TownsFolk review – “A charming yet familiar strategy experience”

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  • Manage scarce resources
  • Explore to expand your settlement
  • Challenging genre-standard gameplay

Short Circuit Studio’s
newest strategy game, TownsFolk, puts you in charge of building a colony in a mysterious land. Treacherous beasts and deadly plagues threaten your settlement as you manage scarce supplies, build new structures, and make difficult decisions that will affect your entire colony.

Building a Thriving Settlement in TownsFolk

It’s paramount when first starting your settlement that you build at least one farm and some housing. Building homes increases your population, which is handy, considering tasks like building farms and fighting wild beasts can cost you multiple citizens, to complete. Other important buildings include the woodworker, mine, and church. Farms, houses, woodworkers, and churches can be built on any solid ground. Mines, however, can only be carved from mountains.
As you progress, you’ll unlock new buildings such as taverns, marketplaces, and lighthouses, all of which benefit your community in their own way. While these new buildings are helpful, it is vital that you make sure you have enough of the basics, like farms and housing, to keep your colony going as it expands.
Not only do you need to keep your settlement thriving, but you’ll also need to be prepared to pay tribute to the crown. Tributes can include citizens as well as TownsFolk’s basic resources – Food, Gold, Faith, and Production, and the amount you’ll need to hand over increases with each subsequent tribute. If you don’t have enough resources to pay tribute, you can postpone it. However, you’ll only have a few chances to do so, so use them wisely. If you run out of postponements, the King will withdraw his support, and your colony will be lost.
TownsFolk features three modes: Roguelite Campaign, Skirmish, and Puzzle Challenges. Roguelite offers a new adventure each time you play, while Skirmish mode allows you to choose how many tributes you’ll need to pay and how frequently they’re due. On the other hand, Puzzle Challenge mode tasks you with challenges like building 20 farms or gathering 150 gold.
Before you dive into any mode, the devs highly recommend you check out the five-part how-to-play tutorial. The tutorial breaks down important aspects of building a thriving settlement, like food production and exploration. Of course, if you’re adept at strategic scenarios, you’ll likely be fine giving this a skip.

TownsFolk provides an engaging, pared-down strategy adventure that shines through its stunning pixel art design. The gameplay might be straightforward, but don’t let that fool you; it’s far from simple. Mastering the management of scarce resources to foster a prosperous settlement requires both skill and fortune. Exploration is vital, yet it comes with its own set of risks, intensifying the tension in an already precarious environment. Although TownsFolk may not stand out among other games, it delivers on its promises, making it an excellent choice for strategic gaming sessions on-the-go.

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2025-04-14 13:18