Skyward Collapse - the latest game from Arcen Games

[Huw the Poo]

Link

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly Arcen can produce content.  This is their latest and a return to their strategy roots.  At first I thought it was a spiritual successor to Populous, but reading that blog post it becomes apparent that Arcen have put their own spin on things, as usual:

Set high in the sky atop a floating landmass that you are actively constructing as the game progresses, you oversee two warring factions (Greeks and Norse).  Via solo play or co-op, you play as "The Creator," helping both sides of the conflict -- granting each side buildings, resources, and even new citizens.

However, the multitude of villages you create all have minds of their own, and will actively try to stomp the nearest still-standing village of the other faction.  Given the resources and appropriate buildings, your villagers will gear up for war without your direct interaction, and will fight it out to the best of their abilities.

Unlike most strategy games, your goal isn't to win.  "You" aren't represented by either of the sides, after all.  Instead your goal is to balance this conflict as best you can so that neither side gets wiped out.

But you can't just strip them of the ability to gear up for war: roaming bandits make defense essential.  Not to mention, crime in each village goes up and up the longer it's without a military presence, until it collapses into anarchy.  You can construct embassies and assign traveling diplomats to them in an effort to reach a state of enlightenment where crime is no longer a threat, but this is difficult and only affects the two villages that are undergoing peace talks; their neighbors will remain as warlike as ever!

It's more like a test of how long you can get the tribes to survive without killing each other.  Sounds cool.  There are more details and a screenshot in the link.

[spelk]

I'll be following this closely. They're certainly picking up speed on new releases. Even if you're not totally sold on the game, there'll probably something in it, thats worth a look-see because they usually pack so much unique or hybrid stuff in their games.

[JasonPratt]

That is one of the best God-game concepts I've ever seen.

[Huw the Poo]

Yeah - trust Arcen to put a unique spin on things.  They're such a fantastic developer.  They patch bugs quicker than anyone I've ever seen, too.

[LongBlade]

Looks awesome.

[son_of_montfort]

That is one of the best God-game concepts I've ever seen.

Agreed. Anyone play the last release, Shattered Haven? It looks very interesting and worth the low cost of admission.

[steve58]

Looks like its out.  $4.49.  Available on Steam, Greenmangaming...

Memorial Day (USA) weekend is starting to look pretty good, gaming-wise...

update:  Just saw on the Steam forum that there is a demo available...for a $5 game   ???

http://collapse.s3.amazonaws.com/SkywardDemoSetup-windows.exe

[Tamas]

there is a demo available...for a $5 game   ???

doesn't sound too wise financially, but is sure fair. I really like the concept and whoever is even trying to make a game like that certainly deserves my 5 euros for the effort alone.

Yeah, I am in a generous mood.

[PanzersEast]

I'm in... interesting concept to say the least and to support the devs. Plus those huge savings with the current discount  :P


PE

[undercovergeek]

downloading - hard not to for £3

[JasonPratt]

Bought it earlier today. I bought Shattered Haven, too, back on its release, although I haven't played it yet. (I really must have been sick that week from allergies, because zombie games are rarely ever my pick; I only played Undead Nightmare because it was an alternate epilogue for Red Dead Redemption.)

[Arctic Blast]

Definitely like the concept of it. Tempting...

[Tpek]

I've only played the tutorial, but this definitely looks kinda interesting, especially because it's a rather original concept.

[donkey_roxor]

And it's only $5.

[son_of_montfort]

I got a press code, so let me put up some impressions while I work on something a little deeper.

1. This is a bit of a cross between God Game and Puzzle Game. What I mean is that you are tying to balance both sides of two factions to make sure they don't kill each other but to also make sure they flourish. So you have to build both towns up to produce new units but the units are asymmetrical - the Norse are faster and weaker and the Greek are stronger and more expensive.

2. You get mythological units and spells to make sure you can react in a pinch. So if the superior Greek infantry are bashing the Norse, you plop down a superior Norse mythological unit to balance the score. You can also use God powers to heal buildings and direct units as well. These powers, however, take up several actions that could have been used elsewhere, so you need to make sure you plan ahead.

3. Now you might be thinking that you could get away with just not putting down any barracks or military structures, preventing your humans from fighting one another and obviating any need to balance them. Well, you can, but you would lose as the game throws another level of complexity in with the planned arrival of bandit castles. These guys will beat up on both of your towns if they are not properly prepared and can be quite nasty. So you have to make sure you can weather the onslaught that is coming.

There seems to be even more complexity that I have not yet seen, as the game discusses enemy Gods as well. Not sure how this works, but it sounds fairly interesting. Not only that, but the resource balancing is quite difficult - you have limited town space and you always need more resources than you have. So planning your towns is a large part of the game.

It is all turn-based and feels like an electronic boardgame.

I would hesitate to call this a true God game, as it really does feel more puzzle oriented. But for $5, it looks like you can get some fairly decent entertainment form the title.

Some would disagree, but I find Arcen's visuals and music to be very good.