Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
Manage all aspects of your own republic with planned economy, including mining resources, manufacturing goods, construction, investments, and citizens too. Create your own industrial complexes with loading and unloading stations, storage, warehouses, and factories. Build the infrastructure and manage its traffic, including roads, railways, sidewalks, conveyors, wiring, and pipelines. Wisely place and connect factories, houses and warehouses, and make the most efficient connections. Plan and build the living areas with everything your citizens may need to live their happy life, such as playgrounds, cinema s, taverns, and shops. Send your citizens to the mine to get coal, iron and other natural resources; or send them to the fields to pick up the crops; or take them to factories to produce manufactured goods. Sell and purchase resources and goods from western countries or other soviet countries to get dollars or rubles and buy the products or resources you need.
Steam User 1668
This game is for people of systems. It is as addictive as Factorio really, and as enjoyable as Transport Fever.
But God save you if you let the "City Builder" tag fool you in a false sence of security - it has almost nothing in common with any of Simcity games, and only surface similarity to Cities Skyline series.
WRSR is deeper, MUCH DEEPER.
I'm not talking about comlexity, though game does have it in drowes, to the point when Cities Skylines would seem too shallow, forever unable to scratch the newfound itch, you never thought you have. I'm talking about your worldview.
No, you will not suddenly become a communist, nor the game make you prone to the socialist thought. It will not move your political allignment one inch. But game WILL make you appreciate all your everyday life conveniences.
You will see - buses around you are not going on their own, tap water didn't made itself available for you by some kind of a magic spell, elecrticity is not something made who-knows-where, constantly available and convenient just because.
These things are the product of systems. In fact - you are too.
Game lets you make some of those, tinker with them, and try yourself as the system architect and engineer. Your reward here is not the numbers on the Republic's bank account (game will make you understand - money is meaningless, while labor is not), your reward is beatifully functioning Republic, self-sufficient or not.
My personal experiece with WRSR is quite similar to the bonsai-tree growing, or trainset building. At this point it's meditative, relaxing and even creative hobby of mine. Through 5 years I've spent far more time on it than I care to admit.
Most remarkable thing about WRSR for me - It made me genuinly interested in the soviet city planning.
I was born in Siberia, in the town of oil workers right at the time of the Soviet Union's collapse. The town itself was constructed in the middle of nowhere among wast Vasyugan marshes near Ob river. Our parents all were at the mercy of town's oil industry - but town itself was only the sleep-place, while nearest oil rig needed to be reached by a helicopter (due to endless marshes and overall lack of infrastructure). The place wasn't exactly small (47k residents in its peak), but nevetheless peculiar, young both by average age of its inhabitants, and by itself (being founded in the 1966). It've always seemed like an island of sorts, both connected to the rest of the country with oil pipes and things, and nevertheless isolated. Quite strange feeling, I wasn't able to really put my thumb on it.
And now, with the help of WRSR, I DO understand how and why the place was the way it is.
Look for Strezhevoy on wiki, if you interested.
Buy it, play it.
10/10
Steam User 373
This has ruined other City Builder games for me. Excellent job depicting real life vehicles, buildings, and places. The developers have clearly put a lot of passion and effort into this game.
Don’t skip the tutorial.
Steam User 187
If you bought Cities Skylines 2 and were incredibly disappointed, I encourage you to read this review, as someone who has 2k+ hours on CS1, and plenty of hours on other various sim titles.
Let's get a few things out of the way, firstly, no, this is not a standard city building game. No beautiful modern skyscrapers, or fancy road network construction, but that's okay, because those are about the only two features CS would have over this game other than a better UI which isn't really a dealbreaker.
Now, this is, without a doubt, the most complex, and in-depth city building game I have ever seen. I was downright impressed at the level of detail the simulation goes into, things that Colossal Order barely implemented in CS are fully realized here. Things that I never considered being something to manage, you are challenged with here. A few highlight reel points that would entice any seasoned CS player.
-You want a transit focused city? Literally, do not allow people to buy cars. That's a thing here. There's car dealerships, and in order to fill your cities up with traffic, you CHOOSE how many cars to sell to your people. And because this is all about communism, you can even control who gets to park where, or who gets to own a car at all, you can literally decide if only the elderly or only the young should drive, if only the educated or uneducated get to drive. The control you have over transportation in this game is second only to the late great Transport Tycoon.
-And that being a mention, those familiar with TTD will feel right at home, much of the vehicle mechanics work the same, having a vehicle depot to deploy vehicles, and various "load/unload" stations that act as connection points for your logistics. But to have that level of complexity, tied into a real city builder. Is what makes it so impressive in this game.
