The Station Interactive·Released Dec 1, 2023·Single player
In SteamWorld Build, you must escape a dying planet by building a mining town to dig up vital long-lost technology. Meet the ever-growing needs of your citizens, trade resources and defend your mine from the creatures that lurk below.
A quick, casual city builder above, a dungeon-building miner below.
Relaxing and brisk, but lacking in the substance needed to please genre fans and live up to the SteamWorld name.
SteamWorld Build is a unique hybrid that entertains for a time. Unfortunately, despite a solid foundation, it struggles to maintain an engaging experience throughout its campaign.
SteamWorld Build is proof that the SteamWorld formula can be applied to almost any genre with its mix of city building and dungeon mining combining for quite the treat.
SteamWorld Build is a delightful and very satisfying foray into the city-building genre. The two gameplay modes complement each other well, offering two very different but equally pleasing ways to gain resources. While we do wish the story could've lasted a little bit longer, the addictive gameplay and slick presentation makes it very easy to recommend.
SteamWorld Build is a beautifully crafted game that seamlessly blends genres and ideas into a polished and premium package. There's not another management sim like it, but despite it running surprisingly well on Nintendo's system, it does leave us wanting for more reason to return to it. You're all but guaranteed to adore your first time through, but subsequent playthroughs may not carry the same magic. Still, with all that being said, this is undeniably a triumph of mechanical marvellousness.
SteamWorld Build is yet another triumph from the maestros at Thunderful. Here we have a slick and addictive addition to a wonderful steampunk franchise that manages to meld elements from across the entire series into one cohesive whole. You've got wonderfully detailed city-building, addictive mining action and intense tower-defense aspects all in the mix here, and it tells you everything you need to know about this one that all of these elements work in harmony. Xbox Game Pass just netted itself another banger.
Its focus on balancing your economy's scales rather than turning a profit means the stakes are never that high in SteamWorld Build, but this is still a strong and distinctive twist on the upstairs/downstairs loop that made SteamWorld Dig so enticing a decade ago.
