A lot of the times when I play city or colony builders, I eventually get bored of my surroundings. Sure, it's wonderful to see a small town turn into a bustling metropolis, but the hills and the scenery rarely change – Cities Skylines 2 is gorgeous, but it's still, throughout all my trials and tribulations, just a city. Well, in Ark of Charon, a new builder that you can play now, you have to pick up your settlement and move onto a new area every few days. You also carry your entire city on the back of a giant creature.
If you're thinking city building game, your city has legs and the core of a world tree on its back. You have to use adorable little golems to tend to the tree by gathering resources and building up defenses. You see, I tried the demo, and while Ark of Charon has relaxing music and a cute aesthetic, it's no walk in the park.
Your moving base is like a giant log on legs. When it gets going, monsters start attacking, and in bigger numbers than I was prepared for. They can destroy your defenses, kill your golems, and wreck your tree core, causing a game over. That's exactly what happened to me, but next time I'll be ready. You can build a little house for your golems on the stone back of the creature that moves the world tree, and on its roof you can add more ballistas to fend off the onslaught of enemies.
If you're wondering why you have to move in the first place if it's so dangerous, it's because of an ever-encroaching dark storm. If your golems get caught out in it, they'll lose health until they die, so you've got no choice but to stay nomadic. You'll also eventually run out of resources to gather in an area, so you've got to open up the world map and find new horizons.
Ark of Charon's release date is Tuesday July 9, 2024, but if you can't wait that long you can get its free demo right here.
If you want to play an actually Steam Next Fest demos available right now.
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