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. twisterforever
    Sep 1, 2023
    10
    One of the most wonderful city builder out there :-D
    I love it from the beginning!!
  2. LT_Gruber
    Dec 13, 2022
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Beautiful, relaxing game that failed miserably.

    Banished has a really good concept but is poorly executed. In the core, it is just a town building simulator where you start a nice quiet village where everyone lives in harmony, or at least, so I thought. The game goes on forever, until you quit, or everyone starved to death, and in a moment, you will read that the last option is the way to go.

    The graphics in Banished are not that special in terms of realism, but they are made in a way that the game feels very calming and charming. It is hard to explain. This, added with the calm forest music playing in the background and I was all set. Ready for my digital vacation.

    I love the build system, the resource collection, and the overall atmosphere of the game. It is all very good, and I finally thought that I had found my new relaxation game in which I can empty my mind and watch my humble citizens build a nice place for themselves and each other. But then, anarchy, or better said, bad game design, kicked in..

    It all comes down to one simple problem that ruined the whole game. The balancing of the collected resources. Every home in your cute little village needs food, wood and other basic needs to survive and keep them fed and warm. All collected resources are placed on the general stockpile that you build first and citizens go to this stockpile to collect the resources for their homes. The big problem is this:

    Your citizen noticed that it is out of wood. It walks to the stockpile, grabs ten logs and walks back to his nice and comfortable dwelling. But ten logs are not enough, it comes back to the stockpile and takes another ten logs, rapidly decreasing the supply. When the humble villager collected more than forty logs, his freezing neighbour walks to the stockpile, only to find that there is nothing left in store. Shivering with cold and misery, he waits for the woodcutters to bring more logs. It is his lucky day; the woodcutters return with five fresh logs and place them on the stockpile. The neighbour walks towards the stockpile, only to find out that his greedy neighbour, who lives closer to the stockpile snitches the last five logs from the pile. After taking the logs, he spits into the freezing neighbours face and walks back to his home to add his five logs to his collection of forty that he already has. The poor man cries in defeat and dies of frostbite.

    I can make another story, but it is clear. The game has no balancer, no options to say to the greedy son of a b** that he has enough wood and need to leave some resources for the rest of the town. Whole neighbourhoods die of starvation and cold, the big piles of resources in the home of the greedy sh!ts gets larger by the minute and their hunger is never satisfied. And there is nothing you can do about it. The game runs slow as a snail too, so you can see your citizens die in slow-motion because the last apple has just been collected by another villager, who’s house almost explodes from the number of resources stuffed in it. It is just unbelievable that this issue exists in this kind of game.

    Sadly, this is the boner killer for me, and it ruined my whole experience. And it is such a shame, the game could have been so perfect for me with all the positive aspects that I mentioned at the beginning.

    So in short, if you want to watch a slow, digital version of The Purge: Anarchy and watch your villagers do whatever the hell they want and not giving a damn about each other, than this is the game for you.    … Expand
  3. Empidonax
    Apr 2, 2022
    8
    Very well-done medieval village building simulator, good soundtrack. The game on its own is very good, but there are mods to make it more complex which add more replayability.
  4. gentlebenno
    Jan 27, 2022
    8
    A game of it's time, it's still a lot of fun. Some good replay value. But I'm always hoping for a bit more. I still keep coming back every now and again though. Worth the price you pay nowadays for sure. Lots of medieval colony sims out there and none have yet done as well as this one though.
  5. Esperantisto
    May 14, 2021
    6
    This is like Simcity , but at a much lower detail. You have to specifically build houses, roads, and so on.

    I've played this game about 100 hours, so obviously it isn't all bad. However, once you learn a few details about the simulation -- which are not at all obvious and which you probably won't find from playing the game, but only from reading guides -- the game becomes much easier    This is like Simcity , but at a much lower detail. You have to specifically build houses, roads, and so on.

    I've played this game about 100 hours, so obviously it isn't all bad. However, once you learn a few details about the simulation -- which are not at all obvious and which you probably won't find from playing the game, but only from reading guides -- the game becomes much easier and almost repetitive.

    The game has a tutorial, but one you learn those details, it seems that the tutorial was deliberately misleading about those details.    … Expand
  6. adamgbg
    Dec 13, 2020
    10
    One of the best city building games I have ever played. Hard to learn at first but when you do times fly.
  7. maciek82
    Dec 12, 2020
    8
    The game is fairly small, made by single developer, doesn't feel like that at the beginning, but you will find out once you put few hours into it. There's not much content and not much late game challenge, however the main gameplay mechanics is great, UI is good, the game is very polished and overall it's one of the best city builders ever made, even now few years after release. I suggestThe game is fairly small, made by single developer, doesn't feel like that at the beginning, but you will find out once you put few hours into it. There's not much content and not much late game challenge, however the main gameplay mechanics is great, UI is good, the game is very polished and overall it's one of the best city builders ever made, even now few years after release. I suggest to download some good mods to enhance late game play.… Expand
  8. gracjanski
    Nov 3, 2020
    10
    This is surely a great game nowadays and a masterpiece, because it is done only by one programmer. In contrary to many other city sims you need to be active all the time and manage buildings, collect resources and send your adult persons to certain jobs. This is something new and I do have fun with it. The beginning is more like a survival game and takes only few time. After that you canThis is surely a great game nowadays and a masterpiece, because it is done only by one programmer. In contrary to many other city sims you need to be active all the time and manage buildings, collect resources and send your adult persons to certain jobs. This is something new and I do have fun with it. The beginning is more like a survival game and takes only few time. After that you can focus on building a big town and spend many hours to do so. So yes, this game is not so short, as mentioned here by some users, maybe it was the case years ago, but not nowadays. And if you want to have more buildings and more end game, you can try some of the mods.
    The tutorial is great and you have 3 difficult levels, so it is not so hard to get into the game, but later on it will be more and more complex.
    Graphics looks very good, especially for such an indie game.
    Sound and music are very repetitive and a big weakness of the game. So play your own background music for example.    … Expand
  9. FuzzyPackRat
    Aug 17, 2020
    8
    Story: 6/10
    Gameplay: 10/10
    Music: 10/10 Animation/Graphics: 9/10 You create the story in Banished based on how you provide for your town when you've been cast out to survive on your own. It's a city builder game that doesn't try to be anything more and as a result- kicks butt at city building. This game is great for those who love strategy and multiple difficultly levels keep the    Story: 6/10
    Gameplay: 10/10
    Music: 10/10
    Animation/Graphics: 9/10

    You create the story in Banished based on how you provide for your town when you've been cast out to survive on your own. It's a city builder game that doesn't try to be anything more and as a result- kicks butt at city building. This game is great for those who love strategy and multiple difficultly levels keep the re-play value up.

    Takeaways
    Pros: build a medieval town, you decide the future of the story.
    Cons: would be great to rotate/place building diagonally, some bugs with villagers getting stuck.    … Expand
  10. lautaropw
    Jul 6, 2020
    6
    It's a pretty good city building and management, though the main drawback I encounter It's that in the endgame It just decides to stop working properly and goes absolutely nuts with your resources. Despite that It's a great game to play when you're not in the mood for some thrills or action.
  11. paulcho
    Jun 25, 2020
    8
    A good tiny game.
    However, the gameplay becomes too simple if you establish your town with all facilities, and... maybe it is just my problem, the game becomes very slow after population over 700 to 800.
    Anyway, I like this game. I will install the mod after upgrading my pc.
  12. rayer72
    Jun 21, 2020
    8
    A hidden gem. Came across this by accident, not expensive, good graphics and can run on older systems. Do not have to worry about warfare etc, only have to worrying about keeping them alive. ( its not an easy as you think )
  13. Muyrka
    Apr 7, 2020
    8
    One of the greatest City/Village Building Sims out there, but looks like it is not finished. No campaign or story mode. Becomes pretty aimless after certain development curve.
  14. ultravincent
    Jan 20, 2020
    6
    Not sure how this one got so many raging reviews.
    The dynamics are interesting, but the variety of jobs and materials is very limited. It gets old very quickly, lasted me about 5 hrs.
  15. Tomaso
    Jun 9, 2019
    4
    Ok, ok - I get it - a game created by 1 person. And it may feel like a very good product/showreel of this person's skills.

    I really can't agree with people saying it can compete with strategies created by bigger developers. IT CAN'T. Games are not about quality/people involved ratio, games are about overall final product. Banished has decent game mechanics and the game is simple    Ok, ok - I get it - a game created by 1 person. And it may feel like a very good product/showreel of this person's skills.

    I really can't agree with people saying it can compete with strategies created by bigger developers.
    IT CAN'T.
    Games are not about quality/people involved ratio, games are about overall final product.

    Banished has decent game mechanics and the game is simple enough that these few rules give a clarity that can really engage the player. It's a breath of classic-style strategies - no rocket science complexity, just some basic rules to follow and master.

    The thing is - there is not much to master, and the game lacks any objective and does not give sense of fulfillment. First few hours may really feel good as you have to learn how the settlement works, but then - it's gone. You only have to expand, rearrange buildings a bit, get new territories so you won't run out of resources to create tools (needed for people to work) and so on and on... Not really much of a challenge left.

    I enjoyed it for ~12 hours, first 2 settlements were a trial and error playground, and with the third one I got everything right... And in any solid strategy game this is the moment when your base prospers well and you expect some kind of milestone or next Tier buildings/mechanics/challenges to come up, but... nothing's gonna happen here.

    Apart from these gameplay aspects, the game looks... not really appealling, sounds and music are only correct.    … Expand
  16. ireviewbadgames
    Aug 15, 2018
    7
    Banished is a relatively well-made game, polished enough for release, but a bit limited when it comes to content. There are no real goals or milestones in the base game, so some players may get bored easily.. The modding community manages to prop it up a bit, but there's only so much they can do.

    I would say it's price tag is accurate and when on sale, even better.
  17. Fabler
    Feb 22, 2018
    5
    Very meh, this game seems to have a good idea but it seems that it leaves a considerable amount to be desired.
  18. FlaviusAetius
    Nov 22, 2017
    7
    A fun game that, for a few hours, can satiate any fan of the building sim genre but loses its appeal soon thereafter. The act of building up a town to allow them to survive is exciting but once your town becomes self-sufficient there's not much to do but wait every ten minutes for another trader to arrive.
  19. nonameforme
    Sep 21, 2017
    9
    The base game is actually around 7.5-8.
    However, it got very active mod community and a supporting developer.