-Those unfamiliar with TTD. Annoyed that garbage trucks seem to only work sometimes? Make your own routes to a T, if one building produces more garbage, you can dedicate specific vehicles to perform specific routes. If certain routes are light, you can put a lower upkeep vehicle on that route. All traffic on the road is controlled ENTIRELY by you, not a single vehicle drives without your command. And that means no more "0/25 vehicles working" in a city that is requesting all 25 vehicles.
-You can completely edit intersections like in TM:PE mod for CS, edit timing of traffic lights, road restrictions, etc. It's a shame the road construction in this game is so clunky because the tools they give you for the roads are incredible.
-You wanna talk about a game feeling alive? Like each "cim" has a real existence? This game gives each citizen a stat page, which includes the usual stuff, name, home, workplace, but you can see their commute, how long it takes, you can see how long their work shift is, and track their quitting time. You can also see their health stats and how they feel.
-The industry part of this game is overwhelming, it's basically a mini factorio but people are required to work the smelters and assemblers. No you aren't battling out a hierarchy of item crafting, but trying to think out how this factory will work with your city is an incredible task to consider, and very cool as well. Blows CS "industry" out of the water.
-Map size is incredible, random map gen with control over how its generated as well as some handcrafted maps
-Workshop mods
I could go on and on, but really, I cannot stress this enough. I was practically speechless while going through some of the menus and aspects of this game. The level of complex detail the developer has put into this game, shows this product is an absolute labor of love. No, it's not a fancy AAA title, with a sleek and clean UI. But that's okay, because through the clunkiness you can sense it, the game has a soul. The simulation in this game is simply, the best in the business. No other city builder comes close, not a single one. You can crank up the challenge and difficulty so high, that you need to build a construction office, and purchase asphalt rollers and various construction vehicles, and then you need to import the materials, or if you are making them at one of your factories, you truck them to the construction site, and what's all this for? Oh yeah, IT'S HOW YOU BUILD A ROAD!!! On "realistic" difficulty!! Or you can ignore all of that, turn the difficulty down, and just build a nice city and focus on traffic management and happiness. In this game, the choice is actually yours to how complex you want it, from not managing any resources or utilites, all the way up to, every single structure requiring materials, construction offices, and man labor hours to build it, from buildings to roads to conveyor belts.
Incredible. 10/10 sim game, a real 10/10
I will easily put thousands of hours on this game over the next coming years, will easily surpass CS:2
Steam User 314
Coming from a City skylines refugee this game is great in so many different ways.
Pro's
-The personality of W.R.S.R is strong with the main theme of communism being a key point in this city builder.
(approved by the K.G.B)
-The Production lines in W.R.S.R is well thought out (except the coal bricks) with it being actually important than in City Skylines.
-If you play city skylines and want to switch then this games is a lot more optimized for any computer :)
-Traffic Management is considerably easier in my opinion since every citizen doesn't automatically spawn with a car.
-The music in this game is well done with a mix of soviet choir, folk and even techno, all of which fit in.
-A single factory actually feels impactful unlike other city builders with them needed to be occupied by hundreds of employee's and producing an overwhelming amount of resource's.
-The BEST mechanic is definitely the secret police who are attractive, good people with loyalty to socialism and nikita kruchtev/breshnev/gorbachov :).
(approved by the K.G.B)
Inbetween
-So since the game takes place within the U.S.S.R which had a command economy that means the game is alot more manual than other city builders which will be better for some players than others.
-The water sewage and electricity mechanics is more complex than in other city builders which will yet again be good or bad for some players.
Cons (western propaganda)
-It seems like citizens cant understand going from to Public transport -> Public transport -> to work so the AI may need some tweaking.
-Whenever a vehicle go's behind a slow vehicle they crawl to as stop instantly distrupting all traffic instead of slowing down earlier.
-Theres not many road options just only really get 2 lane at a time and tram/trolley bus roads.
- TBH i dont want to type the rest of my nitpicks
valid cons
-money exists >:( dam crapitalists
GLORY TO THE USSR AND HAVE A SAFE TRIP COMRADE
Steam User 201
- I want to start on Soviet Workers and Resources Realistic! I have plenty of experience on City: Skylines, how hard can it be?
- Oh, my sweet summer child...
- What?
- Nothing, let's go.
- Ok... so, better to start at the centre of the map, right?
- You do you.
- ...What's that grim on your face? You know what? I'll stay close to the borders, since I want to sell them stuff.
- Good call.
- Right, so... where is the residential zone tool?
- There is none. You need to plan buildings individually.
- Really? Ok, no problem. So... here.
- ...
- ...
- ...
- Nothing is happening. Why nothing is happening?
- How do you think they will be built?
- What do y... right. So, I need *someone* to build them... right?
- Correct.
- Ok. So... here, construction - ah, and it's free! That wasn't that difficult!
- ...
- Again with the grim? What the... Still nothing?
- How do you think your construct depot will build the building?
- Riiight. So, I need...
- Trucks.
