Banished

 PC
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 728 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 522 out of 728
  2. Mixed: 162 out of 728
  3. Negative: 44 out of 728

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  1. TheDizzation
    Feb 18, 2014
    10
    Amazing game for me. This type of game is really rare, and hard to make it good. It has some deficiency, but the game is combined perfectly. The fact is that this game is made by one guy is making it more amazing! I mean SimCity is made by a big company, compared to this they made nothing. I mean it. Anyways this game is a must buy if you like RTS and city building games!
  2. Blackadar
    Mar 5, 2014
    9
    I think people lament what Banished is not rather than enjoy what it is. It's not Pharoah. It's not Zeus. It's not SimCity, CotN, CivCity Rome, Caesar, Emperor, Anno, Cities XL or any other number of builders. It's not meant to be. Banished is a rather simple premise executed beautifully but without embellishment. It is simply about growing and sustaining a viable village. Not a town, aI think people lament what Banished is not rather than enjoy what it is. It's not Pharoah. It's not Zeus. It's not SimCity, CotN, CivCity Rome, Caesar, Emperor, Anno, Cities XL or any other number of builders. It's not meant to be. Banished is a rather simple premise executed beautifully but without embellishment. It is simply about growing and sustaining a viable village. Not a town, a city, an empire or a dynasty. It's just about keeping a nondescript village going and in that it succeeds totally. I love the pace and game environment not because it is simple but because it is focused and it is challenging. My first village in Banished failed. It was the first time that I can remember ever losing a town in any city builder and I've been playing them since the original SimCity. I was delighted.

    Now I didn't see in any previews that suggested anything different or more than what I got in the game. What it doesn't do is have talent/building trees or progression - but then again a small rural village in the 1700s or 1800s wouldn't expect to progress much from a technology standpoint. It doesn't have monuments, castles, combat or beautification projects. Are these limiting factors? Yes and they could have been included but they're not necessary for the core game to succeed. I wouldn't mind DLC or mods that include larger construction projects or the ability to create flower beds and other beautification projects. I think we'll see those things and I think that may make the game feel more "complete" for some people.

    Personally, I like the game for what it is. I find it relaxing but challenging and I enjoy seeing my little hamlet survive and grow and perhaps even eventually thrive. It also reminds me of a different era of gaming, where resource limitations required games to stay focused on their subject matter without becoming bloated. To me, Banished has a soul unlike some modern city-builders (Cities XL I'm looking right at you) and that makes all the difference.    … Expand
  3. drmirf
    Feb 21, 2014
    10
    Great game, on of the best I have played. Unique, hard but joyful. I recommend it to all players that like Civilization like games and for those that are patient.
  4. BatFat09
    Feb 21, 2014
    8
    This is a pretty good game, albeit impossible to win! I like it, I really do, I went in with low hopes and was extremely surprised, I must say this is way more than I thought it would be!
  5. Demonidze
    Feb 19, 2014
    10
    Finally a great city builder type of game that doesnt filled with always online DRM and other non sense.

    although its not like Sim City where you build an utopia, a dream city .. here you build a village and not just a village it has to be very balanced village, with everything thought out. there is rogue like element here, where you have to restart over and over until you using trial    Finally a great city builder type of game that doesnt filled with always online DRM and other non sense.

    although its not like Sim City where you build an utopia, a dream city .. here you build a village and not just a village it has to be very balanced village, with everything thought out. there is rogue like element here, where you have to restart over and over until you using trial and error method find your way to build a proper village.

    this is sort of survival city builder game, the only game i've seen that is some what similar to this one is dwarf fortress.