    When combined with mod such as black liquid (which expand the game to be 3 times bigger than base game with new buidling, mechanic and such), I will give this game a 9.
  20. doctor_awesome
    Jan 1, 2017
    10
    Banished is an city builder and god game where you control a group of banished people who must build their own town in the wilderness. The game achieves an incredible mood, taking you to this agrarian society where people struggle to make use of the scarce resources of the land in order to survive. Unlike most city builders, there is an emphasis on resource management - you must produceBanished is an city builder and god game where you control a group of banished people who must build their own town in the wilderness. The game achieves an incredible mood, taking you to this agrarian society where people struggle to make use of the scarce resources of the land in order to survive. Unlike most city builders, there is an emphasis on resource management - you must produce food, fuel and minerals in order to keep your citizens alive and to keep your city growing.

    The game seems quite simple at first, there are maybe 20 total things you can build (houses, roads, fishing docks storage barns, etc.) And yet there's tremendous depth. There are over a dozen types of crops or trees you can grow, and you can also raise livestock, but you only start with a small fraction of the available options and must trade for the rest. In fact, trading is essential to this game. Perhaps the most viable strategy in the game is to specialize in the production of one or two things so you can trade for things that are harder for you to produce, it's interestingly similar to an actual economy.

    The game really is quite incredible at letting you get immersed in this world and then giving you the challenging and addictive task of building a tiny hamlet into a sprawling town. It is a fairly unforgiving game, especially with disasters turned on and at the normal or hard difficulty levels. It's quite easy to have your city plunge into an irreversible decline for any number of reasons - your blacksmiths are uneducated and can't produce enough tools to supply the workforce, and in turn your foresters, miners and log-cutting laborers can't work to provide your blacksmiths with tools, and short of a lucky boat arriving with hundreds of tools for trade, there's no way you can dig yourself out of that hole. It sounds frustrating but it's also a great challenge, and this example shows how interdependent so much of the game is - you have to arrange for everything from school access to planned forests for a sustainable supply of wood or your town just won't make it.

    On the frustrating end, quarries and mines will eventually run out of supply, and you can't reclaim the space they use. The intended solution seems to be for you to transition to trading for minerals, but in practice they just don't come in frequently enough, and you end up reloading the game 30 times to get the "right" trader to come in. That's basically cheating and it totally breaks the immersion, but it's the only way to get enough stone, coal and iron once your town is quite large (900+ citizens). I get that finite minerals is a very realistic thing to include, but it makes it very hard to have a sustainable city that you can just blissfully play for days. Instead, it feels more like you're building a teetering house of cards that you have to keep from collapsing until you hit whatever achievement you're going for.

    It's still a fantastic game that I come back to quite a bit. Perhaps it even makes my list of the best 10 games I've ever played. It really is like nothing else.    … Expand
  21. Allthat
    Jul 2, 2016
    9
    This is the best city-builder that I have ever played. Period. It's very simple and easily accessible but boy is it addicting. I have wasted many hours playing this game, hours I should have spent revising for finals, that's how good this game is. I want more games like this, simple yet deep enough to engage the player for long periods of time. And a bonus is that this game runs fairlyThis is the best city-builder that I have ever played. Period. It's very simple and easily accessible but boy is it addicting. I have wasted many hours playing this game, hours I should have spent revising for finals, that's how good this game is. I want more games like this, simple yet deep enough to engage the player for long periods of time. And a bonus is that this game runs fairly well on low-spec PC's, so nobody has an excuse not to play this game.… Expand
  22. theNILE
    Jun 2, 2016
    3
    Sadly lacking. To give you an example, you get two types of houses, one which uses up your precious stone, and the other which uses the easy to replenish 'logs'. There are no tents, no mansions, but good news, there is a homeless shelter! And yes, they called the wood resource logs, and there are no planks! This game sorely needs the ability to upgrade structures and add more diverseSadly lacking. To give you an example, you get two types of houses, one which uses up your precious stone, and the other which uses the easy to replenish 'logs'. There are no tents, no mansions, but good news, there is a homeless shelter! And yes, they called the wood resource logs, and there are no planks! This game sorely needs the ability to upgrade structures and add more diverse buildings.

    There are no enemies, not even wild ones. Even though I had natural disasters on, nothing happened after hours and hours of play. Nobody even got sick! My herbs sat in storage until a trader came along who valued them at 4. Yes, things have value in this game, but mostly either traders don't want a lot of things, or the price is simply static. Trading in this game is pretty lame, since I just made hundreds of wool coats and stored thousands of venison - which stayed fresh forever - trading was just a matter of letting people do their jobs and then waiting for it to transfer to the trading post and trading it off.

    Everyone except young children are workers in this game, and 12 yo's seem to just help out with whatever they feel like doing (unless they are a student), even if it's working in the quarry... Now the thing here is every worker is a part-time labourer... I had my tailor walk all the way through my town to cut some wood when they weren't busy, because I wanted to remove the resources in the area... Now, the trees behind the building the tailor works at really wasn't good enough, yet for some reason, they wondered off to do something when I may be relying on them to produce as many of a resource as fast as possible if it's an emergency.

    When someone isn't healthy... What do they do? They keep on working and getting less healthy... But it seems they don't actually need anything. If I needed to assign them to simply labourer, then it wasn't obvious and it's a pain in the ass in the first place. So... What do they need? You're never told.

    Labourers will pick up resources to place them in depots. If somebody is chopping down trees so someone can build there, they have to move the resource.... So they walk to the nearest depot, even if it's miles away... Why not just move the resources to the side of the building site? This just forces you to drop a depot down and then remove it.

    Why don't hunters and foresters live in their buildings out in the wild? And why don't they need fuel for fires? It makes no sense    … Expand
  23. bigsilverhotdog
    May 1, 2016
    8
    Now that Banished has mod support and its first major free expansion mod made by the community (Colonial Charter) it is finally worth recommending to fans of builder strategy games like Anno or Simcity, and EASILY worth recommending at that. It went from "meh" to "wow" purely through the modding community. Before CC and the minimods that improve CC (Sawmill, 1 day is 1 day, CC FountainNow that Banished has mod support and its first major free expansion mod made by the community (Colonial Charter) it is finally worth recommending to fans of builder strategy games like Anno or Simcity, and EASILY worth recommending at that. It went from "meh" to "wow" purely through the modding community. Before CC and the minimods that improve CC (Sawmill, 1 day is 1 day, CC Fountain mod, etc) Banished was a great idea and a great platform but without much game in it. Plus it had tons of bugs and AI problems.

    Now it's finally much more refined and the mod community has expanded and fixed the game up and made it worth playing, very similar to what they did with FTL. The future for Banished is now very bright, and I fully expect more and better mods in the coming year(s). It's easily worth a purchase now, especially when on sale, and I can only see it improving in the future. Buy it on GOG, not Steam, and support the DRM-free revolution.

    I did both, but only because I bought it on Steam before it was available on GOG.    … Expand
  24. iseeall
    Dec 8, 2015
    7
    It's a city/village building game somewhat close to Sim Sity, Black & White or Settlers. The start is pretty hard - you will have to try a few times until you "get it". Then it gets pretty easy as you expand. However, in the end the game starts throwing random negative events like fires and diseases, destroying the awesomeness you've built.

    The good: - pretty difficult - many    It's a city/village building game somewhat close to Sim Sity, Black & White or Settlers. The start is pretty hard - you will have to try a few times until you "get it". Then it gets pretty easy as you expand. However, in the end the game starts throwing random negative events like fires and diseases, destroying the awesomeness you've built.

    The good:
    - pretty difficult
    - many interesting mechanics which all depend on each other and work pretty well together

    The so-so:
    - graphics are 3D and look ok, but most buildings have very similar roofs which makes it a bit hard to distinguish them from each other
    - the game is all about hardship and endurance, but such things aren't fun in real life, so in the game they bore you after a while. The game would definitely benefit if there was at least some humor, or maybe an advisor/companion. Some human touch. Or maybe a little story, or the main character who led this banished group. As it is, it feels somewhat anonymous and mechanical.

    The bad:
    - if you make a mistake or some random crap happens, or you didn't know some rule - you are screwed. It will take 10 or more in-game years until you recover. In my case the only "educated teacher" died from old age, there was no laborer available to take his place, and all students stopped their training. And after that the game would randomly re-sort villagers, covertly appointing a non-educated one on important roles like blacksmith or teacher although I made sure an educated one was on that role! The non-educated blacksmith couldn't renew the tools for everyone fast enough, and uneducated farmers without tools couldn't produce wheat etc etc. By the time I finally sorted that out I didn't care anymore for the villagers dying and just kept speeding up the game as the whole system slowly corrected itself across years.
    - as the village grows, the slow movement speed of the villagers becomes the main factor which hinders further development. A villager can spend 3 in-game months or even more on just running from one side of the map to the other, and by that time his task may become obsolete. An action like chopping a tree takes a second, but the villager will spend a minute running to that tree, and then another minute running back.
    - pathfinding seems to ignore roads. The villagers run in diagonal paths, ignoring roads - so why even build roads?
    - the music gets very repetitive, need more tracks
    - there is no goal (maybe just achievements), so after playing for a while you will just turn the game off because you will get fed up. You will fill the whole map with buildings and there will be nothing left to do, and there won't be any sense of accomplishment because the game is still running, and still tortures you with random destruction.
    - there is no way you can send a specific villager to a specific task. There is a clumsy "increase priority" dragbox which works in an arcane manner and never tells you which villagers will now go do this, if at all. Prioritizing commands doesn't work well which leaves you feeling powerless in front of a gigantic simulation which mostly runs by itself.    … Expand
  25. XDavidX
    Nov 23, 2015
    10
    The game is just amazing. I love play this game. For me this game is amazing ! Nothing more to comment because this game is amazing ! I rate this 10/10
  26. Greenman131
    Oct 25, 2015
    10
    This game is a serious balancing act that is perfectly executed and well thought out. An easy to understand and thorough UI that is beautiful to the touch. People may give this game bad reviews because it's hard, that's the point. The game was DESIGNED to be challenging, that's like giving a horror movie a 2/10 because it was too scary. This game has thought of everything from TownThis game is a serious balancing act that is perfectly executed and well thought out. An easy to understand and thorough UI that is beautiful to the touch. People may give this game bad reviews because it's hard, that's the point. The game was DESIGNED to be challenging, that's like giving a horror movie a 2/10 because it was too scary. This game has thought of everything from Town Management to Resource Caps. If you love to sit down for a good hour or 2 and play a beautiful game, then buy this, give Shining Rock Software however much this game is, you owe it to yourself to play this and learn precise resource management as well as city planning. Seriously, but this game!… Expand
  27. Yosa
    Aug 24, 2015
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So I have played this city builder a few times and just noticed I never got rid of it after the last experience.(it was not a good one)

    I decide to see again why I downloaded it. I loaded up an existing city that seemed well off and saw that a school could help. I build a school then I wait,..... some town members die even though this is a good setup. I figure the education thing is somewhat important so I make it a priority, years later no school.

    I have now the capacity in resources to double my village size, I have every
    thing maned to a degree, 8 spare worker, lots of housing and everthing they need, and yet, death, oh and the school is still not built.

