Planetiles is a new PC game release by MythicOwl that describes itself as a ‘serene city builder with roguelike elements’. Find out how the game plays in todays review.
First off, I enjoyed Planetiles. It’s the kind of game that I’m likely to leave installed on my Steam account for a long time, something I can dip into every now and then when I need to de-stress. In terms of the developers description, serene was correct. It really feels peaceful. The ‘cozy’ genre of games is becoming ever more popular, with a large contingent of gamers wanting games purely to relax too, and Planetiles certainly fits that bill.
In terms of the actual gameplay, I’m not sure I’d personally describe it as a city builder. The basic gameplay loop works like this. You select one of a number of worlds, each having a different number of tiles and various other features. You can then select some upgrades which you unlock as you play more, this is the roguelike aspect of it I suspect.
One on a world, the game begins. You are presented with an island tile, that you can place anywhere. You are then presented with tiles of different shapes and features. These blocks on the tiles can contain a number of different elements, from forests, to mountains and farmland. If you connect blocks in a certain way, you gain points. If you connect them in specific ways, such as a ring of sand around an island or a 3×3 block of farms, you can then upgrade that block
These upgrades are things such as villages, lumber yards, observatories and more – there’s really a lot of different combinations. Upgrading a set of blocks like this grants you abilities. These can let you re-roll the next tile, pass on one for some points, get a special 1×1 block, there’s a lot. The way the tiles look and the randomness of them makes the game feel a lot more like Tetris than anything else.
And really, the game is more of a puzzle game than a city builder. There is strategy to be found in how you connect the blocks, where you place them, how you use your upgrades and when. A basic goal of most planets is to fill in every section of the planet with tiles, and this requires some forward thinking. It’s nothing too strenuous mind, the games lovely graphics and calm music never make you feel tension. But, it is a puzzle at its heart, and that’s great.
It’s really just a nice game to relax too. There’s a good amount of variety, and replayability to be found. I wouldn’t personally describe it as a city builder like the developers have, but for a calm puzzle game with some light roguelike elements, I think it really works. I really like Planetiles, and at the cheap price it’s currently going for on Steam of only £6.79, I think most gamers would too. So, if you’re in the market for a little game to relax your brain, check out Planetiles.
You can purchase Planetiles for £6.79 on Steam If you’re after a different kind of PC puzzler, perhaps check out JARS.
