Cliff Empire

Really enjoyable city builder, I like the futuristic setting, and the way the map design makes you rethink how you are going to plan out your cities. Bought this ages ago when it was still in beta/early access. The game has come along way since then , and if time permits, it's well worth playing. :)

Very good indie game. Almost no bugs. Takes 25 - 40 hours to build a fully developed city

Pro:
- fun gameplay, cool thematic buildings
- survial elements are not too harsh.
- fast paced but not hectic (if compared games like Manor Lords)
- unique experience as the cliff setting offers innovative solutions to typical city builder (survival) challenges such as certain kinds of buidlings can also built on the side of the cliffs and below them on the uninhabitable ground to safe space on top. A core part of the game is to be economical with the limited building space
- nice progression as the game is not limited to only the cliffs. You basically try to reestablish the humanity on planet earth and the game guides with you with little quests through it and step by step unlocks new areas and building types. You can argue though that more quests would have improved the experience as there is the danger that you rush through them very fast if you know what you are doing
- game is actually difficult and you can end up in virtually unwinnable situations. The game is never unfair though
- runs at 40 fps in a fully developed city with max drones and 12000 inhabitants on 7x Speed on an 13500 CPU
- nice selection of cliffs for different gameplay challenges
- tutorial is seamlessly integrated into the main quest and actually manages to explain you the basics of the game without being a nuisance

Con:
- drone task prioritization is sometimes just stupid and you have to use the underground tunnel delivery system from a certain size on and plan ahead with your building placement to make the drone logistics work. The problem is that you can't make buildings produce a certain amount of resources before it can get picked up but the drones will rush there immiediately once a resource has been produced
- cliff generation should be more user-friendly. Hiding soil fertility, uranium and matter deposit efficiency behing a tech makes you quit the game if you get the wrong values
- no overall production stats, only per cliff
- production stats not always reliable

It absolutely ravages through your pc with performance issues at times but beside that and some balance issues, it's a good game. It's not breaking any new grounds with gameplay mechanics. It's a city builder in its core with a pretty cool world built around it. You're limited to building on cliffs and the more time goes by the more you unlock. Things like building on the side of the cliffs or below it. Really makes you plan ahead on how your cliff will look like as you can't really pick up a building to place it somewhere else.
Now I do agree it's somewhat soulless when there aren't people exactly moving about since bulding streets are shockingly expensive and take up valuable space. Still do recomend it mostly for the fact the game is dirt cheap for the content and the developer(s) have been updating this game every once in a while with cool new content or bug fixes.

Always love coming back to this game to replay - Would recommend to anyone that enjoys city builders.

Great game. Cool and creative setting. Only con is gameplay is a bit shorter than other city builders

Good game. A city builder that doesn't hold your hand so much. Some problems that at first seem very difficult just require you to look at things a little differently. Very few things I don't like about it. Looks cool when your city gets bigger.

Fantastic game. Slow, challenging city management game that has some beautiful sights. You'll think you've gotten stuff balanced, then it'll throw another challenge at you and you'll be scrambling to meet the new demands while not collapsing the rest of your economy. I do wish the Space Station section was bigger though, maybe the ability to have three stations like the three cliffs would be nice. The final region is great, giving you nigh-endless space to build.