiencing visual glitches like white blotches and overlapping text, while others find the gameplay smooth and bug-free so far. Overall, stability may vary depending on the user’s experience.
- “Very satisfying gameplay and so far bug-free as far as I can tell.”
- “Visual glitches such as white blotches covering menu items.”
- “Item description paragraphs stacking atop each other, making them unreadable.”
- “Resource values not actively updating when being used, causing confusion.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The story aspect is minimal, focusing mainly on a randomly generated daily mission that encourages replayability through leaderboards and community discussions. Players enjoy the ongoing challenge and strategy rather than a traditional narrative.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features excellent optimization mechanics combined with engaging puzzle and engine-building elements, enhanced by a balanced mix of randomness and push-your-luck dynamics.
- “Great optimization puzzle and engine-building vibes with good amount of randomness and push-your-luck elements.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the game's theme and atmosphere highly appealing, creating an engaging mood, though some feel the overall experience lacks depth beyond the setting.