    I would recommend this game to anyone who likes the city building genre.    … Expand
  6. Muuvinki
    Feb 19, 2014
    8
    Really addicting city building game which you might definitely wanna try out.
    However when you get a hang of it, you'll notice that there really isn't much to build anymore after all necessary buildings. I kinda hope for some kinda decorative items which would make village look even more beautiful than it already is. Also sometimes there seems to be so little time to do stuff and you are    Really addicting city building game which you might definitely wanna try out.
    However when you get a hang of it, you'll notice that there really isn't much to build anymore after all necessary buildings. I kinda hope for some kinda decorative items which would make village look even more beautiful than it already is. Also sometimes there seems to be so little time to do stuff and you are struggling even with food, although you have multiple villagers getting food. Other than that Banished is a brilliant game with lots of potential in it.    … Expand
  7. Jaskkro
    Feb 19, 2014
    9
    This game is challenging, charming, complex and captivating. I played it for 6 hours in one sitting, and though it has a few flaws (like the sometimes buggy AI running to their death in the cold), the game provides an incredible amount of freedom. Then when one considers it was made by a single person, it really gives you a sense of awe.
  8. Thoto79
    Feb 20, 2014
    9
    Did one guy make this? Amazing. The most unforgiving and hardcore City (Town) builder i have ever played, and i have been through most of them. Good fun and higly addictive!
  9. frugal_frogger
    Feb 26, 2014
    8
    This is like SIMS but for grownups! Very challenging - at first you will be disappointed because you must make mistakes in order to learn to do it right. It requires lots of thinking ahead and trial and error. Highly recommended.
  10. Muts
    Feb 22, 2014
    10
    Great game. Got my population to 300+ people and then disaster comes over and over to challenge you to keep the town growing while tons dead by a tornado, fire, disease is hard.
    For anyone having trouble, like user Jordach545, where people are not doing what they were supposed to do, use Priority Tool at F2 Menu. I see people complain about this **** every day on forums and they still    Great game. Got my population to 300+ people and then disaster comes over and over to challenge you to keep the town growing while tons dead by a tornado, fire, disease is hard.
    For anyone having trouble, like user Jordach545, where people are not doing what they were supposed to do, use Priority Tool at F2 Menu. I see people complain about this **** every day on forums and they still dont get that this game works like a queue system. You create a To Do list every time you assign something, and they will not finish taking resources to a house to be built if they must finish collecting resources first. The Priority Tool just get things done and I think 90% of players dont use that and have trouble with Banished.    … Expand
  11. RazgrizGT
    Feb 24, 2014
    10
    Banished is definitely one of the great games to come out a recent memory. It has a very low learning curve and great game mechanic the keeps the game interesting. Designing and managing the city requires planning, expanding the quickly and you will find yourself in trouble. Graphics and Sounds are simplistic and yet provide a great backdrop for the game. Re-playability is decent as itBanished is definitely one of the great games to come out a recent memory. It has a very low learning curve and great game mechanic the keeps the game interesting. Designing and managing the city requires planning, expanding the quickly and you will find yourself in trouble. Graphics and Sounds are simplistic and yet provide a great backdrop for the game. Re-playability is decent as it is a sandbox structure with randomly generated map. At the moment of this review, it has minimal structures and their functions. The game plays simple but it has a great potential to expand into more depth and scope. For one guy who developed the game, it is definitely a 10 that beats all the other big-name title out of the water. Highly recommend!… Expand
  12. CpuCzar
    Feb 22, 2014
    9
    Banished is the anti SimCity, no extra costs, only 300 mb download, you only need 512 mb of ram to play it. This is a great city builder game. Only $20, and worth every penny!
  13. timsplace0
    Feb 18, 2014
    10
    This is one of the best game I have played in a long time, spent about 12 hours lost in Banished today.

    Only complaint is your wrists and hands may hurt from overplaying, seriously.
  14. liquixcat
    Feb 19, 2014
    10
    I played this game for 4 hours on my first sitting. This game just sucks you in and keeps you there. It's hard, unforgiving, relentless and cruel but it's enjoyable, rewarding, entertaining and engaging too! After 6 winters I think I finally have the hang of food distribution and keeping people healthy and alive. Sure a person dies here or there, but it's almost always from old age.I played this game for 4 hours on my first sitting. This game just sucks you in and keeps you there. It's hard, unforgiving, relentless and cruel but it's enjoyable, rewarding, entertaining and engaging too! After 6 winters I think I finally have the hang of food distribution and keeping people healthy and alive. Sure a person dies here or there, but it's almost always from old age. Finding a good balance takes time, but it's completely doable. Now I just need some fruit for my Tavern. :D

    When you buy this game don't expect to do well your first time through and USE the tutorial. It's not too long and it's really helpful. Don't get too attached to your first villagers as they will most likely die from starvation or cold.

    Great game; amazing even. I plan to spend another 4 hours on it after work tonight too.    … Expand
  15. Sairven
    Feb 20, 2014
    10
    One of my biggest complaints about city builders over the last few years is shoehorned combat, and lets be perfectly honest with ourselves: even the "best" city-builder combat is pure garbage compared to the worst real-time strategy game's combat.

    Banished thankfully doesn't waste any of its time on that. Instead, your antagonists are: hunger, weather, disease, and disasters. The    One of my biggest complaints about city builders over the last few years is shoehorned combat, and lets be perfectly honest with ourselves: even the "best" city-builder combat is pure garbage compared to the worst real-time strategy game's combat.

