Recent reviews by Starshine

It stands in a busy genre, I compare it most to Ostriv, it doesn't have the complexity, realism or simulation of Ostriv, but it so easy to play. You've got to turn your brain off alittle for it to make sense, everythine is so streamlined BUT oh the placing of plots is joyous, it's so easy to place and plot and make a beautiful settlement.
Do you love this genre but also work long hours? Play Manor Lords! It's gorgeous, easy to play and just what you need when you're too tired for it's competitors.

Only warning is that lag gets brutal around population 600-700, especially if you're raising troops for anything.

Borderline unplayable.
It has potential, and that potential is great but in it's current state, it's never clear if you're enacting or repealing a law, embargo or any decision. Menu's vanish and all decisions gone in a moment.
Eventually this will be a great game, wait till then.

A fun pharoah-like tile placement/range-puzzle city-builder with a focus on strategy placement game play and no simulation, with charm and interesting mechanics to make it worth your time! Fantastic setting and concept and a lot of fun to play.
Only downside is an unskippable tutorial level which stops the fun learning to play this game would surely have been!
It's EA but from playing the first map, it feels like a full game!

While a small pack, the assets are beautiful, I love the NA Beachfront properties, they (like the base game assets) still majoritly feel like the houses of the extremely rich only, but they look like houses in my country (NZ), houses I can imagine existing or like ones I've seen, which the previous buildings by far didn't.

Really good looking buildings and I'm glad they're not limited to beach zones or near water as they will be my go to low density from now on, especially in smaller towns/rural suburbs, some parks, commercial sites in this style, or more addictions would be welcome but as it is this is enough to, for me, change the feel of game completely by providing houses that actually look like houses to me

It could turn into something, but currently it is in an extremely barebones state. Rigid buildings, obtuse UI, clunky and not really doing anything that stands out. It has promise though so hopefully the EA turns into something.
But for here and now, look to Ostriv or really any other game in the genre with more hours and development under it's belt.

It's clunky, awkward and carries over all the gameplay of patron that made it not quite fit in the banished-like genre, rigid and slow and just, not feeling quite right.
However, it's pretty. You're under the sea, it looks unique, there's a fun 00sesque utopian underwater vibe to everything that's just neat, it doesn't quite vibe with the dystopian storyline but it's fun to play in.

It's brilliant. The political model, pops and interest groups are the best I've ever seen. The warfare abstraction makes war, on a global level, actually fun for the first time in a non HoI Paradox game. The economy? I have no idea what's going on there but it sounds like it's pretty bugged going by dev's comments but yeah, right now that's a mess.

The game in events or character is a bit too sandbox as it stands right now, but in base mechanics it is deep and the best Paradox or any in this genre have done, especially on the political side. How the IG's mean parties aren't static but change and shift as the game goes on and driven by character personalities so change outside of events. Migration and POPs management is fun and the UI is, mostly great although some things are hidden by too many layers of tooltips (A ledger is needed.)

It's the cleanest release Paradox have ever done by far, and I look forward to seeing how it's get improved and polished.

Standout in the DF-lite genre for quality and graphics.

The game is mostly what you'd expect from a DF-lite type game, small band build a colony, slowly develop research, wide array of statuses, injuries and relationships between you're colonists. This one however hits with beaut graphics, a fantastic UI and some really interesting alien designs and an exploration system.

Another thing that's different is a set cast of characters, events and a changing world. It's early access right now, but I wouldn't put off the game for that. There's one map, but the game is deep and polished.
This game if anything has looked at the genre and all the hits of colony builder, DF-lite and survival game of recent years and combined in a way where they weave together perfectly. You notice features that remind of you other games but here they all fit.

Excellent DLC to an excellent game. The new story content is well written, immersive and education, covering events both in South America and fleshing out the previous map. I haven't encounted anything 'meme-y' or immersion breaking and the english translation of the new events are great. The decisions give you in game goals and everything is clear and intuitive.

100% recommend this DLC to anyone playing this game, greatly expands on the story content and gameplay choices.

It's fun to deconstruct and rebuild, but it lacks the creative choices to scratch that fallout 4 building system itch. There are a few places you can make choices, colour or one of three buildings for the empty lot (I know this is a demo but it creates a formula the full game would follow), the construction minigames and gameplay are fun, functioning as puzzles, how to reach X, how to get ingredients for why, which is fun and relaxing but as puzzles will stifle replayability and I can't imagine replaying what the prologue gives you.

There's some design choices too, where what you build feels old or shoddy, so rather than feel you're rebuilding a new future, it's more repairing and replacing a linear old. Again some diversity in style options for the new buildings or the rebuild could do wonders for this.

There are some questionable writing decisions and lean more into propaganda than history and raise some worries about how the full game would play out as well.

In all its fun, and for free definetly try it, play it then uninstall it, but I can't see myself buying the full game on release.