I have enjoyed taking a step back from online gaming recently. Occasionally, I find more comfort and joy in playing single-player games that allow me to not have to go against sweats and just play in the moment. That’s why stumbling across Fabledom made me happy as it ticked all the boxes for games I’m currently drawn to and looked like it would be super chill. Not to mention the art style looks fantastic and the cozy gamer side of me needed to play it. The idea of building and managing a city with a fairy tale charm is a nice change of pace from Battle Royals and Killer robot creatures. Currently, in early access on steam, I popped my crown on and became the Prince of Orivae and began my journey to build the best city in the land.
For those that might not know, Fabledom is a charming City Builder developed by Greena Games. It’s currently in early access on Steam for an asking price of £13.49, which I think is a steal. Set in a storybook kingdom of trolls, knights, and princes/princesses. Fabledom offers a city builder with a beautiful fairy tale setting. Create a settlement from scratch and let your imagination create a city fit for kings and queens. Customise buildings so they fit your vision with a range of decorations and utilities to create the best villages in the land for your Fablings. Not everything is sun shines and rainbows, make sure to fortify your fortress and villages to fight neighbouring colonies for domination across the realm. Assemble your army and champion so that your kingdom is protected against wicked neighbours and minions. Use your hero to fight and conquer in your name and collect epic loot and gear. The fun doesn’t stop there, find yourself a princess or prince to marry for love or money. Diplomacy is an important factor in Feudal times and Fabledom’s negotiation mechanics allow for pretty much any scenario to happen. Untie with mutual interest or clash for domination. The game brings new ways to establish your village as an essential part of the realm.
Fabledom does a great job of teaching you on the job. I created a new campaign and not once felt like I didn’t know what to do. The objectives teach you the basics and keep you on the right track. For your first time playing, I highly recommend jumping into the campaign, learning the ropes then going into the sandbox for the more creative side of things. The aim is to build and successfully manage your settlements as it grows and expands. It’s not as advanced as Anno but that isn’t a bad thing as I feel Fabledom is a happy medium when it comes to managing and building. There are things that need to be in place for you Fablings to be happy and thrive but it isn’t overly complicated.
Building Homesteads will allow fablings to join your settlements where you will look after them and put them to work, this could be on the farms, stone camps, etc. These will generate resources so that you can build things to keep your fablings happy as well as further your settlements. The more fablings you gain your settlement will be upgraded to the next milestone, which will unlock more structures and buildings that will allow you to fend off armies or look after your townspeople. The simple but effective gameplay is one of the reasons I enjoy Fabledom so much. You will generate income that can be used to buy and expand the settlement as well as more land for you to accommodate more. When you have your starting town, you feel quite limited in space but once you have bought some more land you can delegate areas of land to specific things like farming, living area, and army barracks. It’s a lot more fun when you have more land to play with as you can make your settlements look grand and tidy.
Like most city-building games the aim is to manage your space the best you can, keep your people happy, and allow them to progress through the stages so that they can get better and build better structures. Fabledom does this fantastically and in such a light-hearted way that it will have you playing for hours.
Graphically pleasant in every way, even down to the smallest details. I love the fact that the Fablings have their own classes and visuals, it’s nice that you can even name them all if you want to but then do already have names. The buildings and environment are so detailed, and I love it when winter comes and it snows, even if it does ruin my crops. It kind of reminds me of Animal Crossing with how cozy it is, and the art style hits the nail on the head and is superb. Audio wise there is voice acting and a charming narrator that pops up every now and then to explain the story and give tips and hints.
Currently, the game has elements that are waiting to be put in, so the full experience isn’t yet in the game. However, I still enjoy playing through the campaign and sandbox mode as you can let your creativity run wild as you unlock more of the map and expand your empire. Looking at the game’s roadmap you can see a clear vision from developers Greena Games as they work toward full release. Because you get to choose where you start on the map, you’ll get different starting materials each time and layout. I can’t wait for the fairy tale encounters to get added and the military buildings. There is so much of the game left to play but the foundations that are currently available are tons of fun and a fantastic starting point.
Conclusion
Fabledom’s early access is enjoyable and it makes me hyped for the journey ahead. Even though there are elements missing it does enough to provide a pleasant and engaging experience that is graphically beautiful as well as surprisingly satisfying. If you love your comfy cozy games, this one should be on your list, if you are into games like Animals Crossing and Stardew Valley then take a gamble on Fabledom as you’ll love it as well. I have spent a good number of hours playing it already and can’t wait for them to add more to expand on an already fantastic city-builder experience.
Fabledom is out now in early access on Steam so what are you waiting for, let your fairy tale begin.
https://youtu.be/zRwx2vxs3eM
Grab your copy here https://store.steampowered.com/app/1651560/Fabledom/
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