izigame.me

Alright. Dystopika. I have built my city. On Rock-n-Roll. Or probably Prog Metal, really. And actually, I really only built my "Dark City" about halfway so far, using the remaining plot of land to toy with stuff. But the city I built does look pretty cool. IMO anyway.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3515932872
So, what is Dystopika? The description says it is a game with goals and no management. I would disagree with that. You do have a couple goals: to actually build your city, and to unlock all of the decorations by raising up said city in the various districts. Which I have done over the span of actually three cities built. The first two were pretty haphazard, but then with the third city, I managed my chaotic instincts and actually built a city (well, half built my city anyway) that made some sense, with roads, walls, and such. Basically, made a four-district city. What this game really is though, is a relaxing builder with zero costs, no need to gather materials, and no penalties for doing whatever you please. I'd consider it to be far from Dystopian, considering you can do whatever you want, and nothing you do is wrong. But you know...
Visually, this game is a feast for the eyes. It's a vibrant night city with cool lighting, neons, and so on. I totally get where people would compare it to Blade Runner, Cyberpunk 2077, maybe even a Fifth Element. It certainly carries those vibes. And it has a dedicated camera mode, which is really what this game is all about beyond the building: taking cool screenshots to share with your friends and with the community.
The audio is very relaxing futuristic sounding music and is all-around excellent. It really meshes well with the visuals and totally sets a mood that puts you in the right headspace to be creative.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3515820217
So, when you are placing buildings, you also have the option to raise them up into massive skyscrapers. In so doing, you will unlock a lot of the achievements and decorations for said buildings (and the surrounding areas). From neon signs to billboards, lighting, radio towers, launch pads, to holographic images. And it all looks very cool. You can also download your own images from your computer onto the billboards. Additionally, by pressing 'tab' on an item or effect, you open up an options menu that offers a variety of things depending on the item, such as size, rotation speed, color charts, and so on. Giving you even more control in how you would like everything to look and how those things interact with the city you have created.
There are also options to change weather effects within the city, adjust how dark or bright the ambient lighting for the city is, and so on.
My only real critique is that all the menus have tiny font making it somewhat of a challenge to read. And none of the decorations, roads, bridges and such are labelled. In general, the UI leads to a fair amount of guessing. Which, you will definitely figure everything out, but simply labelling items would be a huge upgrade. I'd like to see those things adjusted a bit in my perfect Dystopika world.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3515932888
All in all, that is the game in a nutshell. Super cozy, super chill zero stakes city building with endless replayability as you create new cities to toy with. I think it's a very cool and kind of refreshing experience, and it is an easy recommendation. The base price of $6.99 is fair. The current 2025 Summer Sale price of $4.19 though is very accessible if you're into this type of experience. Don't let it pass you by.
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