New Cycle — Prepper Caesar
Some of the hardest games to review and preview are those that strive for infinite replay value and a long shelf life. They demand a different sensibility compared to games where players expect to complete it once; maybe twice. But then most players don’t complete most games they buy these days. Scratch that—they barely even start most games they buy. I’ve been guilty of this myself.
And then there are games that I love and would like to revisit, but don’t have the time and energy for. One of them is Frostpunk, which I reviewed for a defunct website in 2018. It was the most tense city-builder I had ever played, and it took a lot from me to complete the campaign in time for the review embargo. It was one of those games that made me sweat cold beads under the urgency of the initial campaign.
Developed by Core Engage and published by Daedalic Entertainment, New Cycle strives for a similarly brutal experience, with the twist of solar flares, not the volcanic winter of Frostpunk. It is an underexplored title in post-apocalyptic fiction and games, and probably the most realistic and likely to happen in the world we live in. This is a game that is sensitive not only to climate change, but to all environment change.
People First
The gameplay is rough, very rough. After the tutorial, I tried my best to get a settlement going and failed three times in a row. I thought I was doing everything right, but couldn’t grow my population. Most often, they kept dying from poor health conditions no matter what I did. You have to think of your citizens and workers, keep them healthy, but you build population by the skin of your teeth.
Population is, of course, required to reach certain levels and unlock research in the Development Tree. When you get travellers stopping by every few weeks, you should always accept them. And there are quests that help you increase by more than a few at a time. There is also organic population growth, people have kids, but they are not workers. It takes a while for population replacement rates to go into effect.
Solar Futures
Solar flares are one of the most real threats to the infrastructure of the world today. Since the 90s, I remember people discussing this subject and its effect on a digital world, as we have today. When the Chernobyl or CIH virus hit Windows users in 1998, we got a glimpse of what would happen in the world if every magnetic hard drive was wiped by solar flares. It would be complete collapse, but at least it would kill TikTok.
I love the idea of a world post-flares, where people must return to the bare necessities of existence and build a world that is less dependent on the digital. New Cycle presents that well, and how people can prepare for the worst environmental effects. The game looks gorgeous overall; it’s just bleak enough to make you feel like this world is worth saving. And the passage of time feels realistic, even when you accelerate the speed.
Prepping for Disasters
This is a Caesar for preppers, a survivalist Caesar. It took me back to Caesar III/IV, a game series I have spent so many hours with, long before Steam. Even my little sister played Caesar III, so I think New Cycle has the potential to appeal to a wide audience, and I hope it does, because I think it is a relevant game to the time we’re living in.
The current state of the Early Access version, according to the developers, is advanced: “The game is currently fully playable with all of the game’s core mechanics, including the social class system alongside a full production tree, a full construction inventory and endgame mechanics. 2 different biomes are available for play alongside 2 different game mode options (Sandbox and Campaign).” They have also made an announcement concerning the use of AI NPCs, which I find interesting, but we’ll see.
There are already many guides to help you survive the first few runs. This is one of the best out there. It really communicates the initial despair of seeing your citizens die from illness in your first few attempts to build population.
Disclosure: New Cycle was previewed on PC with a Steam key provided by the developer. It is now available in Early Access on Steam. More information is available on the official website.