This game was a lot of fun.

http://youtu.be/HE7noZR94Aw
Some bugs are present and work is needed (e.g. invaders trapped on islands at the edge of the map). I also didn’t like how combatants walk in a line and engage in battle one by one. 6 directional movement and roads would be good, so this game isn’t full of 90* zig-zags. An ability to zoom in and out would be nice too. As with many good single-player games some form of multiplayer would be awesome, but it’s not practical in this case anyway.
-----Lots of choice for different situations (e.g. severals choices for alcoholic needs, and you can use diplomacy or a strong defence).
It was a welcome challenge to finetune my city. But more information needed about industry requirements e.g. how much livestock and crops are needed to support farms and how many farms and resource gathering structures are needed to support production of food other goods) would be mice.
-----If you don’t know this you either build too much or too little of certain things and you can’t plan your city properly
You end up with a weak links in process i.e. inadequate supplies of a single material needed to produce items for you city
I had to figure out ratios by trial and error.

However in the end it was very satisfying to build a relatively large city and tame it. With 20+ hours invested into this game I’ve definitely got my money’s worth

I've only put a few hours into this game, but can already tell there's a mountain of possibilities here. Definitely BUY this, support the developers and follow it closely!

If you like classic RTS games like Settlers, Majesty or the Anno series, this is a very well-produced hybrid of those in progress. You build a city, manage resource production / distribution, train a military and fight off monsters / other cities. There's also a roguelike, sandbox element in that your city exists on an overworld map with other cities who will trade with you, invade you, or be subject to invasions/raids.

Though it's not complete yet, it's clear that the developers have done a good, solid job of building the engine and foundations -- that is to say, from here it seems like a lot of the groundwork has been done and the rest will simply be adding content and features.

Features I would like to see implemented in the future:

- Greater varience of buildings/skins, or random rotations (at present there is only one "look" for houses, for example, which can make blocks of houses which you need lots of, look somewhat bland or boring)

- More supply/demand dynamic for trading. Resources often have a relatively set cost that hardly deviates at all. I would like to see something implemented where resources will fluctuate more heavily in price, even between other cities. It makes trading more exciting/dynamic, as currently if two other cities want to buy your resource, they will both largely offer an identical price. I would like to see this fluctuate, so that a player would have to pay attention to trading -- and could even mean that a player running a "trading village" could be economically viable, as buying resources low from certain cities and selling high to others at a profit could potentially work.

- More permanent overworld map changes as the game progresses. i.e. other cities going to war and "taking over" rivals, which would in essence form small "kingdoms" (say, a certain NPC city will then own 2 or 3 cities). Also perhaps something like "invasions" of other cities from monsters, so that cities would become "monster citadels" or "lairs" if they are taken over.

- More military options (siege weapons, different units (perhaps using shields and swords as resources as well))

- Better "fortification" options. Right now there are stone walls and stone gatehouses, but only wooden stockades and no wooden gatehouses. This would be a valuable addition.

- More monsters, though I think the devs have already mentioned wanting to do this. Goblins, orcs, dragons, etc. etc. etc.



Overall though, great game, one of my most favourite in recent memory, and I can't wait until the content starts being more fully fleshed out. There's so much potential here.

TL;DR: This is Sim-City for beginners, yet with some compexity beyond the surface.

This game... Did not expect much of it, because, you know: "those greenlight games". Actually - so much fun!
This is a decent village simulation game which is drawn greatly, easy to understand, yet hard to master. You got to keep a lot of things together - food, water, bunch of different resources, trades, quests. You build hollow buildings and villagers come to your village looking for work and housing. Forgot about food supply - two hundred starving peasants just pack their stuff and leave you a ghost town behind. Planned a lot of farming and focused on prosperity? BOOM! Plague comes to your village! A lot of tweaks and different structures. A lot of ores to mine. A lot of plants to gather. A lot of Alcohol to brew.

At its current state I'd suggest a newbie tutorial, because there is none. I've built 3 or 4 towns to their bancrupcy just because I didn't figure out what should I build to provide food to mah citizens. Great game. I'd lower a price a bit and then it would be a great deal for all sim-city fans.

