KAISERPUNK is a grand strategy city-builder where you can rebuild your own city from the ashes of war. Read on to learn about what it did well, what it didn’t do well, and if it’s worth your money.

KAISERPUNK Review Overview

What is KAISERPUNK?

KAISERPUNK is a multi-faceted strategy game that blends the round-the-clock resource management and municipal maintenance of an archetypal city-builder with the overarching grand tactics of military-political strategy games like Hearts of Iron and Crusader Kings.

Switching between building up your own settlement from the ashes of war and defending it on the global front, KAISERPUNK lets players plan both the present and future of their budding nation through careful planning, logistics, and military conquest across a grand global stage.

KAISERPUNK features:
　⚫︎　4 regional starting locations
　⚫︎　9 unique heritage choices with distinct bonuses
　⚫︎　Flag and emblem customization
　⚫︎　Classic city-builder mechanics
　⚫︎　Expansive grand military strategy mechanics
　⚫︎　Dedicated 3-chapter tutorial missions

For more gameplay details, read everything we know about KAISERPUNK's gameplay and story.

Steam
Price		$29.99

KAISERPUNK Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Classic City-builder Gameplay Great Blending of Genre Features Expansive and Detailed Tutorial	Eyesore Graphics Despite the Nostalgia Lacks Too Many QoL Features Feels More Like an Early Access Game

KAISERPUNK Overall Score - 66/100

With its ambitious blend of two genres overshadowed by a lackluster execution of features and mechanics, KAISERPUNK isn’t just a so-so title—it’s a lesson in delivery and synergy. There’s plenty to appreciate from a gameplay and thematic standpoint, as it clearly understands the fundamentals of both city-building and grand strategy. Unfortunately, it’s the other moving parts that throw a wrench in the works.

Give it better QoL features, a sleeker UI, and a few more maps, and KAISERPUNK could shine like gold. For now, though, it’s a product that’s less than the sum of its parts.

KAISERPUNK Story - 7/10

KAISERPUNK is the kind of game that leans more into its setting than its story—exactly what you’d expect from a city-builder or a grand strategy game. In this case, it’s both. There’s definitely room for richer world-building and more memorable characters, but the tutorial story does a decent job of setting the stage. It’s not groundbreaking, but it earns a solid score above the middle of the pack.

KAISERPUNK Gameplay - 7/10

KAISERPUNK’s dedication to merging the intricate details of city-building with the grand scope of global strategy is both ambitious and, for the most part, successful. The transition between these two gameplay pillars is seamless, with their mechanics complementing each other in impressive synergy. Unfortunately, all of that potential is weighed down by a glaring lack of quality-of-life features and much-needed UI optimization.

KAISERPUNK Visuals - 7/10

KAISERPUNK’s visuals are well-crafted and deliberately styled to capture the essence of early RTS, grand strategy, and city-building games. It’s a look that will impress many, no doubt—but personally, I’m not sold on its ruddy browns, gritty militaristic textures, and somewhat basic terrain generation. The UI being an eyesore half the time doesn’t help either.

KAISERPUNK Audio - 7/10

The only real problem with KAISERPUNK’s audio is how limited it is. The sound effects do their job well—though they can be a bit loud in cutscenes—and the music effectively sets the game’s tone and aesthetic. Unfortunately, there’s barely any variety. Either the game's themes blend together too much to tell them apart, or it simply has a grand total of three songs on repeat. Neither case would earn it a better audio score than this.

KAISERPUNK Value for Money - 5/10

With a AA price tag of $29.99, KAISERPUNK feels a bit steep for what it offers. It’s far from the worst game out there, but there are certainly better city-builders and grand strategy titles—sometimes both—for the same or even lower prices. As it stands, I’d only recommend picking it up on sale, or maybe for a little less if future updates bring some much-needed improvements.

KAISERPUNK Review: Worth Less Than The Sum of Its Parts

Before diving into the actual review, let me first share a cautionary tale—one about Cities: Skylines 2. As the ambitious sequel to a beloved title, it arrived with all the modern bells and whistles expected of a follow-up, plus a few surprises that aimed to push the genre forward. Expectations were sky-high. Everything seemed in place for it to carry its predecessor’s legacy and maybe even carve out its own niche.

Alas, as many of you likely already know, that was not meant to be. Weighed down by those expectations and undone by a clumsy execution, Cities: Skylines 2 became less of a revolution and more of an example—a reminder that ambition and ingenuity alone aren’t enough if the delivery falls short.

This brings us to KAISERPUNK—an unassuming city-builder who dared to be something more. By blending detailed city management with a militaristic, geopolitical grand strategy layer, it had no shortage of compelling ideas. But as I’ll soon discuss, a good idea is only as strong as its execution, and there’s nothing strong about a game that’s less than the sum of its parts.

