Depraved

This is a solid builder set in the old west. I truly don't understand the negative reviews 100% recommended especially for fans of westerns.

Is Depraved worth playing?
Purchase? For under $10 YES!
Short answer:
If you enjoy settlement building type of games that isn't too in depth and like having the ability to pick it up and put it down with ease, then yes! If you enjoy much more in depth mechanics with trade to other civilized townships (not including your other towns) then you might find it lacking.
Pros:
Fun to play for the indie game that it is as a hop-in build some then hop-out if that's your flavor of game you enjoy. I personally loved the western aesthetic which you don't really get to see too many games out there like this one (at least I have yet to find very many sim settlement building types anyway).
I ended up buying this game on sale I think somewhere between $3-8 roughly, which for that price it is well worth picking up and playing around in.
The variety of buildings has a decent number of different buildings, just know this won't be any in depth stronghold type building chains, more simplistic types which honestly, when you just wanna sit back and relax without needing to feel the pressure of focusing on in depth supply chains, it's nice.
The supply chains you have are just in depth enough to feel like you need to put in some prep work to get them sorted and making sure any other towns you establish to harvest resources not originally available in your first township boundaries.
Variety of difficulties can make the game quite challenging, with hostile wildlife, bandits and natives trying to kill you depending on what settings you play with, which can be changed mid-game if you need a breather, just be mindful that any changes won't change the bandits already spawned.
Cons:
The larger you build your town(s) the more stutters you'll start receiving, doubly so if you stick to the fastest speed to make the game run at the fastest speed (which for one season worth is roughly 30-60 minutes real time).
Options are limited in terms of bindings and sound, but still lets you have the bare bones for the most part in setting stuff up to your liking. Just don't expect complex shortcut keys.
This game was in early access for a while, then released as a 1.0 game. For what you get it can be fun but there are a lot of systems and quality of life fixes as well as performance tweaks that would have been great to be added. But as it stands, it is a functionally decently fun game.
End Game is dull, once you have all the resources, taken care of all the hostiles on the map (bandits will continue to spawn but unless you let them build up they're a joke end game). Not much to do once you hit end game which can come faster then one might expect depending on what difficulty you're playing on.
Neutral:
Sadly, no mod support nor is any planned for this game's future. Had it gotten the mod support, it probably could've gotten a longer lifespan and have people come back for more. That or having further updates to either fix bugs/performance issues or adding additional content/QOL fixes would help make the game more enjoyable long term.
Game as of right now in 2026 is designed as a short-term game which is fine for those who like that. Reason why this is in neutral category.
Suggestions for what could be added if the dev(s) want to come back to work on the game, as I still think this game is still quite the gem, just needs little bit of love to make it shine brighter then it is currently.
1. Other NPC townships you can have diplomacy and trade with, or even go to war to conquer land. (more then just native camps that have to be manually traded with), perhaps even off map trading with wagons as well as the train.
2. Adding stability to performance late game would be helpful in being more stable, as well as making game crash far less.
3. Adding a creative mode I think would be pretty awesome for people who just want to experiment or build their pretty townships, where the base game offers a nice challenge with the difficulty slider.
Closing Thoughts:
I had fun playing Depraved for what it was, a pick-up and play then drop it just as easily when you grow bored or tired of playing. Rinse and repeat. In no way does this mean this makes it a bad game, just don't expect any in-depth mechanics like you'd see in other games akin to Stronghold, Kenshi, Hearts of Iron. The mechanics that are there though are passably fun for what they are.
I'd recommend getting this if it's under $10, given it's one of those indie titles that doesn't seem to be getting any future updates far as I can tell. It is an average fun game, but a gem given that I haven't seen very many games of this style set in the western setting like this.
Thanks for reading and hope you have fun with this game if you choose to add it to your library. ^-^

If you are looking for simple city builder in the vein of Banished this would be the ticket. It tries to be like a slice of Tropico and Anno with production chains and elevation of citizens but doesn't put too many restrictions in place. It has flaws and many have been named but it also doesn't over-complicate the game play. Lets start with the Cons, borders for towns seem flawed and if setup too close to existing cities there is no overlap or joining and also limits the growth of town size, trade routes don't work the best you can't undo or switch items you have to delete the route and start it again, mine points on mountains on some maps may be too close to rivers or other mountain sides and won't allow you to build mines so you can't actually get the material, enemies or other groups on the map don't seem fleshed out at all bandits may steal every now and then do nothing else and the Indians just seem to be there, you can attack them or pay tribute but unable to figure out how to develop trading with them, picking up or retrieving things can be utterly frustrating with the controls and AI of the citizens. Pros it is easy to develop a town and create more, the production chains are simple and make sense and don't try to be hunger money killers like some games, population size doesn't seem to be a negative as consumption of goods may not be completely developed or is very kind to the player, while early progress might be slow it doesn't take long to get things going unlike other games in the genre that I feel are too unforgiving and make you lose before you reach any sort of pinnacle in your population growth.
In short if you are looking for an easy city builder with some simple mechanics this is a good choice, while there might not be long campaigns you can still have fun. And when it's on sale it's a great choice if you want to play a city builder with a western feel.

Depraved is recommended and actually fun, with additional updates will be a pleasant addition to my collection.