Genius. I haven't had this much fun since "Sim City 2000," and this game is superior. Better than "Banished" as the end-game isn't pointless economic tedium, but RTS / TD feudal city building. I love this game. I have spent 100s of hours playing before launch testing and on Desura, & still can't wait to play again. The progression from city building and farming to battling graveyard ghouls feels right. The pacing is pleasing, not overwhelming like an RTS. One can actually get to know their villagers a bit before they are destroyed years later. "Hearthlands" also lets the player design their city a bit more openly, providing awards for evironmental prowess and properly spaced villages. The restrictions are still there, but the player has room to add a few trees and such without it hurting the economy; it in fact boosts it. If you miss the good old days of simulation cities but don't want to deal with the new age ♥♥♥♥♥♥!t being pushed by the AAA publishers, this is a great game and company to support. Very few games make me smile, give me glimmers of happiness... this game does just that by evoking my childhood imagination for sim cities once again. "Hearthlands" is the perfect compliment to my other work -art- as it inspires & amuses. Just how many little villages didn't make it? How many millions slaughtered just so that we could survive on? This is a great break from the intensity of "Crusader Kings" yet still one can entertain the same novel characters & events in their own storybook style sandbox. -- Oldschool Respect -- Critics of the graphics should understand the homage to the early era of sims & keep in mind the appeal to a generation which utilized their imaginations more than their eyes. Tolkien's favorite rendering of his books was of the Hobbit and Golem doing riddles in the dark, an abstract with few details. Tolkien said he loved it because it left more to the imagination of the beholder. That is why I love "Hearthlands," how it inspires me to a better state of mind.

Check the Youtube Hearthlands channel to help you get started:
https://www.youtube.com/user/hearthlands
Or: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv4MbeLo6yXl6N4fBnfEImXtN7swa5t-b

Had a lot if fun until now, check it out if you like Settlers2/Anno/Majesty kind of games.

Great bird/sheep/sawmill/chicken sounds btw :-)

Pretty fun city builder, with deep supply chains, trading, monster raids, army building. Looks easy enough in screenshots but has a nice depth and lots of freedom in how you build your town. You can make it as easy or as hard as you like, and there are different factions you can play as which focus on certain troop and building types. Maps are vast and the beautification factor is a nice mechanic to make the OCD builders and min/maxers happy while trying to get the most out of their layouts. Surprised at the quality so far, in my two hours with it I already see myself playing a hell of a lot more of this than I ever did Banished. Old school meet the new.

Shows great promise...everything you want in a city management type of game...with combat...and able to trade with other nations...devs are working hard...definately grab it now there is already lots to do in the game..

Good game, More dificult than you would think.
About the going to black screen. When i first downloaded the game and tried to run it did go to a black screen then back to start. however after 2 auto updates the game now runs great.it is early access after all and there will be issues.

This has the foundation to be a great game. Still early but bugs are minimal and enough content to keep you entertain. Really looking forward to where this goes.

This game is a very well-executed take on the city-building genre. At its core, it plays similar to SimCity, but it takes the concept in new directions.

It's easy to get into, and there's a lot of depth. The tutorial is straightforward and quick, which is nice; it doesn't hit you with unwanted dialogue like many tutorials do.

The gameplay is set up in a way such that new concepts are introduced at just the right pace: after you've produced enough food for your townspeople, they start asking for other luxuries like alcohol, furniture, and boots. Amusingly, they put alcohol at a higher priority than everything except food. Once you have a production line set up for the resources they want, their houses automatically get upgraded, and you continue onto their next wishes. The pacing is great.

As time goes on, AI-controlled opponents will start to interact with you. This gives you some options for trading, so you can get rid of excess resources in exchange for the resources you want. They also apparently attack you, and you can build weapons for defense, but I haven't experienced that yet since I've only played for an hour so far.

If "Caesar IV" and "Banished" had a baby, "Hearthlands" is what it would be called. It's like them in the sense that you don't actually control any of your subjects...you build structures and watch them go about their daily lives. Hey, don't knock it if you haven't tried it...there's a reason why purchasable "ant farm kits" are a thing. With that said, there's quite a bit of resource and city management involved. I suppose there's a little bit of "Age of Empires" in their too, what with the ability to build armies and manage diplomacy. All in all, great for folks who enjoy "Majesty", "Settlers", or any of the above aforementioned games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQencSRUj0Q

A fantastic city building sim. Yes it is in developement and it shows in certain parts, but overall I highly recommend it. THe art style is great, the depth of management is good, but could use some more ability to fine tune your worker allotments and such.

You'll like it If you like Anno / Settlers / Gnomoria.