The populace doesn’t need no stinkin’ money to buy what they need to stay alive as consumable goods are created and freely distributed in a perfect communist society. Money is of little consequence when the main goal of your villagers is simply to stay alive by being well fed, clothed, and sheltered. Cash has been completely eradicated from the formula, instead opting on resource management for the currency du’ jour and every building is available for construction from the outset, something most city simulations opt against. Banished takes the agent based playstyle of the recently revived, then unceremoniously shuttered, SimCity but simplifies the system and refines the flow of goods within your town’s local economy. Enter Banished, a Medieval-themed village simulator, created essentially by a single programmer with surprising depth, a challenging yet easy to cope with learning curve, and some nail biting moments due to the unpredictability of random weather events that may outright kill your city’s population if you’re not proactively managing the flow of daily life in your digital community. Ah, the city builder genre, a woefully underappreciated theme that’s had its share of massive hits ( Cities: Skylines which received generally favorable critical acclaim) and tragic misses ( SimCity, which seemed to go totally off the rails in the eyes of the faithful and was systematically railed against due to a required always online presence), and one that systemically gets few new entries with truly groundbreaking gameplay additions or exciting twists to conventionally time-tested staples, if released at all.

Banished pc game review