Going Medieval is a peaceful trip to the Dark Age

Stop me if you have heard this one: a thriving company, kneeling by a pandemic that is raging, rebuilds slowly, coming out of a period of dark to come back to light. That's right! It's the Middle Ages, and Going Medieval wants to remind you that when it comes to getting out of a deadly plague, we have already went there and we have already d1. Going Medieval is a game of survival / crafts / city construction and has just entered anticipated access.

Most games of this kind have mechanisms to harvest resources, build structures and slowly climb a technological tree that then opens additional objects to manufacture. Going Medieval is not a franc-shooter here, with warning that it is a game that glues more or less to the technology of darkness. You start with up to three customizable workers and some basic resources, then you put your peasants to the test, either to hunt, harvest or strip the green landscape of trees. Finally, with luck and good resource management, you can build ever more impressive structures until you have a pretty medieval town with a castle and a flourishing economy and trade agreements with other cities. I guess all this is true, but I did not go so far. Again.

Depending on your love of the challenge and / or your thirst for blood, you can play Going Medieval in different ways. You can withdraw completely from the armed fight, imagining a peaceful and conflict society where you do not need to waste resources on offensive weapons or defensive structures. Or, you can play with several different levels of belligerent neighbors invasions, erect walls and towers and build seat weapons and a combat force. I strongly suggest that anyone starts the game starts in peaceful mode while he learns the many interconnected systems of the game. Facing the fight or the raids at the beginning can be very frustrating.

Anyway, Going Medieval differs from some of its city building games / survival game by focusing particularly on the emotional, social and physical health of its citizens. Most building games have at least some mechanisms to monitor and affect the happiness of people, but Going Medieval really tries to make each character motivated and distinct (which could be somewhat compromised by the choice of graphic design to have the graphic design. people without face). Each villager has strength and skills that evolve, specific social and spiritual needs, which can all be satisfied by building and improving structures or giving people specific tasks for their specialty. A built-in task manager, similar to a spreadsheet, allows you to create a calendar for each worker and help them stay focused on their task. Without being told what to do, the workers will take care of their basic needs (food, sleep, alcohol) but will ignore this bunch of wood that should be transported to the stock, damage, should I tell you of Doing all? _ Although there is the indication of romantic entanglements between the workers, you earn new citizens via immigration rather than the birth rate.

Going Medieval has a non-realistic, simplified and stylized approach to its visual design which, combined with the small amount of music and at a generally relaxed pace, gives the game a timeless feeling. The seasons change effectively and although the animations of characters are extremely basic, they correspond to the general theme of a sleek and colorful artistic style. At this stage of development, there are many missing or incomplete features, the IU remains clumsy and confused and there is a real need for clarity and a good tutorial. Some relationships between mechanics are not well explained and the structure / building system has problems with regard to the second floors and opacity of levels. Most of this is forgiven given the early nature of the game and I guess a large part will be addressed as the development of Going Medieval.

Especially in peaceful mode, I appreciated the relaxing pace and mechanics of Going Medieval, looking at my humble beginner workers do their job, celebrate their birthdays, take a cup of wine in the reserve and start transforming their colony into a Small comfortable village, welcoming newcomers in my Idyllic town of Love. I can not wait to discover this game while it goes from anticipated access to the final version.