Just to say, I received a code for this game via a press release and was able to stream the game prior to launch.
My thoughts are my own.

This game is a very cute and charming little title with a lot of potential!
It's oozing with charm where it counts, from bigger things like how your city grows while progressing to small things like animated cursor movements.
I was able to play the game early, and was not advised of a final price, so I am surprised that the game (as of now) is a generously priced title at about $6.59 USD (I personally expected about $10-15, and would not be surprised if after EA dev and expansion that it reaches that kind of price)

The gameplay is what I would describe as a "slow burn survival rouge-lite".
You are given the task of exploring a randomly generated landscape beyond your small village, balancing tool-use and resources while also finding lost villagers to bring back to your village.
By bringing back resources/villagers, you are able to use them to build upgrades to your village that make future outings easier, or able to travel farther than previously able, along with interacting with NPCs on your outings to upgrade yourself as well.
While playing I was met with a weird, but enjoyable feeling of cozy adventure combined with a slight feeling of unease as my lantern timer ticked down spaces moved while exploring, making me have to plan how far can go, or hoping for a Metro station to fast travel back home (after I had upgraded my village to have one, of course)
When you finish your quests for the day, you can continue to explore and save up resources/villagers for future upgrades, or choose to upgrade your village center (being a giant ember candle) and begin a new day (which re-generates the landscape outside of your village) and gives new quests and upgrade opportunities. As of writing, I have not "died" yet, so I am unsure of how the game is played on subsequent runs.

I can honestly say that this strange pairing of "cozy village survival" and rouge-lite elements is a nice surprise, and something I haven't really seen before (coming from a fan of more fast paced games like "Hades" or strategic rouge-lites like deck builders) so it's a fun idea that I hope they really bring into it's own.

Being an EA title, I want to make a small section here for a wishlist of QoL improvements that would make the experience imo even better.
- Please let me be able to drop my tools on the ground. While it's nice that I can free up my inventory space by dropping resources I may not need, and I understand that I can simply use my tools to get more resources and paths to move, it's frustrating when I have 2 pick-axes to use on stone cluttering my inventory and generation has given me heaps of trees.
- I'd like to ask for a bit more robust camera control. I like not being able to see too far beyond my lantern range, but I wish I could maybe use "WASD" to look into the fog and see the things poking out of it to plan my route a bit better, but without being able to pan and leave my character out of frame (that way I don't lose myself). "Right-click and drag" is useful in a pinch, but I am unable to hover new mysterious things poking out of the fog to see what they might be.
- Eventually you are able to get upgrades beyond the forest in a flower zone, which with enough resources give you boons like more ember timer from furnaces or cheaper vending machines. It's a bit of a sore spot to spend a bunch of time and resources for a boon, only for the boon to take up a precious inventory slot. If this is intended to keep the tension of sacrificing space for boons, then I understand and is a cool design choice, but without the previous issue of not being able to drop tools, I found myself vouching to keep more space for tools/resources over a boon that is sometimes useful. Maybe if I could build a chest at the village that would let me save one item to carry over on future map generations?

To finish, again this is a lovely and charming little game that has a lot of potential! I could easily find myself getting lost for a couple of hours longer than I intend to when I sit to play. I recommend it!

tl;dr
Slow burn cozy exploration "rouge-lite" game with a lot of potential for a good price!

so cuddly and beautifully made <3

Great and cozy game, well worth the low price! build, explore and get lost. More gameplay here;

https://youtu.be/2rqqWSImqoc?si=aJ76gwxNXFdIrBTl