Also available on Windows New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers is one of the early offerings on the Switch eShop. I wasn't entirely sure what to make of it when I saw it on the French eShop (I downloaded it on my EU account before it hit the North American eShop), but I had seen it described as a "city building" sim, so I was willing to give it a shot. The game has a few different modes - Story, Free Play, and Survival - but they all play largely the same. The "story" mode doesn't really have a story other than "Unnamed homeland sent you to set up a colony! Don't suck!" You have to meet certain key goals to be allowed to progress, and if your money is in the red for too long or if you take too long to meet one of those key goals, your homeland will have you recalled, resulting in a game over. Honestly, given how unfulfilling the story mode is coupled with the lack of any real unique features makes it a bit pointless in my opinion. Your colony goes through five or six different "ages" of development unlocking new buildings to improve your economy and city. You need to balance gathering a number of different resources, but the most important are food and money since those are the two that are depleted at every yearly "harvest festival." You also have to worry about wild animal attack; normally a stray bear is your biggest threat, but every now and then, you'll have some freakishly mutated giant boar lead a pack of killer pigs and destroy your entire city. That shit sucks. You can use the buttons or the touch screen to control things, and it's fine visually, but it does have the look and feel of a mobile game. I'm not sure I'm prepared to say outright that it's overpriced, but it's $9.99 price of entry is definitely the top of the reasonable asking price. If you're willing to take the plunge, however, there is some fun to be had as long as you're up for a game focused on building and not defending. After all, this isn't Civilization (though that would kick SO much ass on Switch). New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers isn't a ground breaking game, and it isn't a particularly action-packed game, but if you're into city building games, it's a neat game that will provide some entertainment. The mobile game feel isn't a check in the "pro" column, but the game is still pretty fun all things considered. Maybe wait for it to go on sale, though. My Rating - C |
I'm a teacher.And I like to play video games. I like to collect video games. I like to talk about video games, and I like to write about video games. During the day, I teach high school history; during the night, I spend my spare time gaming. Then I write about it. Archives
March 2024
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