They say it takes a village to raise a child. But what does it take to raise a village? A whole lot of money and some wood apparently. Townsmen, developed and published by Handy Games, is an incoming title on the Nintendo Switch. In Townsmen, the player takes on the role of a governor who was kicked out of the royal court for some shady business and must help build a village from the ground up. In this strategy game, managing the citizens, configuring infrastructure, and maintaining the economy and resources of the village are the name of the game.

Gameplay

              Using either the control sticks or using the touch screen in handheld mode allows the player to view the entire village, where they then can make decisions which service to work on or which building to upgrade. The basic premise is that the player needs to build homes for more families to move into, while expanding the types of different buildings in the village. Those range from a woodwork shop, to a mining cave, to mills and fields. All these things provide occupations and resources for the village. The player controls when resources are harvested, where the and the buildings are placed, and when the village reaches a certain size, then begins trading and military tasks. Looking after many different objectives simultaneously creates a sense of organized hectic-ness. There is quite a bit of depth to the statistics that can be affected, so multitasking and organizational thinking is a must when playing Townsmen. There are also various game modes, including ones where you play levels to learn the game, as well as a sandbox mode. It did take a bit of time to figure out all the controls and functions that are possible in the game however.

Lore/World Building

              In the beginning of the game, there is mention of a reason why the player was forced to leave the Royal Court of the king. After that, there are moments of dialogue between some of the characters that reference that situation. However, from what was observed, there wasn’t a large amount of story. Which makes sense for a gameplay-based game like this. The characters did have distinct personalities however, which added a level of charm to the game.

Aesthetic (art style/soundtrack)

              Because Townsmen started out as a mobile game, the art style is extremely reminiscent of that. Interesting characters with exaggerated features, such as large eyes, slot in perfectly with the mildly wacky attitude the game possesses. Visually, the game is pretty to look at and enjoy, and the soundtrack is relaxing enough to focus in on the busyness of all the tasks and quests that need to be completed.

Overall

              Townsmen brings the extremely successful strategy-based village management genre in mobile video games onto the Nintendo Switch. Constant quests and objectives to achieve and a variety of buildings to create stimulate the player’s organizational skills while also providing a fun experience of running a village. While the world building and lore of the game leaves on asking for more, for this style of game, it makes sense to focus on the gameplay and aesthetic aspects of it. Enjoyable and boasting several different game modes and play styles, Townsmen is a great addition to any gaming library.

Score: 7.9/10

Check Out the Townsmen Nintendo Switch Trailer:

Townsmen will be available for Nintendo Switch tomorrow, November 9, 2018 for an SRP of $19.99 / $19,99€.

David Zuniga

Having spent my entire life gaming, my interests have expanded over to how the gaming industry has grown and developed into a globalized market over the course of my life time, as well as how games can build community and create a sense of belonging for people. I'm also trying to climb ranked in Overwatch so if you want to queue together, let me know

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