izigame.me

Context
There was an update that made the game unplayable, which lead me to leave a "not recommended" review, but the game has since been fixed.
Updated Review:
Short Version:
For a genre (colony sims) I'm pretty picky about. It has some flaws that are to be expected for a an EA game but the overall gameplay is great. Impressive balance between city builder and a survival sim. If you enjoy the designing and building for longevity aspect this game will do that. If you like resource management and survival games, this game will certainly have that too. It's very difficult for games to get a balance without it becoming just a survival sim where you are always in emergency mode and too limited to design for efficiency, and more engaging that city builders that get boring since you just have all the money and resources in the world. Honestly I've been looking for something that does this balance well and it's a bit early to say, but this might be the best. There are some aspects that aren't as polished as other games, but it's EA and it's worth it for the way it keeps you engaged in the game.
At time of my initial review I didn't realize the update was released the day before, just had seen others reviews mentioned it had effected the game, and part of my review was assuming it had been that way for longer than a day or so. The fact that they've worked on the bugs so quickly is very appreciated. Huge props to the dev who fixed it immediately, which is very promising.
The long version: In case other's are as picky as I am, these are some of the pros/cons and things the game could work on that are a bit more personal preference and not negatively effecting the game.
PROS:
- It relies on a mechanic in which you are given a limited set of options of which building you want to build each cycle, which is independent of the unlocked building. This adds a strategy and more "game" like element that some of the city builders lack. It has some other considerations that colony sims don't always consider such as appeal of location/negative impact from industry, etc. Overall just great for adding some constraints without it being too be railroaded.

- The technology and upgrade trees are pretty far developed. I haven't unlocked everything but it definitely seems to promise a very long game and growth. The progress is fairly well balanced for the most part.
- The supply chains are pretty logical. Settlement Survival is another similar game which has weird supply chains that get too illogical and costly. The unlocking of new buildings and new tech comes with appropriate material generators or are things you'd have already which is helpful. The pacing of new chains or growth is also appropriate for the colony growth
- The population growth system is great. You can add immigration offices to increase new people if you need a quick burst, or you can turn them off and rely on reproduction. Once you get the basic up and running, it really lets you control how quickly you grow and you're not stuck too long waiting on population.
- there are some QoL tools that I really enjoy. The farmers automatically stop working when it's off season and find other employment. The side bar with key stats is easy to reference without it being congested. The easy demolition instead of waiting for workers to do it, really makes it good for long haul growth.

CONS
Priority System:
- the priority system really needs work, but EA, so I'm not too bothered it's not perfect. The global system requires clicks for each individual shift up/down which can get tedious when you have more types of buildings. The individual priority of buildings is selected by cycling which can also be tedious if you're trying to go into emergency mode and shutting off all non-essentials. The UI can use some work, either in the side panel that comes with each building and then a global priority value setting like Oxygen Not Included.
Builders:
- Builders/Laborers also needed to be sorted in priority list with all other jobs. they seem to fill minimum after filling priority job sites, and after minimum laborers are met so they're lacking at times. The priority of constructions is helpful but not if there aren't builders. Also would like to see what they're working on, either with tracking or just on the town hall shows what employees are doing. I will have priority constructions that are not being built, but have all the resources at site and having builders employed, so I'd like to know if there's something else they're working on or if it's not working.
Wood supply:
- the wood demand/supply is not balanced well (in normal mode.) Most everything needs wood for construction but even if I start on wooded area, gather it all, there's not enough. The foresters don't supply as quickly as they deplete. I'm assuming they wait for tree growth but it makes early game very difficult for trying to get started, especially with winter upcoming since almost certainly your population will be diminished to <5. The trees need to grow faster or each tree needs to offer more material. I'd also like to see a dedicated tree farm that runs more efficiently than the forester (possibly exists late game that I missed)
Upgrading Houses:
- Upgrading is only reliant on luxury goods which can be difficult to obtain early game depending on location or limited money. Would like to see other ways to upgrade housing, maybe happiness or at a cost of materials if luxury goods are unavailable. This also locks the era upgrade since money/goods also rely on needing some of those upgrades depending on your starting materials.

SUGGESTIONS
- more thorough mortality stats: there are small text notifications about why someone died but seeing overall stats about how many people are dying to what to better see what needs to be prioritized
- building stats: the fact that they look unique enough to keep track of what you have for the most part but some get lost in the houses (gatherer's hut, hunter's hut) which would be nice to have them be more distinct. Seeing how many of each building I have, the production of building types, and material consumption would be very nice.
- art: the art in the title/loading screens, the icons and portraits are great. They're very different from the art style of the actual game though. Of course it wouldn't be as high res or anything but the style itself seems discontinuous. It looks a bit dated and the UI doesn't help. It's all very functional and it's not offensive by any means (even as someone who's stopped playing game because the style is so bad,) but given the game is partly design and building, I'd like to appreciate the city I'm building a bit more.