I’m surprised by how well city builders and survival games seem to go together. In theory, the genres are mutually exclusive. Cities Skylines and Manor Lords are premised on expansion, growth, and the accumulation of wealth and industry. Survival games (Project Zomboid is my personal favorite, but I’ll go to bat for The Long Dark and The Forest, too), are the total spiritual opposite: it’s all about having nothing, and being grateful for even the most meager progress and gains. And yet, between Frostpunk 2 and Endzone, I’ve seen city builders and survival sims unified. Dark Switch, just announced during the PC Gaming Show, is a new, ambitious example of this genre hybrid. Oh, and Silent Hill’s Akira Yamaoka is doing the soundtrack.
I guess there’s also a little Age of Mythology in here. See, Dark Switch is set in a twisted, post-apocalyptic fantasy world. It’s still colorful, and populated by magical creatures, but a spreading malevolence called The Fog has all but destroyed the entire realm. With the planet’s surface summarily submerged, the final remnants of Dark Switch’s society have taken refuge in a gigantic tree. This is where things get tough – it’s a city-building game where you have limited space, and must build up rather than across.
Gather resources, research new technologies, and do everything possible to maintain the morale of your population. Although you can expand somewhat outwards and establish smaller outposts separate from your main tree city, you’ll be advised not to spread your scant supplies too thin. At various points, the sinister malformations that subsist within The Fog will rise from the depths to attack your home. Thus, Dark Switch becomes part survival game, as you improvise weapons and defenses to protect what little remains of normality.
There’s a sandbox mode, a 12-hour long campaign with quests and branching narrative events, and more than 80 building types. Combined with the Akira Yamaoka score, Dark Switch already has a lot of promise. You can wishlist it right here.
Otherwise, try some of the best strategy games, or maybe the best 4X games on PC.
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