    Banished thankfully doesn't waste any of its time on that. Instead, your antagonists are: hunger, weather, disease, and disasters. The developer's decision to focus on this pays off greatly. It's pretty fun balancing your population in order to progress without ending up with a whole bunch of old people who can't reproduce anymore.    … Expand
  16. Gunteraz
    Feb 18, 2014
    10
    This game is amazing. I haven't left my computer since i got this game 8 hours ago. It sucks you in like the tornadoes in this game do with your villagers. For a 1-man development "team" this game is an achievement worthy of a monument.
  17. SpyderScythe
    Feb 19, 2014
    10
    I absolutely love this game. It is a beautiful city building sim that will suck you in. The amount of things to do in this game is quite amazing, especially since it was made by one man. I cannot stop playing this game since I bought it, and the longer I play, the better it gets. I highly recommend this game if you are a fan of city building games. You will not be disappointed.
  18. Palanor
    Feb 19, 2014
    10
    One of the best city builders that as come out in the last few years. For once you have to think before you do anything . Some may not like the interface . I keep a few windows open and i do fine. First time i played , it was 4 am by the time i looked up ,says a lot about how much this game sucks you in. You end up feeling about your villagers and there plight.
  19. kursku
    Feb 18, 2014
    10
    This is the SimCity and Cities XL for Medieval Lovers! The game has it all, specially because it goes beyond most of our expectation. It's simple, has an amazing interface and something that I've never seen, the shortcut for specific areas. The game it's still evolving, so I'm waiting for new and different things.
  20. Eppurvandekamp
    Feb 19, 2014
    9
    Un título casi perfecto. A quienes nos gusten este tipo de juegos la compra es obligada. No es el juego perfecto pero os aseguro q os tendrá horas y horas entretenidos.
  21. superspeck
    Feb 20, 2014
    10
    I'll be the first to admit that this game is not for everyone. If you like FPS games, you probably won't like this. If you like the idea of what would happen with Age Of Empires (or any medieval city builder) crossed it's DNA with Dwarf Fortress (where Losing Is Fun and Everybody Dies) then you will enjoy this game. Building a successful city is a delicate balance with a lot of invisibleI'll be the first to admit that this game is not for everyone. If you like FPS games, you probably won't like this. If you like the idea of what would happen with Age Of Empires (or any medieval city builder) crossed it's DNA with Dwarf Fortress (where Losing Is Fun and Everybody Dies) then you will enjoy this game. Building a successful city is a delicate balance with a lot of invisible levers that you have to watch and adjust carefully. Or everyone dies. And there's never enough of anything, and too many children. It's great fun as long as you go in expecting to lose and have everyone die. Repeatedly.… Expand
  22. MaxPay
    Feb 18, 2014
    10
    This game should serve as an example, almost like a benchmark. It was developed entirely by 1 guy and yet, it's one of the best ''city builders'' to come out in a very long time. There's also a survival aspect and it features disasters. You can play it indefinitely; there's no silly endgame scenarios like: ''Build 3 farms''. Maps are huge and are randomly generated. Gameplay is refreshingThis game should serve as an example, almost like a benchmark. It was developed entirely by 1 guy and yet, it's one of the best ''city builders'' to come out in a very long time. There's also a survival aspect and it features disasters. You can play it indefinitely; there's no silly endgame scenarios like: ''Build 3 farms''. Maps are huge and are randomly generated. Gameplay is refreshing and addicting. 10/10!… Expand
  23. RedGolpe
    Feb 20, 2014
    10
    This is one of the best city builder I've played in a long time, and though it may not be polished as an AAA game, I found it very fun. It somehow lacks in basic information, but once you understand the basic mechanics it's quite straightforward. The price is reasonable for what the game offers, and if you think it's been developed by a single person, it's almost a miracle of a game.
  24. dippman
    Feb 18, 2014
    9
    Great city building game. Its easy to learn but has depth to keep players interested. There's constant challenges and the pacing of the game is perfect. It's not as intimidating as other games of the genre, yet the complexity is still there. I only wish there were some more structure. I can see myself wasting hundreds of hours of my life on this game. Blows other AAA titles out of theGreat city building game. Its easy to learn but has depth to keep players interested. There's constant challenges and the pacing of the game is perfect. It's not as intimidating as other games of the genre, yet the complexity is still there. I only wish there were some more structure. I can see myself wasting hundreds of hours of my life on this game. Blows other AAA titles out of the water. Cannot recommend enough!… Expand
  25. comradenash
    Feb 19, 2014
    8
    Beautifully put together, particularly for a one man team. Intelligently designed for an immersive and authentic feeling survival/strategy game. If I could offer one basic criticism it would be that the UI is not very intuitive, and I do sort of wish there was some kind of end game. It would be rewarding to be able to link your cities up, make moral decisions about the commoners poachingBeautifully put together, particularly for a one man team. Intelligently designed for an immersive and authentic feeling survival/strategy game. If I could offer one basic criticism it would be that the UI is not very intuitive, and I do sort of wish there was some kind of end game. It would be rewarding to be able to link your cities up, make moral decisions about the commoners poaching on your land, etc.