Depraved, developed and published by Evil Bite, is an ambitious blend of city-building and survival set in the unforgiving world of the American frontier. It takes the foundational mechanics of management and simulation games like Banished and Settlers and transplants them into a Wild West setting, where lawlessness, scarcity, and survival shape every decision. The game begins with a modest group of settlers arriving in an open wilderness, carrying only the most basic resources. From this humble starting point, you must guide them through the perils of the frontier—building homes, producing food, crafting tools, and defending against threats both human and natural. What distinguishes Depraved from many of its contemporaries is not just its theme but its attempt to fuse narrative atmosphere and systemic complexity into a living simulation of frontier life.
The most striking aspect of Depraved is its setting and tone. The developers clearly put effort into capturing the harsh realities of the Wild West, a period defined as much by opportunity as by hardship. Each procedurally generated map offers new challenges, with rugged terrain, variable climates, and scattered resources shaping how your settlement evolves. Early gameplay revolves around survival: establishing shelters before winter, securing water sources, and maintaining a stable food supply through hunting, fishing, and farming. As your population grows, so too does the need for organization and specialization. Woodcutters, miners, blacksmiths, farmers, and traders form the backbone of your economy, and each building in your settlement serves as a cog in a carefully interlocked machine. It’s a familiar loop to veterans of the genre, but Depraved enhances it with a sense of constant danger and unpredictability—bandit attacks, wolf packs, disease outbreaks, and random environmental hazards keep you alert and reactive rather than complacent.
Resource management in Depraved is both its greatest strength and its most punishing element. Every decision has ripple effects, and the game’s delicate balance forces players to think several steps ahead. Expanding too quickly without sufficient stockpiles can lead to collapse, while expanding too slowly risks stagnation or vulnerability. Trade becomes essential once your settlement reaches a certain size, requiring you to establish routes between outposts and neighboring towns to import scarce materials and export goods. However, the game’s economic systems can feel inconsistent. Certain materials, such as metal parts or stone, are disproportionately difficult to acquire, leading to frustrating bottlenecks. Terrain generation can also limit access to critical resources, and some maps place valuable deposits in unreachable areas, forcing restarts or tedious workarounds. The logistics system, while conceptually sound, often demands more micromanagement than the interface comfortably supports. Players who thrive on precision control will find the challenge stimulating, but those who prefer smoother automation may find it overwhelming.
Depraved’s user interface and tutorial design unfortunately undermine some of its depth. New players are given minimal guidance, and while the interface is functional, it doesn’t communicate the game’s mechanics as clearly as it should. There are tooltips and visual cues, but they often lack the detail necessary to fully explain cause-and-effect relationships between systems. For instance, resource shortages can appear suddenly without obvious indicators of where the problem began, leaving players to dig through menus and production chains to locate inefficiencies. This lack of clarity, combined with the game’s layered systems, can make early runs feel like exercises in trial and error. Once you learn its logic, however, the design reveals itself as deeply interconnected and rewarding, rewarding careful observation and patience. Still, it’s easy to see why some players find the learning curve unnecessarily steep—it’s a game that demands attention and perseverance before it becomes truly enjoyable.
Visually, Depraved succeeds in creating a distinctive atmosphere. The game’s aesthetic is earthy and realistic, with dusty plains, snowy peaks, and sun-bleached towns that capture the desolate beauty of the frontier. Buildings evolve as your settlement grows, giving a satisfying sense of visual progress. Seasonal cycles and weather effects add to the immersion, with harsh winters and sweltering summers directly impacting your citizens’ well-being. The animations are modest but functional, and the environmental detail helps sustain the illusion of a living, breathing world. The soundtrack complements this atmosphere well, blending soft guitar melodies and ambient tones that evoke the loneliness and adventure of the West. While the visual and audio presentation won’t rival the polish of major studio productions, it carries an earnest charm that fits the game’s tone perfectly.
Performance, however, is an area where Depraved can falter. Players have reported occasional frame drops, long loading times, and inconsistent optimization on certain systems. While not game-breaking, these technical hiccups detract from the smoothness of play, especially in larger settlements where the number of active units and processes grows exponentially. The game’s AI, too, can behave unpredictably at times—workers may idle despite available jobs, traders can take inefficient routes, and defense units sometimes react too slowly to threats. These issues, coupled with the absence of recent updates, suggest that development support may have slowed or ceased, leaving some bugs unresolved. It’s a reminder that while the core of the game is strong, it lacks the ongoing refinement that would elevate it from a promising indie title to a genre standout.
Despite these shortcomings, Depraved offers moments of genuine satisfaction that few city-builders manage to replicate. Watching your dusty outpost grow into a thriving, self-sufficient town feels earned, and the challenges that arise along the way make success all the more rewarding. The interplay between environmental danger, economic planning, and human survival gives the game an emotional rhythm—one moment you’re expanding trade routes and constructing windmills, and the next you’re scrambling to fend off bandits or rescue citizens from starvation. The stakes feel real because failure is always just a few missteps away. This constant tension is what gives Depraved its personality. It may not be the most polished or balanced city-builder, but it embodies the frontier spirit it portrays: harsh, unpredictable, and driven by perseverance.
In the end, Depraved is an ambitious and uneven but compelling experience. It shines brightest in its early and mid-game stages, where discovery and survival are intertwined, and where the player’s choices genuinely shape the fate of their settlement. Its Wild West theme gives it a distinct flavor that sets it apart from more conventional medieval or industrial city-builders, and its procedural worlds ensure that no two games play out quite the same. Yet the game’s rough edges—its opaque systems, occasional imbalance, and limited post-launch refinement—prevent it from achieving the greatness it reaches for. Still, for fans of survival management games who appreciate challenge and atmosphere over perfection, Depraved remains a worthy addition to the genre. It’s a rugged, unpredictable journey through the heart of the digital frontier—sometimes unforgiving, often rewarding, and always uniquely its own.
Rating: 6/10

its cool even on lower end laptop

time just goes