Currently Online 
| #34 | Odd Realm |
|---|---|
| guessed by | no one |
| platform | Linux |
| release year | 2019 |
| developer/publisher | Unknown Origin Games |
| genre | colony sim |
| links | website |
Sadly, but understandably, no one guessed this one. It is too obscure a game, maybe we can change that.
Sometimes games shape a genre. That typically can be seen as many other games copying the formula or parts of it. Doom is a common example for this. In the area of complex simulations, Dwarf Fortress has this place. It is a complex fantasy colony simulator, to be specific you guide a bunch of dwarven settlers (and probably let them all die horribly). The problem with Dwarf Fortress: it is really, really complex. It actually starts with generating a complex world with ten thousand years of history. And all your dwarfs have in detail descriptions, including the songs they know. Something you probably can explore. I once tried to play it, following a Youtube tutorial. But even after two hours I still didn't feel like I was playing my own game, but still following the tutorial to the T, without making own meaningful decisions. that is too hard, even for me as I love complex games. So Dwarf Fortress is not on my list.
But a lot of games took inspiration from Dwarf Fortress, some being more direct copies but simplified, some following other styles but borrowing ideas. An incomplete list contains Gnomoria, Oxygen not Included, Rimworld, Prison Architect, Stonehearth, A Game of Dwarves, Civitatem and probably a lot more. Even Minecraft is cited as have taken inspiration from Dwarf Fortress, although obviously straying farther from the core concept. I played some of these games, and among them there is a clear favorite: Odd Realm.
In Odd Realm you settle on a new map with a bunch of settlers and try to build a bustling colony. If you play as humans, you first have to secure a supply of food and water probably, but not all races are played the same way. As usual the winter proves to be a challenge, so a first goal may be to build up the colony enough, to survive the winter. You can assign professions to your settlers, and they will automatically pick the appropriate job. For instance if you mark some trees to be felled for wood or clearing the area for building, the forester (or anyone you unlocked the log-skill for) will get to the job.
Odd Realm has height in the maps, meaning not only the existence of hills and valley, but you can actually build multistory-buildings or mine deep down into the earth. You gather or mine resources and can craft them into different things or build stuff from it. Most importantly buildings to house your colonists. If they have proper sleeping accomodations, they will also start to produce offspring, which you can employ for more task once they grow up.
Odd Realm offers the complexity of a colony sim, where you can build it like you want, down to the single block that the buildings consist of. This will give you a big creative outlet, every colony will look different, while still adhering to the general need for survival.
Odd Realm is still early access, so far only three of the planned five races are unlocked. But even these three offer a very varieed game style, as their needs and abilities strongly differ. Also the dev is really active, pushing out new updates to improve the game and add the races that were missing so far. So I am very optimistic about this game.
If you are into deep complex simulations games, you should give Odd Realm a try.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6lDVJFFJ10&t=1s&ab_channel=UnknownOriginGames
