New review:

I now have 1000 hours in this game. When I originally reviewed it, it was a few years ago and I only had about 100 hours. The game has improved massively. There are new systems and many adjustments that make the game more enjoyable. A few things that were improved is how to manage workers (not sure if they changed anything or I just got better at the game), and the rail lag bug has been fixed.

The game is now very complex but, and here's a great part: You can turn off alot of that complexity! Don't feel like managing garbage and water? Turn it off! Don't like heating or pollution? Turn them off! Don't like crime or education? Turn them off! You have an amazing customization over the difficulty of the game and that's amazing.

The road system is still ♥♥♥♥, but with one way roads, parallel roads and liberal use of roundabouts it is much less of a pain. The rail system has also been moderately improved, with new signals that make stations easier to make and, with a feature that will get its own section:

Distribution offices! These are the best things ever! There is a rail variety and a road variety, and they're GREAT. The best things ever. I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ LOVE them so much. They make managing and distributing resources so much easier! The rail distribution office is great for automatically shuffling around resources over long distances, such as between your various settlements. And the road distribution office is great for making sure your pubs and grocery stores are fully stocked, aswell as massively aiding in industrial resource production and movement.

There are also still a plethora of new systems. There is now tourism, government loyalty actually matters now, there is crime and water management. There is also waste management but I don't like that one very much. There are also planes and ships now. Planes and ships! Ships are great for exports (not so much for imports) and planes are great for tourists and... not much else. But they're still cool even if less useful than trains and trucks. Ships are like the best way to export stuff, and would on paper be the best way to import things but it's difficult getting shipments on time, and you have to REALLY plan hard on a spreadsheet if you're playing realistic which...

Realistic mode. Not my personal cup of tea but it's still stellar. You're basically forced to play the game in hard mode. You can't auto import anything, imported vehicles have to physically transport themselves across the border. It's surprisingly fun for alot of people, so give it a try!

All in all, this game is basically if Factorio and Cities: Skylines had a baby. It has a pretty solid gameplay loop and challenge, and there are a wide range of ways to play.

However, there is still the massive con of the game crashing every now and then, especially with mods. So make sure your autosave is set to every minute






Old review:
Though the game has a hell of alot of bugs, the overall experience is great. There are A LOT of things I would like to see changed, like improved worker AI and overall bug fixes. But I will go into the basic pro's and cons

Pros:
1. the rail system. The way this game does trains is absolutely wonderful! It is just excellent in so many ways I can not describe. It can be a bit challenging to learn at first how to do the rail system, but once you learn how to do it, there is limitless possibilities for customization of your rail system.
2. Industry. Industry in general is wonderfully setup with complex supply and production chains that require a large amount of optimization, but can allow you to produce basically everything your little republic needs without any help from the outside world. Hell, you can become self-sufficient and purely focus on exporting a surplus of everything.

Cons:
1. worker AI. The worker movement AI is just abysmal. They seem to not comprehend some of the most basic things and often refuse to use the transport networks you set up, even if they would work perfectly fine in a realistic setting. you can work around it, but it is still really annoying.
2. roads. The road system is the opposite of the rail system in terms of depth and usefulness. The lack of road size variety and road snapping can make things fairly challenging to use when you focus on road vehicles.
3. Bugs. Bugs everywhere! Lack of performance optimization is real, as even though the rail system is absolutely splendid, it can be very laggy to deal with. They did fix a bug that would cause your game to lag if not crash with complex rail systems, but building lengthy track lengths can still cause performance to take a nose-dive. And it isnt uncommon for the game to crash unexpectedly from doing the most innocouous things.

Overall it is a fun game for those city-builder types. Though it is nearly as polished a product as games like Cities Skylines, Banished, or Tropico. It has alot of potential and I hope the devs iron out the issues before adding new content.

New review: I now have 1000 hours in this game. When I originally reviewed it, it was a few years ago and I only had about 100 hours. The game has improved massively. There are new systems and many adjustments that make the game more enjoyable. A few things that were improved is how to manage workers (not sure if they changed anything or I just got better at the game), and the rail lag bug has been fixed. The game is now very complex but, and here's a great part: You can turn off alot of that complexity! Don't feel like managing garbage and water? Turn it off! Don't like heating or pollution? Turn them off! Don't like crime or education? Turn them off! You have an amazing customization over the difficulty of the game and that's amazing. The road system is still shit, but with one way roads, parallel roads and liberal use of roundabouts it is much less of a pain. The rail system has also been moderately improved, with new signals that make stations easier to make and, with a feature that will get its own section: Distribution offices! These are the best things ever! There is a rail variety and a road variety, and they're GREAT. The best things ever. I fucking LOVE them so much. They make managing and distributing resources so much easier! The rail distribution office is great for automatically shuffling around resources over long distances, such as between your various settlements. And the road distribution office is great for making sure your pubs and grocery stores are fully stocked, aswell as massively aiding in industrial resource production and movement. There are also still a plethora of new systems. There is now tourism, government loyalty actually matters now, there is crime and water management. There is also waste management but I don't like that one very much. There are also planes and ships now. Planes and ships! Ships are great for exports (not so much for imports) and planes are great for tourists and... not much else. But they're still cool even if less useful than trains and trucks. Ships are like the best way to export stuff, and would on paper be the best way to import things but it's difficult getting shipments on time, and you have to REALLY plan hard on a spreadsheet if you're playing realistic which... Realistic mode. Not my personal cup of tea but it's still stellar. You're basically forced to play the game in hard mode. You can't auto import anything, imported vehicles have to physically transport themselves across the border. It's surprisingly fun for alot of people, so give it a try! All in all, this game is basically if Factorio and Cities: Skylines had a baby. It has a pretty solid gameplay loop and challenge, and there are a wide range of ways to play. However, there is still the massive con of the game crashing every now and then, especially with mods. So make sure your autosave is set to every minute Old review: Though the game has a hell of alot of bugs, the overall experience is great. There are A LOT of things I would like to see changed, like improved worker AI and overall bug fixes. But I will go into the basic pro's and cons Pros: 1. the rail system. The way this game does trains is absolutely wonderful! It is just excellent in so many ways I can not describe. It can be a bit challenging to learn at first how to do the rail system, but once you learn how to do it, there is limitless possibilities for customization of your rail system. 2. Industry. Industry in general is wonderfully setup with complex supply and production chains that require a large amount of optimization, but can allow you to produce basically everything your little republic needs without any help from the outside world. Hell, you can become self-sufficient and purely focus on exporting a surplus of everything. Cons: 1. worker AI. The worker movement AI is just abysmal. They seem to not comprehend some of the most basic things and often refuse to use the transport networks you set up, even if they would work perfectly fine in a realistic setting. you can work around it, but it is still really annoying. 2. roads. The road system is the opposite of the rail system in terms of depth and usefulness. The lack of road size variety and road snapping can make things fairly challenging to use when you focus on road vehicles. 3. Bugs. Bugs everywhere! Lack of performance optimization is real, as even though the rail system is absolutely splendid, it can be very laggy to deal with. They did fix a bug that would cause your game to lag if not crash with complex rail systems, but building lengthy track lengths can still cause performance to take a nose-dive. And it isnt uncommon for the game to crash unexpectedly from doing the most innocouous things. Overall it is a fun game for those city-builder types. Though it is nearly as polished a product as games like Cities Skylines, Banished, or Tropico. It has alot of potential and I hope the devs iron out the issues before adding new content.