    Overall Banished is worth every cent of $20 though!    … Expand
  26. michaelnator
    Feb 20, 2014
    10
    I will start off by saying that I bought this game as an impulse buy. I really hadn't heard too much about it before release, the only chatter I heard was from the DayZ developer (Dean Hall).
    Well it's now been 24 hours since I purchased the game and I`m sitting at 17 hours played. This game really makes you think about every decision, i'm constantly having to find the right balance    I will start off by saying that I bought this game as an impulse buy. I really hadn't heard too much about it before release, the only chatter I heard was from the DayZ developer (Dean Hall).
    Well it's now been 24 hours since I purchased the game and I`m sitting at 17 hours played. This game really makes you think about every decision, i'm constantly having to find the right balance between food, wood and other resources. If you don't have a perfect strategy, YOUR VILLAGE WILL DIE, simple as that.

    Despite all of the good, I have encountered a few glitches which have forced me to reload my save a time or two. (villagers refusing to plant crops in one of my fields for no reason) I`m sure these few glitches will be fixed in time though.

    Overall a great game and probably the best impulse buy I've ever made!    … Expand
  27. dragon12
    Feb 21, 2014
    10
    very lovely to play this game peacefully and quiet and enjoy your small family grow into a whole city, its so good and enjoyable that it gets addicted :D
  28. DocBlock
    Feb 21, 2014
    10
    This game is truly amazing. A masterpiece of both city building and strategy as a whole. Sure you could say that once basic buildings are created the game is done. However, the point of this game is to expand not to survive then live in a boring village for 300 years doing nothing. No, a unique aspect to this game is that every time you build a new structure or buy new seeds you couldThis game is truly amazing. A masterpiece of both city building and strategy as a whole. Sure you could say that once basic buildings are created the game is done. However, the point of this game is to expand not to survive then live in a boring village for 300 years doing nothing. No, a unique aspect to this game is that every time you build a new structure or buy new seeds you could destroy half of your village or double it in size. This game is one of the few that has miraculously avoided the snowball effect with its crippling disasters and rigid carrying capacity feature where if you didn't create one field or took out that one tree from the hunting zone, your entire town could be cut to 5 homes with raging fires and until you face this, you have truly not experienced this game… Expand
  29. OctaviaMoon
    Feb 22, 2014
    10
    I'd been waiting with anticipation for the release of this one-man wonder game for a few months and it really is worth that wait. Big game developers seem to have forgotten this genre (apart from the ill fated SimCity franchise) and it's such a shame. There is so much joy in balancing food production with food consumption and seeing your people happy. This one isn't easy - although theI'd been waiting with anticipation for the release of this one-man wonder game for a few months and it really is worth that wait. Big game developers seem to have forgotten this genre (apart from the ill fated SimCity franchise) and it's such a shame. There is so much joy in balancing food production with food consumption and seeing your people happy. This one isn't easy - although the first few tries it's worth starting on easy mode - but it's challenging enough that, if your economy collapses, you will be eager to try again and put in place what you learnt :)
    I really like that you can place buildings then stick them on PAUSE - thus giving you a simple way to plan out your town for optimum production. Well done to SHINING ROCK - mods are already being spoken of on the forums, and I think that's a sign the game will still be entertaining me in years to come. Oh...and it looks beautiful too ...    … Expand
  30. azadi
    Feb 21, 2014
    9
    Great game from a single developer. Was just as he described it. I do wish the game had more building but that will come with the release of modding tools. The negative reviews are from people who did not understand what the game was.
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Awards & Rankings

34
#34 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
58
#58 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 32
  3. Negative: 1 out of 32
  1. SpazioGames
    Jun 8, 2015
    75
    A city builder with small maps and a limited number of buildings that manages to be a great game thanks to the extraordinary balance of all its elements required to make big settlements: basically has everything a game of this kind must have, and also something more.
    Read full review
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    May 11, 2014
    80
    A classical city-building game where you help a group of settlers to build a new home for themselves. That's Banished in a nutshell. In a surprising twist, the game doesn't feature any combat at all, but I personally didn't even miss it because after all it's a peaceful game where the main focus is planning your town's future and not fighting against evil aliens. Even though Banished was made by just one man, it feels really polished. In particular, the interface is really well done. Of course, no game is perfect and Banished has some issues. The biggest of them all is that there are no objectives or end goals so you can never really win or lose. [March 2014]
  3. Riot Pixels
    May 7, 2014
    60
    Banished, as it stands now, looks like a game from Steam Early Access rather than a finished product.
    Read full review
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