Terra Nil – Review
Most strategy and simulation games have a similar goal: create the largest amusement park possible. Get rid of the adversary completely. Become the most powerful tycoon in your healthcare facility, metropolis, zoo, farm, or spaceship.
Fans of strategy games will hopefully find something new and exciting in Terra Nil. It’s accurate to call Free Lives’ post-apocalyptic terraforming journey a “reverse city builder,” as the developer describes it; however, the game plays more like a puzzle than anything else.
Resource management and attempting to maintain a stable global ecology are at the heart of Terra Nil. You learn, at the most fundamental level, that the effects of your actions in the world rely on the specific objects you use and the sequence in which you employ them. Soil purification, for instance, is impossible without first installing a wind farm to fuel the turbines. You won’t be able to grow healthy plants or cultivate verdant woods if the soil is contaminated. Some trial and error is welcome, but there is usually a recommended sequence of operations to follow.
The challenge is to learn the game’s systems and strategically position your tools so that they have the greatest possible effect on the world you’re trying to bring to life. As you advance, you’ll have to deal with animal management, ecosystem maintenance (via means like controlled fires), and cleaning up after your own equipment in an effort to leave no traces behind. It’s a tricky balancing act that can get worse over time, but the rewards of seeing your digital environment flourish are immense, like catching a glimpse of flourishing plants in a terrarium.
At its simplest setting, Terra Nil is a relaxing, mindless time-waster. The game’s gorgeous visual style and top-notch sound design make it extremely satisfying to watch rivers and wetlands come to life at the push of a button. After a long day, this is one of the most soothing titles I’ve played this year, and I highly recommend it. If you want a more challenging strategic experience, the higher difficulties force you to carefully plan where to position tiles and how to best utilise your resources.
Terra Nil’s lack of replayability compared to other strategy games like Civilization VI and Cities: Skylines is its biggest flaw. Even though I doubt Free Lives ever intended for Terra Nil to contend with the genre’s heavy hitters, the game’s mission structure and randomly generated maps prevent it from offering the same level of replayability as other strategy games.
Nevertheless, my experience with Terra Nil has been a pure pleasure and a welcome reprieve from the stresses of the modern world. I guarantee that this reverse city builder will hit the spot if you curl up with a comforter and a cup of chamomile on a rainy day. Some new information may even sink in.