    The game is inconsistent in the extreme and bugged when building, im aware of the time delay over distance mechanic, was coded as a bad script; aaaaannd, delete.

    This is a game that has a pretense of logical settler then just gets rediculous with is game mechanics.
    secend and last time I bother with this game?, Made me play twice, hence the disapoinment.    … Expand
  28. diehard-gamer
    Aug 22, 2015
    6
    Should be a good little game.

    Reasonably priced (if you get it on sale for £5 or so). Graphics are functional, bordering on attractive. Weather effects and terrain features like trees can make it difficult to see whats happening, but weather graphics can be turned off. Interface is pretty standard for these types of games. BUT it some really bizarre things happen ingame for no    Should be a good little game.

    Reasonably priced (if you get it on sale for £5 or so). Graphics are functional, bordering on attractive. Weather effects and terrain features like trees can make it difficult to see whats happening, but weather graphics can be turned off. Interface is pretty standard for these types of games.

    BUT it some really bizarre things happen ingame for no obvious reason. Last game I played I had fields full of crops, paddocks full of animals, more hunters, fishermen and gatherers than you could shake a stick at - and all my population starved to death ............?    … Expand
  29. ThePCGamer101
    Jun 24, 2015
    8
    Banished, developed by just one man under his one-man indie game company Shining Rock Software, the game has pulled me into hours of playtime and I have already played 5 hours of this game (28/12/2014) within two days from when I bought it (26/12/2014)!

    However don't be fooled by this game's city building genre like other games such as the SimCity franchise and the Anno series, this    Banished, developed by just one man under his one-man indie game company Shining Rock Software, the game has pulled me into hours of playtime and I have already played 5 hours of this game (28/12/2014) within two days from when I bought it (26/12/2014)!

    However don't be fooled by this game's city building genre like other games such as the SimCity franchise and the Anno series, this game is more of a survival, village/town building strategy game where you're main focus is trying to maintain a small village of people while trying to survive starvation, diseases, natural disasters and fires, and don't think this game is a walk in the park unlike other games mentioned, this game is challenging even on Easy difficulty! This game is not for people who like city building games where you manage a whole city and not every single individual like in Banished.

    The graphics are simple but this is of course a strategy game and graphics are not really the main focus in this type of genre, I would however congratulate on the water and rain/snow effects, they are really well done and it becomes even more immerse. The soundtrack, although very repetitive, you will be more immersed by the sound effects of you're town/village coming to life more than just the music.

    The AI, the villagers AI is a bit stupid at some points, for example, an outbreak of some disease broke out and the people that were infected were right next to a hospital but instead they walked over a bridge I built and then went back to the hospital to get cured, and thanks to that, a few more villagers got sick as well! The AI is not the best AI I've seen in a strategy game.

    Although the game is fun and challenging, I still feel that the game is still a bit empty, there is not a lot of stuff to do, no more natural disasters such as earthquakes etc... just tornadoes! And even though there is immigration from the Nomads, there is no invasions from other neighboring towns/villages, no wars unlike games such as the Civilization series! Plus sadly there is no Multiplayer/Co-Op in the game, so if you wanted to play this with you're friends such as the new SimCity game, this is not the game for you!

    The game is a mixed bag for some, although I love this game and has really pulled me in into playing more and more, it may not be enough for some people, especially with some of the "missing features" the game does not include or the level of challenge/difficulty which may put some people off. It is still a great game to play, especially if you like Strategy and the city building genre like me and you would like to play something different!

    The game does support Steam Workshop and some Workshop items do make the game a bit better. I am a bit upset however that the developer hasn't done as many updates as I intended, I can understand that he is just one man who developed this fantastic game, but a bit more updates would make it a bit better!    … Expand
  30. Triasadi
    May 19, 2015
    8
    Banished is a great city builder. The game is fun and challenging because it's balanced. The tutorial is great and pretty easy to understand. The graphics looks realistic. Banished is simple but a fun and challenging game. Everything is quite balanced. And events that happen in the game is very realistic like accidents, and disasters.
  31. petden
    May 18, 2015
    10
    I really like the game. Got it yesterday, played for like 12 hours. Time flies, I just realized how late it is when I looked at the time stamp of the saved game.

    I haven't looked up any guides or build orders, it was fun to guess and learn what buildings to build and how to balance what your people do. The difficulty of the game is well balanced, some people say it's hard. I haven't    I really like the game. Got it yesterday, played for like 12 hours. Time flies, I just realized how late it is when I looked at the time stamp of the saved game.

    I haven't looked up any guides or build orders, it was fun to guess and learn what buildings to build and how to balance what your people do. The difficulty of the game is well balanced, some people say it's hard. I haven't lost a city yet, but I came really close at the beginning, but I solved it (it was a slow and fun recovery). Right now I'm much further into the game, like two-thirds of the map is full, and I'm not really in danger, probably because I play the game really safe. Sometimes when the population grows really fast my food drops to like two-fifths of itself, but I can always recover (because I hoard so much food). I had 2 disasters so far, but they haven't done anything (mostly because I was prepared).

    There aren't many reasons to replay the game after the first play through, you'd do it if you lost your city or maybe to try out mods or maybe a more difficult start or to try to get a better working city with "perfect" layout. But it doesn't matter, you can spend so much time with one city. And I really like shorter games, not every game has to be infinitely replayable (I play Banished between those games (MMOs and PvP games), it's a nice break from them).

    Haven't played many other city-building games, just a few SimCity games. Also some RTSes. Banished isn't that complex, it's easy to learn. But it's probably harder than others. There aren't as much buildings, but you don't build that much and it's still hard later in the game. The interface easy to use, although sometimes I miss some non-essential, small features, but it doesn't matter.

    The setting reminds me of the Age of Empires games I played when I was young, it's really nice. The game has good performance, runs well on my older laptop, although it's more demanding when the city gets larger, but it doesn't really get below 25-30 FPS even then. It's a short fun game.    … Expand
  32. ericchrishoover
    Apr 12, 2015
    4
    I really loved the game for the first day or two. I was constantly playing it. But somewhere along the line, you'll come across game-breaking glitches that completely destroy whatever you've spent 10-15 hours building up. Disasters, harsh weather, uneven building space is all fine. But people that idle when you tell them to build, builders that gather materials when they should beI really loved the game for the first day or two. I was constantly playing it. But somewhere along the line, you'll come across game-breaking glitches that completely destroy whatever you've spent 10-15 hours building up. Disasters, harsh weather, uneven building space is all fine. But people that idle when you tell them to build, builders that gather materials when they should be building, and people teleporting to the edge of the map and dying on their way back make this game not worth playing.… Expand
  33. SigilFey
    Mar 15, 2015
    9
    Banished is simply one of the best city-builders I have ever played.

    Very nice balance of design freedom and challenge. The game masters a less-is-more system, from its mechanics to its graphical presentation. Much like the old Settlers series, you want to take it slow and watch closely while you are learning how to play. Much of the game is in discovering the nuances of the resource    Banished is simply one of the best city-builders I have ever played.

    Very nice balance of design freedom and challenge. The game masters a less-is-more system, from its mechanics to its graphical presentation. Much like the old Settlers series, you want to take it slow and watch closely while you are learning how to play. Much of the game is in discovering the nuances of the resource system and then min-maxing your way to a booming economy.

    I really appreciate how the game's most valuable resource is actually "people". Keeping your villagers healthy, happy, and productive is far more important than stockpiling goods. As each citizen has his/her own name, occupation, and family, I found myself attached to a few here and there, following them around on their activities...perhaps with a bit of sadness over time, as the toddler I remember playing dangerously close to the river was now a tailor in her 60's, and likely to pass away soon.

    Pacing of the game is deceptively slow to start, as one tiny mistake early-on will likely spell disaster for your entire settlement. Once you learn the basics, it doesn't take long to get a flourishing settlement up and running. But, just like Dwarf Fortress...the more successful you are, the more likely things will go to pot in a heartbeat! It's truly a game about seeing just how far you can push your growth until it all collapses under its own weight.

    Graphics are quite charming, and don't take a powerhouse PC to run well. There is a great deal of macro detail, and big settlements really look awesome. Terrain can be a bit redundant after a few games, however, and it would be nice if you were able to build some unique, set-piece structures to show how far you had really come. There simply is not the bleep-ton of variety as offered by SimCity or Tropico, nor the intricate detail of the Settlers series, but what is here blends together well and creates a beautiful picture.

    I have a feeling Banished has already been granted a permanent spot on my hard drive. (*Ahem.* Excuse me! My "SSD". Must keep up with the times...) It might be nostalgia, but I spent many chilly days this past winter at my desk, mug of coffee in one hand, mouse in the other, guiding a handful of refugees towards a civilization of their own. I intend to return to that place many times again in the future.    … Expand
  34. suneater
    Feb 16, 2015
    7
    Banished is a fantastically atmospheric, albeit barebones, city builder set in pseudo-colonial times. You start off with a handful of ragged outcasts thrust into the wilderness with a mission of building your own civilization from the landscape. Because of its small scope, Banished is also much more personable than more robust city builders; instead of managing multiple cities or even aBanished is a fantastically atmospheric, albeit barebones, city builder set in pseudo-colonial times. You start off with a handful of ragged outcasts thrust into the wilderness with a mission of building your own civilization from the landscape. Because of its small scope, Banished is also much more personable than more robust city builders; instead of managing multiple cities or even a nation, you start with four to six families and grow to a few hundred people (or more, depending on how long you wish to play a map). This isolation combined with little charming touches, like knowing each citizen's personal info, excellent ambient sound design, and a slower paced game speed, makes Banished the most atmospheric fictional city builder I have played.

    Although there is a rough "progression" to what you can build via resource requirements, any building can be built at any time depending on what your city needs. Real strategy comes in properly timing and planning your construction; While Banished is a pretty laid-back game, a sudden influx of nomads can bring diseases or cause starvation if your city isn't prepared and construction takes significant manpower and cross-profession coordination. This flexibility can be overwhelming for a new player trying to survive their first winter but thankfully Banished's tutorials are well constructed and actually worth playing through even for veterans. Your city's growth (and essentially the game's difficulty) is tied to how much or how little you want to build, leading to a more relaxed game than most city builders.

    Even though I loved most of this game, I spent a lot of time fighting with the villager's AI. While Banished strictly doesn't have win/lose conditions, it is heart-breaking to watch your citizens die from starvation while they are harvesting crops or gathering fish. Other AI issues emerge much earlier in the game, like farmers acting like laborers and not tending their fields during the summer. Laborers also seem to act erratically; when you assign multiple removal tasks, they seem to work in arbitary priority. Constructing multiple buildings is a huge pain with trying to coordinate the laborers with the builders; I eventually resorted to laying down a "building plan" and mass-pausing construction, unpausing one building at a time to be built. Maybe I don't understand all the intracies of the AI but 50 hours in and I'm still frustrated and often resorting to using the "Increase Priority" tool.

