Aven Colony

I found the game to be very enjoyable.
There are a great many reviews stating that the game crashes all the time - which it does on newer chips.
This can easily be overcome by adding the following variable to the game properties in Steam
Right click on Aven Colony in Steam and paste the following into launch options.
cmd /c "set OPENSSL_ia32cap=:~0x20000000 && %command%"

The most polished alpha abandonware you'll ever play.
Beautiful models and textures set on an intriguing environment but seem limited, there's a few buildings and a hint at a military aspect with plasma turrets and a gunship but they do little more than handle environmental effects that are already handled by specific buildings. Maps are also riddled with blockers and there was no system implemented to handle them.

Well thought out systems with lots of promise but a lot of them seem unfinished.
There's a whole overworld system that only provide commendations (which don't do anything) and colonies (which don't do much).
There's a whole industry system that you can only really use to get a few extra percents of happiness... But even that doesn't seem relevant outside of winning referendums.
There's a whole research system that gets completed in the first 5 minutes of gameplay to unlock a few more options in the unfinished industry system.
There's a whole alien artifact system with minimal effects (a useless shield and again a few extra percents of happiness).
There's even a single player campaign!
It's odd to see so many systems in place that work SO well just to not do anything with them. It feels like all the hard work on this game had already been done and the finishing of adding additional building chains, population requirements and milestones (like Anno) was never finished.

I have heard many people directly compare this game to Surviving Mars, Frostpunk, or Planetbase - I haven't played any of those so I can't state one way or another. What I can say however is that this is a "space sim" city building game, filled with all sorts of random events, and can be quite difficult at times.
It's a deceptive city builder insofar as the hubris it allows you to garner will be stripped away completely once the finite resources run dry. Obviously it allows you to make due without them through other methods but it is significantly worse by every measurable metric. It deceives you into thinking that having a massive storage of resources will save you - well it won't. This game doesn't ♥♥♥♥ around; you could be at the absolute top of your game and all it takes is one massive storm, drought, famine, electrical gride failure, etc etc to destroy mountains of progress; an absolute entropy trap.
I suppose it's actually quite humbling.
It truly is a machine that eventually consumes itself
Then again the ultimate goal is seeing how far you can possibly get until something destroys your way of life and the entire empire comes tumbling and crumbling down. One moment you'll feel like you've conquered the planet, the next you'll be scrambling to keep the people's heads above the water. It does not hold back.
Although if you get to that point you'll probably do what I did and had NEVER done up until that point:
Declare Martial Law
Force overtime
Immigration bans
Emigration bans
Job switching bans
Water rationing
etc etc etc
The people vote, and if you aren't demonstrating a future with prospects they will vote your ass out and it's game over. (Hence full authoritarianism)
It's a brutally difficult game disguised as a casual city builder but beneath the surface it is anything but

I kinda really enjoy this? im not well versed in the genre but this game surprised me. overall it feels less crunchy than id expect a colony sim to be, which struck a better balance for me idk. (just finished vanaar)

pros:
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- the system is weirdly easy to pick up. things only require up to two resources usually, so it isnt hard to figure out how different sub-systems fit together.
- extremely performant, even on higher graphics.
- great sound direction. voice acting (and art ngl) are a specific, tropey, almost too-old and over-rendered; i hated it at first but it grew on me.

cons:
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- no gamepad support
- a lot of not-so-optional QoL is off by default, like subtitles (especially since theres a narrative dump on the main menu that you *need* to listen to). other things like auto-drone repair dont ever really get taught.
- tiles blocked by terrain are shaped unintuitively, which is frustrating for city planning.
- things that should be urgent aren't obviously signified to be (60% repair feels like it should be fine, but its not). crises like plagues always notify you very obtrusively, even if you are well-prepared for it.
- most importantly, i just want to see more. given i can see locked expedition buildings while on vanaar, i assume i can see all buildings in the game that will be available. in that case, i kinda wish there were more? more (and bigger) decorations, more refineable items, more public spaces to make the colony feel personal.

Needs more development and more building options/strategy paths. I think it could benefit from more early game resource gathering methods. Trade could also use work, but a really cool mechanic over all. It has okay graphics and fun game play. It is a "Frost Punk" like survival strategy style city builder game, but it is simpler than some of the other examples of the genre, and therefore less exasperating; less rug-pulls, dead end strategy paths, and death spirals. Liked it and think it has great potential.

Fun little space city builder. Easy enough achievements. A solid 4/5

I read Hubbard's review, who described Aven Colony as “the most polished alpha abandonware you’ll ever play,” and honestly, I agree. At first, the game is very promising. The setting is interesting, the maps look great, and the early progression feels satisfying. Unfortunately, that feeling does not last. This is disappointing, as the game has a lot of potential to be great.
As you reach the mid to late game, it becomes clear just how shallow the mechanics really are. City layouts remain bland due to a lack of meaningful visual variety, and the logistics and resource chains are extremely simple. As Hubbard mentioned, the entire research tree can be completed in less than five minutes. You will see everything the game has to offer fairly quickly, with little incentive to experiment or redesign your colony in interesting ways.
That said, I do not think Aven Colony is a bad game, just a limited one. If you pick it up on sale, there is definitely value here. For players who are brand new to the city building genre, this is a great starting point. Aven Colony is also a good choice if you are just looking for something incredibly casual where you can shut your brain off.
However, if you are a huge fan of city builders with deeper mechanics, I would recommend passing. Once the campaign and challenge maps are complete, there is little reason to continue playing, as the core gameplay loop does not evolve further. The DLC is unfortunately little more than a former preorder bonus map that was later added to sandbox mode, and it feels like a reskin of the final campaign scenario.