Developer: GrizzlyGames
RRP: £4.79 (Steam)
I have to be in the right mood to play a city management game, there’s always just so much to keep track of; resources, population happiness, maintenance, zoning etc. That isn’t the case with Islanders, all of that has been stripped away and you only need concern yourself with making sure the buildings you place down have positive numbers on them. Resources are forgone and in their place is a, for lack of a better term, ‘sphere of influence’ system. Each building has a sphere of influence if another building (or terrain feature in some cases) enters the sphere it affects the score value and depending on the type of building it can be a positive or negative effect. It’s an elegant system.
This is by far the most relaxed city builder I’ve ever played. To keep things interesting the islands are all procedurally generated but will always give you what you need. I’ve spent hours with this game, which is impressive since it costs about the same price as a pot of tea from a cafe. Do yourself a favour and take a look at this gem and if you ever feel stressed out boot it up, I don’t think you’ll regret it.