    Banished is also missing many things that add challenge and depth to other city builders. This is essentially the "kiddie pool" of city builders with no crime, polution, budget balancing/taxation, or non-essential buildings. With 31 construction options, everything you build is for managing food, housing or supplying citizens, or transportation needs. There are some minor trading elements but its mostly there to keep your city growing once you run out of certain resources. Once you have a stable city running all there is to do is make it bigger while avoiding starvation or disasters. The same could be said of many games but I always look forward to building a sports stadium in SimCity... here it feels like it's just food, food, and more food.

    If you haven't played a city builder before, Banished is a great place to start. Veterans looking for a more laid-back experience will get a few dozen hours out of this while alt+tabbed with something else. Nothing here is groundbreaking but what there is is a great change of pace from playing certain other sims at Cheetah speed.    … Expand
  35. Kragmire
    Dec 31, 2014
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game has potential, but the way it currently stands you will find yourself bored with it within 4 to 6 hours of gameplay. Modding it will perhaps double the enjoyment time.
    As others have pointed out, one main problem is that the beginning of the game is relatively challenging, but once you survive the first few cold winters, you will find that you spend the rest of your time micro-managing tiny details that have no direct impact on the outcome of the game. Sure it is fun to see your village grow, but it feels very hollow once you realize there is no reason to grow it. There are no other cultures or factions. In fact there is no contact with the outside world at all with the exception of a random trader that wanders through your map with random frequency. The game feels lonely and hollow.
    There are still bugs within the simulation. On occasion you will find that you hit a choke point in your development when you HAVE to build a certain building. You may have all the supplies, idle workers, foundation laid… and the builders will refuse to build it. You will watch their activities as they decide to go gather resources from the far side of the map, etc, while your village starts to wither and die because they refuse to build. This can sometimes cause cascading problems where you can actually lose the game… for no reason you can understand.
    There are some bugs with some of the population mechanics. One year you can fill a field with 5 cows and watch as they slowly wither and die off. A few years later you can fill the same field with 5 new cows and they suddenly reproduce up to a healthy herd of 30. Why? Who knows?
    There are only two non-renewable resources in the game – stone and iron. Because of this you will find yourself thinking the game should be called “Stone and Iron Manager” because once you get past the first survival stages almost all your time will be spent managing these two resources. Of course most of your buildings require stone, and most of your tools and production houses require iron, so the second you run out of either, you can find yourself in a negative spiral that may be difficult to recover from. This might be all fine if it weren’t for the fact that iron and stone are almost prohibitively expensive to mine, and to purchase from traders is based on random chance, so you feel the “luck” requirement to the game is overly high.
    The trading mechanic is underwhelming to say the least. Initially traders are exciting because they offer the key to future upgrades – new crops and livestock. However once you unlock these new features, you suddenly realize that the traders become less and less important. Nothing you will do will influence which traders show up at your dock. You might refuse to buy from one trader… and yet he will keep returning. You might buy out one trader’s entire stock, and he will return no sooner or later. As your village advances, you have more and more advanced goods to sell and your demand will shift to selling high value goods for raw materials. The traders never change and you soon find yourself dismissing 90% of them without purchasing anything.
    I would have been done with this game quickly if I had not modded it, which doubled the content and added a lot of additional depth – including some dwelling and building upgrades, decorative city options, and other features. However it did not address the emptiness, or the feeling of “why am I growing all of this stuff when I can’t sell it and it serves no other purpose in the game”? Forget an end game. This game even lacks a middle. Maybe in the future, after it has been heavily modded? Otherwise I would wait for version 2.0.    … Expand
  36. MyStupidName22
    Dec 31, 2014
    4
    This game is pretty average. There are much better colony games out there like RimWorld.

    The game gets boring pretty quickly. I'd definitely give RimWorld a try over this if you're thinking about this game.
  37. alleycat_lady
    Dec 30, 2014
    9
    I love city building games. So when I saw Banished go on sale on Steam, I knew I had to grab it up. So far, it has not ailed to disappoint. The first night I played it, the evening melted away and somehow magically it had gone from 7PM to 2AM. Banished will suck you in.

    Banished is a city builder, with buildings modeled in a European Medieval style. Like other city builders I've played,    I love city building games. So when I saw Banished go on sale on Steam, I knew I had to grab it up. So far, it has not ailed to disappoint. The first night I played it, the evening melted away and somehow magically it had gone from 7PM to 2AM. Banished will suck you in.

    Banished is a city builder, with buildings modeled in a European Medieval style. Like other city builders I've played, you have to worry about resources like food and building materials. Unlike other city builders I've played, Banished is much harsher. You have to worry about pestilence, bad crops and disease. Your people can starve or freeze to death, and may slow down production if they are unhealthy or unhappy. Building houses doesn't just mean more people either. You have to wait for your families to grow have kids and grow up. And sometimes rapid expansion is more a hindrance than a boon when there isn't enough food or firewood to go around.

    There are some minor flaws with the game. Sometimes building things and gathering materials can seem painfully slow. And other times you can blink too long and your people are starving to death. Then you have to scramble around to keep them fed. There have been some complaints online that some of the jobs/buildings are unbalanced. However (one of my favorite features of any game) Banished can now be modded. So if there is an aspect you don't like, use the modding tool (or find someone who's already done so). There isn't any sort of fighting between clans of peoples either (only the elements) if you're into that sort of thing. I think it would be an interesting addition, but not really necessary. All and all, a great game (my favorite city builder so far)!    … Expand
  38. ChromeRun
    Dec 28, 2014
    10
    This game is visually a masterpiece and a game like no other. If you enjoy sandbox type building games, mixed with the perfect amount of strategy, this game is for you. The developer works on this title and has delivered on all of his promises -- including mod support. This simply is the perfect game.
  39. Errtai
    Dec 9, 2014
    5
    I was pretty into this game at first, it's actually quite difficult on the normal setting and has enjoyable graphics and easy to use controls once you get used to them. After a 20 year period of stagnation I finally figured out how to grow my population and was well on my way to success. Until I realized I didn't know what success in this game meant. So I looked it up and it turns outI was pretty into this game at first, it's actually quite difficult on the normal setting and has enjoyable graphics and easy to use controls once you get used to them. After a 20 year period of stagnation I finally figured out how to grow my population and was well on my way to success. Until I realized I didn't know what success in this game meant. So I looked it up and it turns out this game has no goal or end, you just grow as long as you can until you implode I guess.

    I know this won't bother some people, but I need a carrot to chase to give a game purpose - maybe with the exception of SimCity - but this game wasn't as complex or fun as SimCIty and the idea of tediously growing forever made me pretty well get bored immediately.    … Expand
  40. arruu
    Nov 3, 2014
    6
    It is very addictive.. just as any other city builder, imo. Though it lacks depth, and soon you'll realize you've built every single construction the game offers, and there is nothing left but expanding in the same fashion... The graphics are nice, the technical requirements are very very forgiving, and I hope a sequel comes out soon... But this original game ends up being repetitive very fast.
  41. Tovenaar
    Oct 27, 2014
    2
    This is supposedly an all new game but in fact uses exactly the same (attractive) graphics as the Settlers. It also has the same failings but with a lot more bugs. It needs a lot more coding to make it work.

    First of all there is no object or "goal" to the game - nothing to achieve and no sense of progress or attainment of any targets. The main problem however is the characters. No    This is supposedly an all new game but in fact uses exactly the same (attractive) graphics as the Settlers. It also has the same failings but with a lot more bugs. It needs a lot more coding to make it work.

    First of all there is no object or "goal" to the game - nothing to achieve and no sense of progress or attainment of any targets. The main problem however is the characters. No wonder they are "banished". It's almost impossible to get them to do anything. In the classic Age of Empires II (for example) you click on a villager and then give them a task - build a building, gather resources etc. In this game you cannot do that - you can only select that a building should be built - a house or food resource, then the villagers just stand around doing nothing until they die of starvation or cold (Duh) !! Very exciting !!! What the game needs is an electric cattle prod to push into these lazy buggers to force them to do what you want them to do...but, of course, as there is no aim to the game then (as the villagers must think) what is the point ???    … Expand
  42. carolean7
    Sep 29, 2014
    7
    An inventive and fun game. For its price has lots of replay value. It does suffer from being tedious towards the end-game, but the challenge of getting there is where most of the fun is.
  43. leaveit
    Sep 22, 2014
    6
    While this is an impressive achievement for one person to have accomplished all by themselves, the game is severely lacking in content. The simulation seems fairly reasonable except for a few dumb pathing problems and oversimplifications with regards to time. The music is appropriate and even sometimes catchy. The game ran without a hitch (i.e. no errors) for many hours on my PC. However,While this is an impressive achievement for one person to have accomplished all by themselves, the game is severely lacking in content. The simulation seems fairly reasonable except for a few dumb pathing problems and oversimplifications with regards to time. The music is appropriate and even sometimes catchy. The game ran without a hitch (i.e. no errors) for many hours on my PC. However, pretty much everything there is to see can be seen after about 4 or 5 hours. At this point I found myself asking why I was continuing on. There is a marked lack of progression, normally seen in city building games like the Sim City series. You will find that every building type has been built in multiples, every tool and clothing upgrade has been explored, and most crops have been planted within 10 hours of the game, after which the entire thing just becomes mild micromanagement and spreadsheets. It's an interesting concept as far as city simulators go, but it needs to be fleshed out more.… Expand
  44. Bolrakk
    Sep 22, 2014
    8
    I have put in 40+ hours into this game and that was only in one week. It's addictiveness comes with the idea that all you want to do is keep expanding.

    Mechanics wise its path system is almost flawless and job priorities still needs some work but in time I can see this all being patched up. However what keeps this game from a perfect score is it's endgame potential. Once you have    I have put in 40+ hours into this game and that was only in one week. It's addictiveness comes with the idea that all you want to do is keep expanding.

    Mechanics wise its path system is almost flawless and job priorities still needs some work but in time I can see this all being patched up.

    However what keeps this game from a perfect score is it's endgame potential. Once you have covered the whole map and can't build anymore you are daunted with the fact that you have nothing left to accomplish. All you can do is start again?

    To improve the game I would like to see more game modes and different styled maps to make the game a little bit more re-playable. The potential is there for this to be a top tier sandbox game and I really hope it gets there.    … Expand
  45. GeorgeHillier
    Sep 17, 2014
    10
    I bought this game on release and decided to make an account just to review it in here.

    To start off this isn't a typical city builder like Sims city, this is more of a survival city builder, there are no real goals, only to make your town larger, have a higher population and make everyone happy, but that's the best part, no one is telling you what to do or how to do it! This game is    I bought this game on release and decided to make an account just to review it in here.