- Trucks! I had it, Jeez... Ok, let's go to the construct depot menu and... why are there two currencies?
- Well, you are between the Soviets and the West after all...
- Yeah, I know but!... ok, let's see... I have more Rubles, so it makes sense to spend this currency. Soon I will be swimming in it being this close to the border anyway.
- Uhum...
- ... Ok. So, to build it I will need a... well, that's complex.
- Remember building sites in real life.
- Ok, so a Dumper, to carry around sand and stuff. Ah... flat one to bring metal, an excavator and... Well, that's all the space. It should be enough.
- Never enough... never, never... Oh sorry, I'm just realizing how that "Greatest Show Man" music fits here so well.
- Ok, the vehicles are here.
- ...
- ... nothing? C'mon people!
- What people?
- People! Peo... right. No people.
- No people.
- But I'm building this so people can come here! How can I need people if I don't have people??
- Is your country the only place where there are people?
- Of course not but!... ok, so I get I need to import labor.
- Attaboy.
- My construct depot is full, but luckily I have another one for free. And... here, a bus.
- Nice.
- Ok, so the bus is here, but nothing is happening... again.
- How do you plan on building the building?
- With people and trucks!
- And...?
- Materials... but I have none.
- Right, and where can you get them?
- With my comrades...
- Yep. You *are* learning! You need to define what you want to get from the...
- EVERYTHING! Ok?? Get everything from them!
- Good call.
- Shut it. Ok. Ah! The trucks are finally moving! They are going to the border and picking up stuff!
- Good job.
- Thanks! And... wait, what's happening?
- ...
- Why did they stop??
- Do they have everything they need?
- Of course they do! I... what is this?
- ...
- Now they need another type of truck?
- Yep.
- Jeez... so, they need a covered truck now? What more do they need, a puppy?
- That'd be nice...
- Shut it! Ok, covered truck here, and already going to the border... Now it's back and... done! My first building is done!
- Good job!
- Thanks! Now, all I need to do is... ah, invite some people over! Easy peasy!
- Uhum...
- Ok, they are here! Now I can... what? Why do they have so many demands so soon? Why are they starving?? Kindergarden, what??? WHY ARE THEY LEAVING????
- :)
*stands up. Walks away.
I believe Soviet Workers & Resources is missing a tag on its description: "Soul's Like". The game is brutal. You need to think about each and every element of your country's life from how you will maintain your economy afloat to if you have enough gravel to build. Every decision has consequences, some - most - of them can destabilize your economy into oblivion.
And then there's winter.
One time my one city had just surpassed 3.000 ppl. It was October, Health was 80% and Happiness 85%. All was well. Beginning of November and everything is stable. Then, Happiness drops to 75%, health begins declining to 70%. Something is very wrong. I check the population. Steady, both small heaters working. People reaching the heaters - What's going on??. "Temperature too low". What?? Both heaters are working and... coal. I run to the storage and it's empty, save from a sporadic drip from one truck. I run to the route to see a line of trucks near the border with the road full of snow. I had created a new service depot and the snowplow trucks were not going all the way to the border. Worse still, there were a couple of trucks with 100% wear and tear. Before winter the service was working fine since I didn't need as much heat and consequentially, not as much coal, but now? Now I'm in trouble. Health falls further, then happiness, then people start leaving, so now the heating plants don't have enough people. In less than two months my city is deserted. All was fine in November, all is destroyed by the beginning of January.
I had to load that game back a couple of times to prevent total annihilation that year. The only other construction sim that forced me to do that was Ixion - and not nearly as many times.
That being said, I love the game and it kinda ruined me for most of the other construction sims.
10/10
Steam User 136
This game showed me exactly why planned economies in socialist countries failed.
Because there was an idiot like me doing the planning.
People were waiting in a line in front of the grocery store because I couldnt manage my food supply chain
10/10 for realism
Steam User 138
This is now my favourite city builder, beating Cities Skylines for the 1st place. Its simulation simply has more depth than any other. Let me illustrate with an example:
Main supply road in your city is congested and has to be upgraded. In CS you would simply pause the game, design a new road system and the traffic resumes as normal.
In this game, the construction of new roads and bridges takes time and resources. You start by stockpiling the materials close by, gather the machinery needed and create a temporary bypass road. Then you choose the workforce for the job, if they come from far away you need to provide them transportation, if you conscript people living nearby for it, they will not be doing their regular jobs for the duration. If you prepared well, the job gets done quickly with minimal disruption to your economy, but if you did not a lot of things can go wrong. The bypass road might get overloaded and construction machinery stuck in traffic. The workers might be taken from a critical industry, like food, halting that production for the time. The project might run over time, into the harversting season, blocking combines on their way to the fields which is bad.
There is also an option to play sandbox where stuff gets built instantly, but the realistic construction and planning are the best part of the game.