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. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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.
  4. 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
  5. Lambo442
    Feb 24, 2014
    10
    I'm only half way through the first tutorial and I felt compelled to stop and give this game a 10 just based on what I've seen. It's gorgeous to look at, the controls are in depth and intuitive (zoom, tilt) and the fact you can manipulate time is a godsend. I can't wait to explore the survival aspect. Sounds like a really unique idea. Can't believe the file was only 100mb too. Doesn't seemI'm only half way through the first tutorial and I felt compelled to stop and give this game a 10 just based on what I've seen. It's gorgeous to look at, the controls are in depth and intuitive (zoom, tilt) and the fact you can manipulate time is a godsend. I can't wait to explore the survival aspect. Sounds like a really unique idea. Can't believe the file was only 100mb too. Doesn't seem possible. Especially as it looks so sweet and you get weather effects and stuff. Anyway I'm gonna get on with playing it.… Expand
  6. Cyclocosme
    Feb 25, 2014
    3
    Based on the fact it has been done by only one person, this could be a good game, and this indeed have its qualities and its strengths. But i can't base a critic on this basis, as this would mean i'd rate one of the less finalised gestion games i have ever saw... Let's be serious, i explored the possibilities of this game in only a few hours, which let me build all the existing buildings,Based on the fact it has been done by only one person, this could be a good game, and this indeed have its qualities and its strengths. But i can't base a critic on this basis, as this would mean i'd rate one of the less finalised gestion games i have ever saw... Let's be serious, i explored the possibilities of this game in only a few hours, which let me build all the existing buildings, and led me to understand that the mechanism of population reproduction is not even thought : people just make babies by the will of Random Gods, placing them eventually in the same house or not, and this cannot work if you have too many houses that you thought you built in the purpose of, that is, making room for the next generation. Old people stay in the houses and the younger can't reproduce... Or, you make too many houses, and people just forget to leave together to do it... That's so annoying that it's forcing you to build just in time, just the right amount of houses, and then you have literally to pray so that people of the opposite gender inhabits one same house, because if this doesn't happen, there's a chance that you can't even destroy the too many houses you built : your population decrease, then it's impossible to destroy the overnumeral houses AND managing to have sufficient people working in the necessary jobs.

    I tell you : this is not a good unforgiving game. It's a bad unfinished game with some mechanics that weren't even thought or made. There have to be an algorithm for the people making couples and having their own house for growing their children, but there's not, it's purely random, and all the "difficulty" of the game goes from there. All the remaining is far too simple to constitute a decent gestion game. I gave up on my first day, after having easily understood all the mechanics, because they're basics, and they seem to work in the first few hours, but in the end, they don't, or they do by pure luck, or by pure exercise of mathematics. It's not gestion, it's probabilities and randomness. Quite sad, because the game, as i said earlier, has its qualities, but it's nor enough for me, by far. Unless there are very important patches to the major problem i tried to explain (i'm not an english speaker), I'll simply never play it again. Admitting i would, what would i do with this game ? When you have built you're huge town, you have nothing else to do. No real threat, no real depth beyond that, no real depth in the gestion itself which is essentially driven by randomness... Enough said. Avoid it for now, and hope that a Banished 2 comes one day to overcome all of this.    … Expand
  7. Mortensus
    Feb 24, 2014
    8
    Very good game, well polished, one of the best "city builder" i ever played, Without too much fancy tricks, but rather very strong ideas well executed. Challenging at every stage! Fear the winter and... the wild boars. Well worth the price.
  8. 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
  9. 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.
  10. 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 .
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. Jancelot
    Feb 19, 2014
    6
    Nice game, its been a long time there has been a game like this. Its a bit to easy though, once you got a basic town set up there's not much that can happen. I had build every kind of building after 2 hours of playing and i wasnt even rushing it (i'm playing on the hardest difficulty in harsh conditions). After a while you just waiting till a trader with a new kind op crop comes by orNice game, its been a long time there has been a game like this. Its a bit to easy though, once you got a basic town set up there's not much that can happen. I had build every kind of building after 2 hours of playing and i wasnt even rushing it (i'm playing on the hardest difficulty in harsh conditions). After a while you just waiting till a trader with a new kind op crop comes by or till some immigrants want to join your settlement. Still a game worth buying though, I just really hope they will add some more content and some more difficulty to the game. It feels a bit like a beta, it has al the basics but no in depth gameplay.… Expand
  15. 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
  16. 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.
  17. keefbaker
    Feb 27, 2014
    10
    Stunningly good. Even more amazing when you realize it's made by one person. A person who seems to have realized exactly what fans of city builders want and given it to them with no extra bloat, unnecessary frills and pointless modes. Gold.
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. urchincorps
    Feb 26, 2014
    8
    Tons of time can be dumped into this game. I personally don't think I'll 100% it in terms of achievements but it is one of the best indie games I've ever played. Fun city builder. The people complaining about the AI clearly aren't aware of the "Increase Priority" tool. I didn't even need play the tutorial and I know this so they have no excuse. It's not the grandest scope in terms of aTons of time can be dumped into this game. I personally don't think I'll 100% it in terms of achievements but it is one of the best indie games I've ever played. Fun city builder. The people complaining about the AI clearly aren't aware of the "Increase Priority" tool. I didn't even need play the tutorial and I know this so they have no excuse. It's not the grandest scope in terms of a city builder/strategy game, but I bet it has more depth than that recent Stronghold release (which I skipped after watching some YouTube videos and reading the reviews here). Very happy with the $20 I spent.… Expand
  22. 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
  23. heychrisfox
    Mar 2, 2014
    10
    Absolutely the best city-builder that has been released in decades. With minimalist mechanics, a beautiful aesthetic, some of the most challenging gameplay in the genre, and the horrific ethical implications that you're forced to encounter emergently as NPCs slowly starve or freeze due to your poor mismanagement is something so unique that it needs to be played to be understood.
  24. BastardySkull
    Feb 20, 2014
    7
    Very zen game, could have more depth later in game and some wonders/larger construction tasks or build trees. Challenge modes would have been good as well. Good potential for modding.
  25. 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
  26. 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
  27. 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
  28. 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
  29. 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
  30. 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.
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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.
    Read full review
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    May 11, 2014
    80
    A classical city-building game where you help a group of settlers to build a new home for themselves. That's Banished in a nutshell. In a surprising twist, the game doesn't feature any combat at all, but I personally didn't even miss it because after all it's a peaceful game where the main focus is planning your town's future and not fighting against evil aliens. Even though Banished was made by just one man, it feels really polished. In particular, the interface is really well done. Of course, no game is perfect and Banished has some issues. The biggest of them all is that there are no objectives or end goals so you can never really win or lose. [March 2014]
  3. Riot Pixels
    May 7, 2014
    60
    Banished, as it stands now, looks like a game from Steam Early Access rather than a finished product.
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