    To start off this isn't a typical city builder like Sims city, this is more of a survival city builder, there are no real goals, only to make your town larger, have a higher population and make everyone happy, but that's the best part, no one is telling you what to do or how to do it!

    This game is honestly the best city builder I've ever played and only costs a third of Sims city, which is awful.    … Expand
  46. fleischer
    Aug 12, 2014
    7
    A very solid game from a one-man developer. Graphics are impressive for an indie game, and the simulation even more so. This game has a kind of direct and detailed simulation you won't find (executed successfully) in the bigger titles (the latest Simcity comes to mind).

    On the downside it kind of has only one recipe for success (a particular way and order in which the buildings should    A very solid game from a one-man developer. Graphics are impressive for an indie game, and the simulation even more so. This game has a kind of direct and detailed simulation you won't find (executed successfully) in the bigger titles (the latest Simcity comes to mind).

    On the downside it kind of has only one recipe for success (a particular way and order in which the buildings should be built). And it doesn't take you much time to discover this particular recipe, and once you have, there isn't much more enjoyment to be had with 'Banished', unfortunately. The developer has been ambiguous when answering whether or not he will be adding to the game. I really hope he does, because it could really use some meat around its bones and some more complexity to the simulation, because right now it is very easy to "see through".    … Expand
  47. Ampere
    Aug 5, 2014
    10
    Beautiful game with a lot of new Ideas. It's hard at the beginning but that is it why I love it. The game mechanism in without any bugs. It works! It's often hard to survive but with every further game you will be better. The soundtracks are very nice and it's made with love. I played about 40 hours. Often i gt the feeling that is not possible tomak e a population over 500 but it requiresBeautiful game with a lot of new Ideas. It's hard at the beginning but that is it why I love it. The game mechanism in without any bugs. It works! It's often hard to survive but with every further game you will be better. The soundtracks are very nice and it's made with love. I played about 40 hours. Often i gt the feeling that is not possible tomak e a population over 500 but it requires just a little training.… Expand
  48. hermanJnr
    Aug 4, 2014
    6
    While it's extremely impressive that the game was coded by just one man, it's not really a valid excuse for some of the mind-numbing tedium inherent in the gameplay and the sense of pointlessness you get once you build a city that is running reasonably well. There is also an irritating lack of basic information presentation that stops it being a great game.

    Almost everything in the game    While it's extremely impressive that the game was coded by just one man, it's not really a valid excuse for some of the mind-numbing tedium inherent in the gameplay and the sense of pointlessness you get once you build a city that is running reasonably well. There is also an irritating lack of basic information presentation that stops it being a great game.

    Almost everything in the game seems to proceed at a snail's pace, so you'll have the maximum time compression on pretty much constantly, and even then it'll take you hours upon hours to actually get enough resources to build the more advanced buildings.

    Plus no matter how well you plan, you seem to go through phases where your village is either bursting with resources or absolutely running out of everything. In particular, you spend far too much time micromanaging peasants to get resources you're running out of rather than just letting them do it themselves.

    Perhaps the best example of the lack of information is the housing feature. Your people will tell you if they don't have a home, but they WON'T tell you if they don't have room in the house to have kids. When they have kids, they move into a new house - they will not have kids if they don't have a new house to move to.

    So if you stop building houses, your people will eventually stop having sex (?!), make no more babies as a result, grow really old en masse and then die all at once at about eighty years old. GAME OVER.

    I lost my first two villages to this "Black Plague of Age" with absolutely zero in-game explanation for it. Similarly, other tasks like managing Foresters are really counter intuitive.

    Foresters frequently don't actually harvest trees when you tell them to, yet if you get Labourers to manually cut the new trees they do so in about 2 seconds and you get a huge surplus of wood. More pointless micromanagement that's really tedious.

    I didn't hate it, and in fact it can at times be quite enchanting, but basically I found this game was like a prettier version of Dwarf Fortress, just minus everything that makes Dwarf Fortress an incredibly involving, fun and deep simulation. If you want a world builder, I suggest that instead (it's even "free"!)    … Expand
  49. demondred79
    Jul 21, 2014
    6
    After 10 hours you'll be all done with this simulator. All the buildings you can make will be built....all the challenges you can face will be faced. Quickly you'll punch up the speed to x10 and it just becomes a trivial rinse/repeat "groundhog day" adventure.

    I ruined my first town trying to figure out how the game behaves (despite going thru full tutorial), which was to be expected.    After 10 hours you'll be all done with this simulator. All the buildings you can make will be built....all the challenges you can face will be faced. Quickly you'll punch up the speed to x10 and it just becomes a trivial rinse/repeat "groundhog day" adventure.

    I ruined my first town trying to figure out how the game behaves (despite going thru full tutorial), which was to be expected. The second town I built very carefully, and apparently I more or less mastered the game because all it devolved into was a series of moving numbers up and down on tiny GUI buttons. Assign peasants to tasks, unassign them......raise building quotas....lower them. There's no end to this game that I am aware of. No upgrading of buildings. No new "era" to be born into. The game is all about creating an equilibrium and trying to maintain it while people either die of old age or from (more often than not) dying in a quarry or mine.

    That's it. That's the game.....

    It had addictive qualities but ultimately it's a time waster of a game. Do NOT buy this for full price ($20) wait for it to go for $5 and then it's a fair purchase.    … Expand
  50. FredPL
    Jul 13, 2014
    8
    Bardzo przyjemna i wciągająca gra strategiczna, w której naszym zadaniem jest budowa i zarządzanie najpierw niewielką wsią w garstką mieszkańców, a w późniejszym etapie dużą osadą z kilkuset mieszkańcami. Gra wciąga od samego początku na długie godziny, niestety, po kilkunastu godzinach gry zaczyna się robić monotonna i nudnawa, na szczęście w ramach urozmaicenia może nas spotkać jakaśBardzo przyjemna i wciągająca gra strategiczna, w której naszym zadaniem jest budowa i zarządzanie najpierw niewielką wsią w garstką mieszkańców, a w późniejszym etapie dużą osadą z kilkuset mieszkańcami. Gra wciąga od samego początku na długie godziny, niestety, po kilkunastu godzinach gry zaczyna się robić monotonna i nudnawa, na szczęście w ramach urozmaicenia może nas spotkać jakaś klęska żywiołowa jak choćby pożar lub trąba powietrzna.… Expand
  51. kirkwall
    Jul 13, 2014
    10
    A great game that is tragically fatally flawed.

    Once you move into the middle game (150 - 300 peopled town) you will begin to clearly see that software flaws. Resources in your Trading Centers will magically begin to disappear...specifically food and coal. After reaching the mid-game in three separate games and seeing my hard earned resources vanish into thin air the frustration became    A great game that is tragically fatally flawed.

    Once you move into the middle game (150 - 300 peopled town) you will begin to clearly see that software flaws. Resources in your Trading Centers will magically begin to disappear...specifically food and coal. After reaching the mid-game in three separate games and seeing my hard earned resources vanish into thin air the frustration became too much.

    I love city building games...but not ones that are fatally flawed.

    Sadly, Banished offers outstanding potential but clearly is not worth investing ones time into a game that undermines many hours of game play with the unrelenting disappearing of hard earned and well planned resources.    … Expand
  52. criticdave
    Jul 11, 2014
    10
    A delightful little city builder game with no combat. The moment you have your city running like a well oil. I mean , managed city is really satisfying!
  53. meltman6134
    Jul 10, 2014
    6
    Its fun, but needs work. Mainly with the reproduction of people. It doesn't seem to happen during the early stages, but inconsistent fluctuations in citizen reproduction (and yes I've paid attention to population graphs as well as the overview statistics) leads to a loss in laborers. I'll get blotches of laborers even though my kids in school/infants stats are consistently increasingIts fun, but needs work. Mainly with the reproduction of people. It doesn't seem to happen during the early stages, but inconsistent fluctuations in citizen reproduction (and yes I've paid attention to population graphs as well as the overview statistics) leads to a loss in laborers. I'll get blotches of laborers even though my kids in school/infants stats are consistently increasing throughout the game (according the the line graphs at the townhall). It makes it really tough when you get over 500+ population. Other than that, I am impressed its made by one guy... He's done a good job so far, just needs to iron out some things that might make the "late" (even though it never ends) game more fluent.… Expand
  54. cylian3
    Jul 7, 2014
    5
    I lost count on how many times I ended up losing from my villagers not eating food where It was available and Instead dedicated massive amounts of time to running back and forth, hauling 200 food to every single house, go back to working for 5 seconds and then run back to said house in order to have a little snack every other half minute. Adding ontop of this is the working concept whereI lost count on how many times I ended up losing from my villagers not eating food where It was available and Instead dedicated massive amounts of time to running back and forth, hauling 200 food to every single house, go back to working for 5 seconds and then run back to said house in order to have a little snack every other half minute. Adding ontop of this is the working concept where they need to go and stick their foot inside a house to "Warm up" for 3 seconds during winter. It's ugly, unrealistic and a recipe for a growing catastrophy of wasted time whenever you need to build further and further away from the originating barn & dropoff points.

    The marketplace, AKA the building the developer tried to fight this growth is insanely useless as only about 2000 food will be stored into it at any given time when the marketplace has a capacity to reach and cover about what, 70+ houses? They all can snag about 200 food and bring to their house for their storage which means the current, "intended" method for resources to be processed is:

    Aquisition > Storage(Barn) > Storage(Marketplace) > Storage(House).

    It's laughable busywork considering the villagers needs to eat & warm up ridiculously often and I would heavily recommend just giving the bastards some "downtime" where they can sleep, eat, tend to wounds, enjoy life and warm up in their own damn time as most games for me are currently praying sessions, hoping to dear god that I built things in such a way so my villagers won't act like complete retards and do the actual jobs they were assigned to for more than 5% of the time. I would also bring up the aquisition of food but I think that's been ranted on already so end verdict:

    A decent game with a good concept that got released too early.    … Expand
  55. tarnar
    Jun 30, 2014
    9
    This is a very strong game with only a few flaws.

    The graphics are clean and attractive but not overly taxing. Detail is good from up high and still looks good once you zoom in. The controls are also clean and functional. Right-click dismisses most dialogs / cancels most actions. Placing buildings, drawing roads, ordering the gathering of resource, all simple and straightforward.    This is a very strong game with only a few flaws.

    The graphics are clean and attractive but not overly taxing. Detail is good from up high and still looks good once you zoom in.

    The controls are also clean and functional. Right-click dismisses most dialogs / cancels most actions. Placing buildings, drawing roads, ordering the gathering of resource, all simple and straightforward.

