HomeNewsTerra Nil
The environmentally friendly ‘reverse city-builder’ is a relief to play
Of all the demos featured in this past week’sSteam Next Fest, indie environmental ‘reverse city-builder’Terra Nilhas performed exceedingly well for itself. The demo has cropped up among the top 50 on the most-played games on Steam over the weekend, and is currently nestled betweenMount & Blade II: BannerlordandVampire Survivors. Not bad for a chill game about rewilding a barren planet.
Terra Nil - Gameplay Trailer | Wholesome Direct 2022Terra Nil sets you the rewarding task of bringing a dead world back to life.Watch on YouTube
Terra Nil - Gameplay Trailer | Wholesome Direct 2022
BroforceandGenital Joustingdevelopers Free Lives are behind Terra Nil, and it’s another typically diverse experience from them. I can only think that the staggering heatwaves being experienced throughout much ofthe US,Europeand therest of the worldrecently have driven people to take to Steam, to find some escapism in taking charge of making the environment something approaching pleasant again. Terra Nil certainly makes you feel like you’re scoring wins foranenvironment even if it’s nottheenvironment.
Those leaves are your currency, which you can invest in building more structures for reclaiming the polluted wilderness for plants, trees and various animals. Finding sites for some irrigators comes next, which start to turn the freshly cleaned patches of brown mud a much more appealing green. Once you’ve got some plants growing then the demo’s map opens up a whole lot, expanding into areas that sport riverbeds. Building pumps along these floods them with clean water, and cleanses adjoining tiles along the length of the bed. Some new machinery like excavators becomes available too. These can make more riverbed, but pollute the surrounding tiles.
Turn the world from a barren wasteland…
…into a slightly fiery but much greener place.
Yet no environmental issues in the real-world can be as easily solved as those in Terra Nil’s demo. It’s a calming diversion, a way of pretending that we have the power to take charge of our environment for a little while. I can imagine, though, that the messages of rewilding, building eco-friendly sources of energy, and planting and caring for diverse biomes could help encourage more people to see the potential for change around them. I hope so.
Terra Nil doesn’t have a release date yet, but it’s coming soon toSteam. I’ve started it now, so I’ll most likely finish whenever it’s out. What a cheerfully verdant game.
