Most city builders usually have you placing steel or concrete towers and buildings. Developed and published by Jakarta-based Antimeta Studio, Verde takes a step in a different direction with a cozy, nature-themed setting.
In Verde, your job is to build and revitalise the struggling community of Dewdrop Valley. To do so, you’ll have to optimise placements of buildings and decorations to make your Seedlets, the residents of Dewdrop Valley, happy!
Grow Your City
Verde offers three modes to play in. Story mode provides you with a narrative as you build and grow with the titular Verde, while Creative and Sandbox offers you free reign of your builds.
With Story mode, you’ll be given quests that you can complete, which eventually unlock new recipes and buildings. You can also select from one of three maps from which you start your city: Seedland, Nutland, and Leafland. The map you choose does not affect the story, however, it does affect your city’s layout.
In Verde, you also have to make considerations for each building’s placement. The better placed they are, the more efficient their output. In turn, this also affects your Seedlets’ happiness. Whenever you place a building down, simply click on it to see if it has its requirements met.
However, the part I liked best are the different biomes. So far, there are three biomes that will appear regardless of your chosen map. These biomes affect the requirements for your buildings to be optimal. Grasslands serves as the default, with requirements that are fairly easy to fulfill. The Beach requires fans to cool the Seedlets, whereas the Tundra requires heaters and power generators for warmth. These additions really make the world feel a little more alive.
Outside of Story mode, the game also provides Creative and Sandbox modes for players to tinker with. The main difference between them is that Creative truly has no restrictions and allows you to do as you wish in the world; while Sandbox simply removes the story elements and build limitations from the game.
All About Style
Your own home, amenities, and a trade hub – what more could you want? Why, to pimp my crib, of course. Each building can be customised to fit your preferred look for a zone. Similar to checking on your requirements, this is done by clicking on the building and selecting Brush.
Once you have a set design, you can then save it under Presets. You can then reuse these presets for each zone as you mark off different districts. Additionally, you can move buildings to better optimise your output, or simply to scratch that need for symmetry.
As the central theme of the game is nature, be prepared to see mainly plant-themed customisations.
Verde-ict
Verde is indeed fun, with the game providing all the fun you’d expect from a city builder. However, unlike most city builders, the fail-con for this game is non-existent, meaning you can do everything wrong, and still be able to go proceed with building and expanding your city, as only time will matter.
As the game grows, I would like to see them increase the stakes; though understandably, this would take away from the cozy vibe of the game, so perhaps a higher difficulty option could be implemented in the future. All in all, Verde and its amazing design provides a fun and different outlook on city builders.