    The interface windows are similarly clean and functional. This leads to the first small complaint about the game: The game starts with none of these windows open, yet three of them seem totally critical to playing the game: the worker assignment window, the game stats window (showing population, season/year, some limited stockpile info) and a log window.

    This is a game that is best enjoyed without a guide. The learning curve is not shallow and I found figuring things out for myself to be satisfying. Not all players will agree with this and may find the game unguided.

    The game starts off particularly hard and then gets easier as you get established. The first few years bring labour shortages, food shortages, supply shortages and it's a careful balancing act. After this is a growth phase that is relatively easy. However the true difficulty comes from the end game and the high population phase.

    Unfortunately, part of what makes the high population phase difficult feels like a game design conflict between micro-management and automation. You do not assign individual citizens to tasks, you distribute your population by task. In general the game gets it right and assigns workers who live close to their task to the given task but not always. Sometimes it is necessary to unassign the population and reassign them, in a particular task order, to make sure the right citizens go to the right tasks.

    On the other hand this issue is exacerbated by poor city design - fail to put enough houses close to important tasks and crops will fail, markets will be empty, etc. In this way it can be easy to blame the game for your own poor city design.

    And once the game starts to go downhill there is often no recovering from it. In this respect the game is disturbingly real. Even simply failing to grow the population is a recipe for failure as workers grow old and die without replacements. How can one recover from that? You can't. Likewise, a broken food distribution system is doomed to famine.

    On that note I disagree with the reviews that say there is no end-game. The end-game is managing a highly populated city, dealing with workforce replacement, dealing with food distribution, with disease outbreaks, with disasters. To reach the relatively easy mid-game phase and decide that you've won is short-sighted. Surviving a disaster with a fully developed city is the end-game and it's much, much harder than simply building a city.    … Expand
  56. Ecresis
    Jun 24, 2014
    9
    As a SimCity fan, I had to try Banished, which looked amazing from the trailers. And I was not disappointed. It is even more addictive than SimCity (4 or 5 whatever), and the graphics are stunning.

    You have to take it slowly, and build a nice little village, with a church in the middle, a market, and all those medieval stuff which make the game so special. And this has been done by a    As a SimCity fan, I had to try Banished, which looked amazing from the trailers. And I was not disappointed. It is even more addictive than SimCity (4 or 5 whatever), and the graphics are stunning.

    You have to take it slowly, and build a nice little village, with a church in the middle, a market, and all those medieval stuff which make the game so special. And this has been done by a single man !

    I'm not giving it a 10 because I feel it could be much more than that. Once you've build every building it starts to get repetitive very quickly

    The trade system is make things a bit more difficult but interesting, you can't just pop-up cows out of nowhere), the seasons force your people to be organized, store food, store firewood. It is so simple yet so particular

    Conclusion : This is where I like to put my money, directly to a man who created a better game than EA this year    … Expand
  57. Huortaralom
    Jun 9, 2014
    9
    Truly It is an amazing game with simple content. I mean simple because its very basic game where you settle life with bunch of people. There are keys to grow where wood to warm, foods to eat in winter ( like ants) and homes for new families to grow population. But after some time you learn the basics and game starting to be boring.It's really a great starting game but waiting for bunch ofTruly It is an amazing game with simple content. I mean simple because its very basic game where you settle life with bunch of people. There are keys to grow where wood to warm, foods to eat in winter ( like ants) and homes for new families to grow population. But after some time you learn the basics and game starting to be boring.It's really a great starting game but waiting for bunch of upgrades. I hope next game will be longer and more complicated.… Expand
  58. tilde
    May 30, 2014
    9
    This game is really great. It's so in-depth that you can design a fully customized city and world! I really recommend it, purely out of the great fun it provides.
  59. Mark16642
    May 28, 2014
    9
    Had this game for a few days now and i have poured hours into it. I must say at first i was a little taken back with the effects that dont seem to be up there with what a modern pc could take, but non the less i am having fun and the gameplay is great. It seems really addictive to watch your town very slowly grow. I aways seem to get to a point where i think "ok stop, lets start again andHad this game for a few days now and i have poured hours into it. I must say at first i was a little taken back with the effects that dont seem to be up there with what a modern pc could take, but non the less i am having fun and the gameplay is great. It seems really addictive to watch your town very slowly grow. I aways seem to get to a point where i think "ok stop, lets start again and THIS time it will be great". I know when i get into a game that makes me feel like that its always a winner for me. It can become a little tedious after a while but if its going your way it can be very addictive.… Expand
  60. zamach
    May 27, 2014
    9
    Very good city builder / economic simulation. It fills in the gap somewhere between games like Sim City, the Settlers series, Stronghold Series and Tropico. From the first one it takes the aspect of creating a self sustainable city that has all things its inhabitants would ever need, from the second one it takes the idea of having tens of different resources that have to be distributedVery good city builder / economic simulation. It fills in the gap somewhere between games like Sim City, the Settlers series, Stronghold Series and Tropico. From the first one it takes the aspect of creating a self sustainable city that has all things its inhabitants would ever need, from the second one it takes the idea of having tens of different resources that have to be distributed between various buildings to keep "the economical machine" running, from Stronghold we have the general aspect of having to feed Your people, but expanded by clothing and firewood, and last but not least - we build a small town based on a grid of roads, but not restricted to these roads with a trader coming every once in a while pretty much like in Tropico series. All these elements mix up to create a very nice game that is somewhere in between all of the above.

    It feels great to survive the first winter, feels great to sustain a large community, and feels great to turn a tiny village in the middle of nowhere int a big town that attracts multiple traders. Just try it!    … Expand
  61. HeirOfIsildur
    May 25, 2014
    6
    Banished, whilst simple at a first glance, is both a relaxing and enjoyable game. The slow paced village life will perhaps lull you into a false sense of security before disaster strikes. It could be considered a difficult game as, though on the surface it is simple, the micromanagement - which is a key part of the game - is sometimes hard to manage. Despite the fact that I enjoy BanishedBanished, whilst simple at a first glance, is both a relaxing and enjoyable game. The slow paced village life will perhaps lull you into a false sense of security before disaster strikes. It could be considered a difficult game as, though on the surface it is simple, the micromanagement - which is a key part of the game - is sometimes hard to manage. Despite the fact that I enjoy Banished very much, I give it only a six out of ten because it can sometimes get boring. Once you have a knack for the game there is little left to do than watch your village just carry on life as usual. I'm not sure how it would be incorporated, but the lack of multiplayer is disappointing as this is, in my opinion, an important feature of games today. Additionally, the absence of an endgame can make playing Banished feel rather pointless and times, though not having a set objective might be considered a good thing for some. For those who like action games, Banished is not for you, however, city-builder fans should enjoy Banished immensely.… Expand
  62. Visserys
    May 16, 2014
    10
    An absolutely amazing city builder. I would recommend this game to everyone who enjoys city building games. This game beats Sim City in my opinion and it does it with simpler game mechanics and less content.
  63. BrokenMan
    May 13, 2014
    9
    Шикарный симулятор средневекового выживания. Эта игра никогда не будет скучной. Здесь есть много способов развиваться и кормить население. Распоряжайтесь своими рабочими силами, чтобы рук хватало на всё. Можно вырастить пшеницу самому, или купить её посредством бартера. Развивайте свой город, в котором может поселиться больше трёхсот человек. Занимательные и трудные достижения также тутШикарный симулятор средневекового выживания. Эта игра никогда не будет скучной. Здесь есть много способов развиваться и кормить население. Распоряжайтесь своими рабочими силами, чтобы рук хватало на всё. Можно вырастить пшеницу самому, или купить её посредством бартера. Развивайте свой город, в котором может поселиться больше трёхсот человек. Занимательные и трудные достижения также тут присутствуют. Но обновлений уже давно не было видно...… Expand
  64. XBenedict
    May 13, 2014
    6
    I like the look of this game and it works reliably and presents a challenge. However, once you have built a successful city of reasonable size you feel like you have solved the game and that there is little point in starting a new map. The lack of specific challenges and development options (a big city contains the same things as a small city - just more of them), makes this game a bitI like the look of this game and it works reliably and presents a challenge. However, once you have built a successful city of reasonable size you feel like you have solved the game and that there is little point in starting a new map. The lack of specific challenges and development options (a big city contains the same things as a small city - just more of them), makes this game a bit pointless fairly quickly and so, in my opinion, expensive given the limited number of hours you will play it.… Expand
  65. Baxstabber
    May 5, 2014
    8
    One man effort turned success. Game runs smooth as butter and has really fun mechanics and game-play. The game itself is a city builder that focuses completely on resource management to help keep your handful of civilians you start with alive through the winters to become a metropolis of your choosing. The game is a joy from start to finish.
    There is only one area this game lacks in and    One man effort turned success. Game runs smooth as butter and has really fun mechanics and game-play. The game itself is a city builder that focuses completely on resource management to help keep your handful of civilians you start with alive through the winters to become a metropolis of your choosing. The game is a joy from start to finish.
    There is only one area this game lacks in and that is replay value, with a one man development, I highly doubt any DLC or many updates to the game to come thick and fast, and although I loved what he has released, the game once you have finished it has very little to do, maintaining your city once it reaches it's borders is basically just watching your population get the resources they need to keep on going. Once you get a grip on the game, there's little more you can get out of it as the challenge is figuring out what you need to do to keep them alive, once you've figured it out it is game over.

    The game for all the time before that however is tremendous, and deserves a high score and high praise.    … Expand
  66. Helmenkalastaja
    May 5, 2014
    7
    Another city build game with some new perspectives. I did get bored pretty quickly, as there is lot of just waiting for resources to be gathered still i play this game occasionally. Fun game still and worth to buy. Also i wanted to support one-man project.
  67. Hellygator
    May 5, 2014
    6
    The game starts out interesting but the learning curve is pretty flat. If you are experienced in city building games you figured out what works well pretty quickly. After that there is no endgame, no quests, no motivation to continue playing. I have spend a few hours building a decent city but never bother to create another.
  68. gabriot
    May 2, 2014
    6
    Honestly it doesn't nothing that Dwarf Fortress (a completely free game) doesn't already do, in fact it does about 10% that game does. All it is, is a hyped up rip-off of dwarf fortress with clean graphics and simple game play.

    The game isn't awful, but it's painfully mediocre. There are lots of bad mechanics, such as having houses starve or freeze to death because one other house is    Honestly it doesn't nothing that Dwarf Fortress (a completely free game) doesn't already do, in fact it does about 10% that game does. All it is, is a hyped up rip-off of dwarf fortress with clean graphics and simple game play.

    The game isn't awful, but it's painfully mediocre. There are lots of bad mechanics, such as having houses starve or freeze to death because one other house is randomly hoarding all the food/clothing. And there's no way you can directly fix that situation, basically you are stuck with hoping everything works out fine at the market place.

