Actually, MeinMMO author Schuhmann thought that the gaming genre of city-building had nothing new to offer since the early 1990s. But that has changed in recent days. The Steam hit Against the Storm finds a new, innovative twist for the genre: a refreshing innovation that few expected.
This is my past with city-building games: I played a lot of city-building games as a kid and teenager; back then, it was trendy, especially here in Germany. We are a nation of strategy gamers who like to work and build during their leisure time. There were two types of city-building games.
In “mission-based city-building” games like Pharaoh or Caesar, you built small settlements and cities that had to be perfectly designed to achieve certain goals. They were static games: you had to pretty much memorize the missions. The goal was to fulfill all the needs of citizens in a district or to meet certain production quotas.
In “open” city-building games like Sim City, you could keep growing and then watch in amazement as what you built looked like an ant farm. That became somewhat aimless over time.
I extensively played both types of games in the early 90s. But Sim City 2000, which came out in 1993, fascinated me around 1995 or 1996 as the last game in the genre. It completely captivated me back then. I still have vivid memories of it. That was my last great love for city-building.
The genre has become prettier over 30 years but has stagnated
What was the problem? Over the last 30 years, I have played city-building games repeatedly, but the genre has not truly pulled me in anymore. It was basically always the same, just with a different coat of paint. But since Caesar in 1992 and Sim City 2000 in 1993, the genre has stagnated.
Mission-based city-building still existed in games like Tropico 1 to 6, which I also liked, especially the El Presidente humor and the atmosphere of the games, but Tropico never really excited me. Tropico always lacked variety: Once you knew the missions, they were static and you could build each city the same way.
I found the open city-building of games like City Skylines aimless. What was the point? To build a huge city just to let it be destroyed by Godzilla or tornadoes that you summon at the push of a button?
Yes, I know that for many, Manor Lords was a great game – it left me cold.
I preferred to play city-building games with role-playing elements in recent years, such as “colony simulations” like Rim World or straight-up 4X strategy games like Civilization or Crusader Kings 3.
I missed innovation in city-building, a pretty skin like in Tropico couldn’t compensate for that.
Against the Storm awakens a genre from its sleep
What has changed: After my colleague Grothaus has been raving about it for a year, which I managed to ignore successfully, I finally got “Against the Storm” on Saturday. The game came out on Steam in December 2023 and has received incredibly good reviews. The “Complete Edition” only costs 30 €.
I didn’t hear much about the game or at least didn’t remember much except that it is really good: I went into “Against the Storm” without great expectations and the game has now revolutionized city-building for me.
Since Saturday, in 4 days, I have spent about 50 hours with the game and am completely captivated by it.
The gag is that “Against the Storm” is a PvE game, that is, “player versus environment”, but there are really no enemies in the game, just the unrelenting ticking clock and individual challenges that have negative effects as long as they are active.
In principle, every map is relatively similar: You start on a tiny patch and have to chop down trees to unlock more areas of the map and thus resources and new challenges. The challenges often start a timer. But there are “variable” elements on each map, certain modifications, constraints, or variants that allow for a different game. It starts with which 3 peoples you have available for a map:
- If beavers are present, you will have to focus on wood production, because the rodents quickly chop down wood and live in huts that are made entirely of wood.
- However, if you have frogs as your starting race, the focus shifts completely to stone.
- Lizardfolk, on the other hand, urgently need meat; otherwise, they complain – and when they complain, they are about to destroy the game, because every lost villager costs time and increases the pressure on the player.
Against the Storm has the dynamic element that the genre lacks
These variations may not sound like much variety at first glance, but they are the dynamic elements that the genre has been missing: they ensure that each of the 90-minute sessions feels just different and individual enough that you have to deviate from your usual plan and improvise.
The whole game is about adapting your actual plan to the current circumstances: Numerous random factors contribute to that. Because I can’t just always build according to the optimal plan: grain field – mill – bakery. Instead, I have to hope for luck with the rolls and hope that the game gives me the right blueprints and I don’t end up with grain field – copper refinery – tea hut and then practically can’t build anything at all.
The game systems of Against the Storm are cleverly designed: There is no opposing faction here; rather, the game is structured so that players must continually build more efficient cities despite the element of chance, in order to master the challenges the game throws at them.
In principle, the game tells you: “Build your city in such a way that you can repurpose it within a short time frame to produce product X 20 times” and then you have to ensure that the city with its production chains is structured so that it can produce product X in a short period of time.
That sounds abstract, but it exerts a tremendous pull.
Extremely satisfying learning curve
This creates the pull effect of Against the Storm: Against the Storm has so many cleverly interwoven production chains and systems that it offers an incredibly satisfying learning curve, learning the game and continually optimizing the processes.
When I finally figured out after far too many hours of gameplay what I could use all that rain and geyser water for, it was a breakthrough. Tasks that previously seemed unsolvable suddenly became solvable.
In addition, there is a slight RPG touch and the very important permanent progression that I miss in sandbox games: because after each completed game, you can again buy a small advantage for your account, maybe unlock a basic building or ensure that the residents run 2% faster.
I have now spent 50 hours with Against the Storm and reached level 13 out of 20 – so far, it has been a lasting gaming experience for me, which I haven’t even come close to in any other game.
Due to the “roguelite” elements, which include always having new map and mission variations, the feeling of “memorizing” from other mission games does not arise, and due to the fact that you always have a goal, the irrelevance that sandbox city simulators always had for me is missing.
I give a clear purchase recommendation. Against the Storm currently has 95% positive ratings on Steam. Fans of strategy games should really check this out, even if they, like me, concluded long ago with city-building. The last strategy game I recommended to you on Steam was almost 10 times more expensive than Against the Storm is now: A game on Steam even costs 272 € in the sale if you want it complete, but the best campaign is free
