Chinese indie studio Star Chess is working on an urban planner with a distinctly Chinese twist, which brings the Taoist land god to the logical conclusion of the video game: In The Immortal Mayor you are the local land god, and with more worshipers comes more prestige, so it’s up to you to make sure. prosperity of the local population. To do this, you direct the expansion of their city, including building shelters from fierce monster attacks, and use your god-like powers and inspiration to direct the city.
This is a game to be demonstrated for Steam Next Fest, and this is a small gem in its raw state. It will appear in Early Access in July 2021.
This is a good idea because as your city gains more believers – not everyone will worship you first – you will gain divine power more quickly, and as your city grows, your importance in the god hierarchy will grow. If you make friends with other gods by building temples for them in your city, assigning priests and giving them rare incense, you can also use their powers for your village.
It’s a cool twist on the swagger of a survival city builder to have you work as some kind of omniscient “mayor” instead of making yourself a specific character with a specific purpose and very precise relationship with the people you oversee. You want to build education because your priests are getting smarter. You want to bestow divine decorations, not only because they make people’s homes more beautiful, but because they are direct examples of your virtues.
The demo itself seems to crash a lot with some players, by the way, but not much to me. (About once an hour.)
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