    On top of that, there just really isn't much to do or see in the game. There aren't a whole lot of structures you can build, and after about 4 hours of playing the game you've honestly seen all there is to see, at that point it's just expanding outward using the same structures you already have, just building more of them.

    Overall, a pretty hyped up game for such a mediocre bland experience. I'd say save your money and just play dwarf fortress or even prison architect - both are vastly superior games.    … Expand
  69. Golakka
    Apr 30, 2014
    10
    Banished is an excellent "settlers like" game, better than the settlers franchise itself, all designed around needs. Imagine a rural settlement isolated from the rest of the world. Few people, a lot of childs, and the winter is coming. Imagine the struggle against the winter, the fear for starving, the need for a better and warmer home or clothes, the need for create and manage orchards,Banished is an excellent "settlers like" game, better than the settlers franchise itself, all designed around needs. Imagine a rural settlement isolated from the rest of the world. Few people, a lot of childs, and the winter is coming. Imagine the struggle against the winter, the fear for starving, the need for a better and warmer home or clothes, the need for create and manage orchards, the need for other seeds. You wil learn to fear the winter and to joy for the summer harvest, as our ancestors. Banished is a little masterpiece, if you liked "the settlers" franchise this is the peak of that kind of game.… Expand
  70. fakundott
    Apr 30, 2014
    7
    As a sandbox game, this game is really fun! City building and managing are made quite realistic. We should hope for new games that take an example of this one... Only lacks a campaign mode.
  71. SolomonKane
    Apr 26, 2014
    9
    Love this game. Very relaxing. Is it perfect? No. Is it worth a hundred hours? Yes. It is kind of like having a human ant farm. It's sad when they all die because you don't have enough food. But really neat when you can get to 600 population. Worth it, buy it.
  72. Ilham
    Apr 26, 2014
    9
    Very Simple, Amazing Graphic, and the Game System is also good, I have Played many city builder game before like Simcity 5 , Cities XL, Tropico 4, and many more but this one is special If I compare it with those games .
  73. LD9000
    Apr 20, 2014
    7
    An Ok game, held my interest for a couple days. After you learn how to grow enough food, all you do is expand your settlement. Once in a while, a trader arrives, and once you get your chickens, sheep and cows, there isn't really that much excitement about the trader anymore.

    It does not seem like villagers have any particular skill focus, the same guy can be a woodcutter one day, a    An Ok game, held my interest for a couple days. After you learn how to grow enough food, all you do is expand your settlement. Once in a while, a trader arrives, and once you get your chickens, sheep and cows, there isn't really that much excitement about the trader anymore.

    It does not seem like villagers have any particular skill focus, the same guy can be a woodcutter one day, a farmer another day. This is important because of the route villagers take to their job site from the houses. Unfortunately this also means that if you have a large agricultural population, you have to reshuffle your population every year once the harvest is done. In the course of doing so, it's possible to end up with a population that has to go all the way across the map to their job site. Fixing this gets tedious and kinda boring after a while.

    Overall, an OK city builder, although Tropico 4 is so much better.    … Expand
  74. Tibster
    Apr 18, 2014
    7
    Been following the game since early development and had high hopes. Love "city building" games and hoped this was the one ive been waiting for. didnt take me to long to understand it, and the game therefor fast became easy and unchallenging. Wish the game had some ingame missions or goals, so you have to focus more and be more involved. Cudos to the solo dev, the graphics looks good andBeen following the game since early development and had high hopes. Love "city building" games and hoped this was the one ive been waiting for. didnt take me to long to understand it, and the game therefor fast became easy and unchallenging. Wish the game had some ingame missions or goals, so you have to focus more and be more involved. Cudos to the solo dev, the graphics looks good and the general style is nice. Didnt like the gui to much, but thats personal preferences. In general, im a little disapointet, but happy to support a developer who does things on its own.… Expand
  75. itsjustmeonlyme
    Apr 12, 2014
    10
    I was pleasantly surprised how addicting it was. IT was enjoyable for a while, until the disasters, which made it more challenging. It's hard to believe that one guy made the whole thing. excellent job. next he needs to expand somehow.
  76. TheSwagMaster
    Apr 9, 2014
    8
    This game is really beautiful to look at, the game play is simple yet fun, and the controls are easy. It's a very unforgiving game, and it took me a couple of tried to get a town that didn't fail after 30 minutes of me playing. It's still a very fun game, and gives me something to do when I'm bored.
  77. VoxPaladin
    Apr 9, 2014
    0
    Very bland and generic 'city builder'. Some UI elements are confusing, no signs of challenge other than trying to redirect the horrible NPC A.I. which just walk around and starve to death.
  78. sweetellie
    Apr 9, 2014
    10
    Positives:
    - amazing game! this game ticks all my boxes!
    - Extremely well thought and design, lots of hidden tactics, you really need to think and plan throughout
    - Makes me feel that I live in this peaceful perfect world, yet lots of puzzles to solve.
    Negatives:
    - Once you start it you are very likely to be 'glued' to your computer so be warned!
  79. Seola
    Apr 7, 2014
    0
    I really want to like this game. However, it's unplayable for me and my husband. My husband can't even access the game without crashing. My gaming computer (4 months old) can access it but constantly has save game crashes that have been known since release with no update in sight. The problem is, I can sometimes save it on my own. The autosave feature can crash the game. If I set theI really want to like this game. However, it's unplayable for me and my husband. My husband can't even access the game without crashing. My gaming computer (4 months old) can access it but constantly has save game crashes that have been known since release with no update in sight. The problem is, I can sometimes save it on my own. The autosave feature can crash the game. If I set the autosave out as far as possible, I have to remember to save often and 7 times out of 10, this causes a crash and reverts to the last save state losing much time and work in the process especially if I haven't saved in a bit. It's clear according to Steam, the numbers are dropping off fast for a game so recently released and there is radio silence from the dev on when these bugs will be fixed. At $20 a pop, it's almost unconscionable to have such glaring errors be in the game on release, but further - this long after it became a known issue.… Expand
  80. Kela-Appi
    Apr 5, 2014
    8
    For a one man studio this is a well done game. Probably the best city builder in a while. Some people might not like the fact that there are no real goals in the game, but personally I prefer it this way. No constant pestering about what you should do, but figuring out yourself what you to do next in order to make your people happy and the town prosper.
  81. MattMcGrath
    Apr 3, 2014
    10
    After many years of reading metacritic reviews I decided to sign up to recommend this game wholeheartedly.

    The gameplay is beautifully balanced and really rewards intelligent planning. There are no hidden mechanisms behind the town's operation, instead you can see every single resource moving around, and every single citizen doing their part. It reminds me a little of Tropico in that    After many years of reading metacritic reviews I decided to sign up to recommend this game wholeheartedly.

    The gameplay is beautifully balanced and really rewards intelligent planning. There are no hidden mechanisms behind the town's operation, instead you can see every single resource moving around, and every single citizen doing their part. It reminds me a little of Tropico in that respect.

    The complaint that you get a 'world without end' and 'no scenarios or achievements' is in my view very short sighted. It is a very interesting challenge just to get all the basics up and running and even then the great thing about the game is how fine tuned it is. If you imbalance the town by growing too quickly or neglecting a certain type of resource then you can find yourself in difficulty. There are also occasional disasters to keep you on your toes and force you to react and rebalance.

    And after all that, without having exceptional graphics, the game somehow has a very pleasing look to it that really rewards aesthetic planning.

    Thoroughly recommended.    … Expand
  82. IGNsus
    Mar 25, 2014
    7
    Banished has potential to be a lot better than it currently is.

    This review is not a knock on the game, despite my score. I really think the game is a great achievement, especially if you consider that one man made it. Right now, in its current state, Banished offers a respite from "AAA games cloning syndrome", but not much more than that. Certainly it is charming and entertaining. But    Banished has potential to be a lot better than it currently is.

    This review is not a knock on the game, despite my score. I really think the game is a great achievement, especially if you consider that one man made it. Right now, in its current state, Banished offers a respite from "AAA games cloning syndrome", but not much more than that. Certainly it is charming and entertaining. But the problem is that there's very little to do once your community becomes stable.

    Simply, Banished needs more progression. The end game right now is unrewarding, and players have little incentive (besides their sense of creativity) to expand across the map.

    Hopefully the modding tool can realize the game's enormous potential.    … Expand
  83. Tridus
    Mar 23, 2014
    7
    This is a good game. The simulation part works well, each person has a home and job, and how you design your city matters. You can make mistakes that lead to losses pretty easily. It's good looking, runs well, and is pretty polished. The only lacking thing right now is the lack of things like scenarios. Once you figure things out and get your settlement going well, you kind of have nothingThis is a good game. The simulation part works well, each person has a home and job, and how you design your city matters. You can make mistakes that lead to losses pretty easily. It's good looking, runs well, and is pretty polished. The only lacking thing right now is the lack of things like scenarios. Once you figure things out and get your settlement going well, you kind of have nothing else to do except make it bigger. Hopefully the developer will be able to expand on his success in the future, because the core game is much better than some other recent city builders.… Expand
  84. Yazah
    Mar 21, 2014
    9
    This is not your $60 AAA title. However, it is a fantastic $20 (or less) indy game that provides hours of enjoyment. Even though all options are open to you at the beginning, the game is challenging and enjoyable as you build your town, care for your people, and avoid (or not) disaster. The bleak desperation in the game makes it equal parts realistic and enjoyable.

    This is a great city    This is not your $60 AAA title. However, it is a fantastic $20 (or less) indy game that provides hours of enjoyment. Even though all options are open to you at the beginning, the game is challenging and enjoyable as you build your town, care for your people, and avoid (or not) disaster. The bleak desperation in the game makes it equal parts realistic and enjoyable.

    This is a great city builder type of game that is fun, interesting and challenging. It isn't quite as replayable as I'd like (though I have 40+ hours in it), but I'd definitely recommend.    … Expand
  85. SenshudoTV
    Mar 20, 2014
    9
    Banished should be a must buy for anyone who likes the city simulator/builder genre of games. With a clean, adaptable interface, beautiful graphics, and relatively error-free design, it is highly recommended by this reviewer.
  86. saz
    Mar 17, 2014
    4
    Pretty fun but done after 6 hours. There are no enemy's only disasters which aren't fun. The maps aren't that great. Rate of consumption seems to awkwardly eat in big chunks probably because I spent the whole game at 10x speed. Land should have some production rates for crops/hunting. It sucks waiting for trade boats. Trade could be improved by factions that are on the map and you have toPretty fun but done after 6 hours. There are no enemy's only disasters which aren't fun. The maps aren't that great. Rate of consumption seems to awkwardly eat in big chunks probably because I spent the whole game at 10x speed. Land should have some production rates for crops/hunting. It sucks waiting for trade boats. Trade could be improved by factions that are on the map and you have to explore to find. Would like to have knowledge based upgrades. I don't see any depth to the game.… Expand
  87. masc
    Mar 17, 2014
    4
    The ideas behind Banished are nice and the game even plays nice until your city exceeds a certain size. At this point you have build everything there is to build at least once and the only motivation left to expand any further is to reach new personal high score for the number of citizens that live in your town. So my biggest complaint with this game is long term motivation. The secondThe ideas behind Banished are nice and the game even plays nice until your city exceeds a certain size. At this point you have build everything there is to build at least once and the only motivation left to expand any further is to reach new personal high score for the number of citizens that live in your town. So my biggest complaint with this game is long term motivation. The second issue I do have is that it is just far to easy even on the highest difficulty setting after you figured how it works. One last thing so, the after sales support and the communication of the developer is to say it nice "very slow".… Expand
  88. Solifugae
    Mar 17, 2014
    7
    I do like the game and recommend buying, but it is wonky.

    I am playing right now, and every house I visit has ample food. Fish, potato, Venison, corn, plum, eggs, chickens...each house has over 200 food resources plus firewood, garments etc. I checked every single house, they all have lots of food. But the villagers are dying of starvation. I have lost 13 villagers from starvation    I do like the game and recommend buying, but it is wonky.

    I am playing right now, and every house I visit has ample food. Fish, potato, Venison, corn, plum, eggs, chickens...each house has over 200 food resources plus firewood, garments etc. I checked every single house, they all have lots of food.

    But the villagers are dying of starvation. I have lost 13 villagers from starvation despite each house being full of food. I think it is because it ties starvation to the level of food in the central store rather than the house level.

    Load of potential and fun despite the logic sink-holes.    … Expand
  89. Firepro316
    Mar 15, 2014
    6
    The first 15 hours or so of Banished are brilliantly addictive. The challenge of building a thriving town that will survive the winter and boom in the Summer is at times stressful but very rewarding when it comes together. Once you have a working town, that's consistently providing supplies (food, coal, wood, iron, stone), you can then start building some of additional buildings thatThe first 15 hours or so of Banished are brilliantly addictive. The challenge of building a thriving town that will survive the winter and boom in the Summer is at times stressful but very rewarding when it comes together. Once you have a working town, that's consistently providing supplies (food, coal, wood, iron, stone), you can then start building some of additional buildings that whilst aren't a necessity but add some value, such as churches and town halls.

    However once all this is done, you begin to realize there's not a lot left to do. There feels little point or purpose is expanding your city further as there's no further reward for doing so. There's no new buildings or benefits. Just more to manage. I had one incredible city working with 300 people with every building and supply done.

    So in summary, I loved my 15-20 hours game play, but I can't see myself playing it again anytime soon. Worth £5-£10    … Expand
  90. Ninjapixel
    Mar 12, 2014
    7
    Banished is the type of game that makes you lose sense of time.

    Strategic sandbox titles often fail when it comes to balancing the in-game stats. However, Banished doesn't fail. As a matter of fact it seems to work pretty well. Sure there could be a few more features and sure it is not the best looking game out there. But the music, the feeling and the fun this game brings makes it    Banished is the type of game that makes you lose sense of time.

    Strategic sandbox titles often fail when it comes to balancing the in-game stats. However, Banished doesn't fail. As a matter of fact it seems to work pretty well.

    Sure there could be a few more features and sure it is not the best looking game out there. But the music, the feeling and the fun this game brings makes it worthwhile. I like it!    … Expand
  91. GYOME
    Mar 11, 2014
    10
    "This game is quite something. It is difficult that you can start crying at any point because your villagers just die every second during the early days of Winter while the kids do nothing but walk around with their hand up their ass. The game starts all nice and easy with your villagers who will start collecting food and other resources from the land. You will build houses and feel"This game is quite something. It is difficult that you can start crying at any point because your villagers just die every second during the early days of Winter while the kids do nothing but walk around with their hand up their ass. The game starts all nice and easy with your villagers who will start collecting food and other resources from the land. You will build houses and feel accomplished by that but then.....WINTER comes. Winter is your worst enemy, it somehows makes your villagers crave potatoes on such a massive scale that you could feed the entire population of Africa for an entire year. Oh but not also that, somehow they can burn down through wood to make a fire faster and therefore run out faster than I can cut them!

    Oh, did I mention the highly likely but always happening natural disasters in this game? Did I not? Most likely because you are crying yourself to sleep since your entire village just got massacred by a tornado like a human squashing ants.

    Put aside the large amount of time spent crying and sweating and this game actually has some promising features such as a very smooth game with a very simple and functioning HUD that was designed to do exactly what it was meant for. The game settings are very nice as well providing lots of options when wanting to change the game's graphics or control settings or if you just want to customise your world.

    Another positive point about this game that I wasn't expecting was the size of the game. It is less than 300 MB where I expected at least 2GB of a download for a game like this especially with the price tag and all the screenshots I saw.

    The only really negative point here to make may be the price of $20 but that may be negotiable since it is still an early release and a lot of features may be coming to this game and I hope the developers will spend time on this game and make it even better because I would love to see more of my villages starving to death.

    If you want to spend $20 on a building/survival/strategy game made by Satan himself then this is the game for you!"    … Expand
  92. JohnWitten
    Mar 9, 2014
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. [Condensed]

    There are no wars or deadly encounters with other civilizations here. There is only the ongoing battle against nature and her cruel, cold embrace. Surviving famines, winters, and plague outbreaks are the steps you will have to take in waging your personal war of survival. The most crushing and interesting aspect of the war is that you could be winning it all the way until the moment you're suddenly left crippled and defenseless, as your last settler succumbs to old age, disease, or some other unparalleled consequence in the world. The graphics aren't too poorly rendered, the story is relatively slim in content, and the sound effects are mundane at best, but the experience is certainly worthwhile and intuitive for those who enjoy the sort of planning required in staking your claim and defending it in a simulated landscape.

    Concept: Build your settlement from the ground up, survive the harsh winters and outbreaks of disease that will inevitably attack it, and attempt to make your way in a simple, deadly world.

    Graphics: Simple and basic overall, but not terrible in their concept and design. Could use improvements of course, but run smoothly enough with their lower levels of required power.

    Sound: All the basic sound effects you would hear in an olden town can be found here, with nothing really out of the ordinary to distinguish them from other games' sounds, aside from knowing what actions are being performed.

    Playability: Quite an accessible title as command giving goes, and the controls are pretty easy to grasp once you get the hand of them. The game is addicting and the goal is simple, making for a worthwhile experience as well.

    Entertainment: An entertaining simulation and planning/building game that is definitely worth checking out if you enjoy interesting computer games and factoring in your overall survivability in a dangerous, unforgiving world.

    Replay Value: Moderately High.

    Overall Score: 8.5    … Expand
  93. giskarduk
    Mar 8, 2014
    8
    Banished offers Caesar 3 style gameplay, since Caesar 3 is one of the best city games ever made, Banished is built on solid proven gaming principles. Whilst it is not in the same league as Caesar due to the chosen theme for the game, its randomly generated maps and pioneer settlement feeling give it totally different characteristic which is fun in its own right. During harvests it is aBanished offers Caesar 3 style gameplay, since Caesar 3 is one of the best city games ever made, Banished is built on solid proven gaming principles. Whilst it is not in the same league as Caesar due to the chosen theme for the game, its randomly generated maps and pioneer settlement feeling give it totally different characteristic which is fun in its own right. During harvests it is a race to get the food in the fields gathered before winter sets in and the food spoils. Sometimes an early winter can cause you to lose a lot of your craps so you end up doing what pioneers had to do and get most of the village to help get the crops harvested. The entire game really does give a frontier settlement feeling in how it works. Despite what was said else where, you can control what the NPCs work on first by using the increase priority feature.… Expand
  94. Schmidy
    Mar 7, 2014
    10
    Starvation kicks in, the cold starts to bite. Surely it's time for Spring you think. This game gets you emotionally involved. Starting a small village and creating it into a large town you go through many rough patches hoping you people can make it through the winter. It's a game many people have been waiting for.
  95. thewizardmac
    Mar 5, 2014
    10
    I signed up just to write that this game is amazing! The developer did an excellent job all by himself ! You feel like you really are part of the village. Awesome 10/10
  96. 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
  97. Ninja-Puffs
    Mar 4, 2014
    10
    One of my most favourite games I ever played. I am very impressed with all of the nice graphics and detail of the game. This game reminds me a lot from Sims city and a bit from minecraft. I truly recommend everyone to play this. It is definitely well worth your money.
  98. Xiphoideus
    Mar 4, 2014
    9
    Great game I have to say. Most of the bad reviews here seem to come from the fact that the gameplay concepts were not understood by the players.
    The game is deeply rewarding if you can feel rewarded by setting yor own goals something that many of us do not seem capable of anymore.
    If you expect a game like most games have become lately that tells you everything you need to do and then    Great game I have to say. Most of the bad reviews here seem to come from the fact that the gameplay concepts were not understood by the players.
    The game is deeply rewarding if you can feel rewarded by setting yor own goals something that many of us do not seem capable of anymore.
    If you expect a game like most games have become lately that tells you everything you need to do and then pads you on the back for doing so then you should stay away from this. Feedback is often not immediate and help is sparse, I love it this way as the rewards seem even sweeter.    … Expand
  99. VNVNation
    Mar 3, 2014
    10
    Truly excellent entry in the city-builder genre with an interesting take using the premise of survival to create a unique game. Perhaps some additional environments would make for a more varied game world but overall an amazing achievement for a one man dev, certainly put's many big name companies to shame.
  100. Vihazur
    Mar 3, 2014
    9
    For being done by just one guy, this game is incredible, but there is more to it's success than just that. Compared to other city builders, the difficulty of the game really sets it apart. A lot of the fun comes from the strategy required in just trying to survive. It's a lot of resource management, careful pacing, and layout planning for efficiency - otherwise, you can get a niceFor being done by just one guy, this game is incredible, but there is more to it's success than just that. Compared to other city builders, the difficulty of the game really sets it apart. A lot of the fun comes from the strategy required in just trying to survive. It's a lot of resource management, careful pacing, and layout planning for efficiency - otherwise, you can get a nice bustling population going, only to see the whole thing abruptly collapse.

    This has become yet another genre that hasn't been getting much competition, though. Compare it to what, Sim City? Well, all other considerations aside, it still blows that game out of the water, but that's not saying much.

    It does lack scope, though. It would be nice if it had another dimension or two, such as technological advancement, or competing neighbors. Or even customizable aesthetics. The game does get tiresome, once I got the hang of it, even on the hardest settings.

    Still, I enjoyed the hell out of enough hours to more than justify the $20 cost. So, I do highly recommend it to fans of this sort of game. For what it does, it does it exceptionally well.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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.
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  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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