Rebuild Society From the Ashes of An Alternate 20th Century

Let’s start with what KAISERPUNK is conceptually. At its foundation, it’s a city-builder, but layered on top is a grand strategy component that players transition into once their city’s basic needs are met, and would return to every so often. Tasked with forging a new nation from the ruins of an ongoing war, players must balance the painstaking work of rebuilding civilization—piecing together infrastructure from war-torn soil and the remnants of fallen machines—while preparing to defend everything they’ve built from looming threats and internal resource struggles.

Set in an alternate 20th century, KAISERPUNK fully embraces the rise of the military-industrial complex, echoing the real-world developments of the 1900s. It doesn’t aim for historical accuracy like Hearts of Iron, but instead offers a stylized snapshot of a war-torn era, blending its gritty themes with city-building mechanics to create something distinct yet familiar.

Players aren’t expected to reenact major historical events or take on the roles of key political figures of the era. Instead, they’re given the freedom to rebuild from the ruins of war however they see fit—whether through diplomacy and prosperity or by conquering neighboring territories with brute force.

That’s already a fantastic premise. I’m not usually drawn to historically based war games, but KAISERPUNK’s alternate timeline—where neither the war nor its participants are clearly defined—creates an open-ended narrative that lets me craft my own story within its intriguing setting. The wealth of choices, from selecting a starting location to customizing flags and heritage bonuses, combined with the sheer scale of the world map, make for an impressive sandbox where players can pursue world domination on their own terms.
Speaking of world domination, let’s dive into the game’s features and mechanics.

Back to City-builder Basics…and Then Some

From the outset, it’s clear that despite KAISERPUNK marketing itself as a fusion of city-building and 4X grand strategy, it leans more heavily toward the former. That said, the way both genres are implemented is so well-executed that neither suffers from the integration of the other.

What I mean is that KAISERPUNK nails the fundamentals of both classic city-building and grand strategy design, and the game thrives because of it. Take the city-builder layer, for example—it’s grid-based (a tried-and-true staple), features logistical production chains that rely on upgradeable road networks, allows pausing with three speed settings, and is built around a citizen hierarchy. It smartly avoids overcomplicating things with excessive mechanics, instead striking a balance between simplicity and depth. The result is a streamlined yet satisfyingly intricate web of systems that just work.

City resources are gathered RTS-style from nodes scattered across the map, processed in specialized buildings with various production recipes, and transported via a dedicated network of land-based logistical depots and sea-based quays. Setting it up is a breeze, and maintaining it is just as straightforward—provided you keep an eye on upkeep costs and production values. It feels like something straight out of a mid-2000s PC city-builder, striking that perfect balance between depth and accessibility.

This level of approachability leaves plenty of room for the game’s other major pillar: geopolitical conflicts and grand strategy. Players won’t have to worry about this aspect until their city is stable enough to stand on its own, but once it is, they can open the world map and begin expanding their influence. The world map is split into 100 nodes representing major geopolitical territories, where players can deploy armies, garrison defenses, upgrade regions, manage unrest, engage in diplomacy, or take the more aggressive route—full-scale war on the global stage.

Everything that fuels your global war machine (or your defensive line) is produced and deployed from your main city, while your international forces ensure the steady flow of resources back into your urban hub. This creates a synergistic relationship between the game’s two core layers, preventing either from feeling secondary or underdeveloped. Both operate on the same time progression mechanic, allowing the game to move forward seamlessly while giving players the flexibility to switch between city-building and grand strategy as needed.

Overall, it’s an impressive fusion of two distinct genre niches, with each getting ample room to shine. The fundamentals of city-building and grand strategy are well-covered, and their interplay stands out as one of the game’s strongest aspects.

Unfortunately, it’s mostly downhill from here. For as solid as the core gameplay is, KAISERPUNK stumbles in its execution, weighed down by pitfalls that hinder both its overall experience and its quality as a finished product.

Not The Best Visuals, Somehow Worse Quality of Life

Here’s where we start taking stabs at KAISERPUNK’s lesser qualities—because, quite literally, they drag down its best aspects. The biggest culprit? A complete lack of fundamental quality-of-life (QoL) features, which severely undercut an otherwise solid gameplay foundation.

Right off the bat, the absence of edge scrolling is baffling. It may seem like a minor omission, but any seasoned RTS, 4X, or city-builder player knows that edge scrolling is a must—especially in games with expansive overworld maps. Instead, KAISERPUNK forces you to either drag your sluggish camera across the screen or click precisely where you want to go. If you’re neither patient nor accurate, navigation quickly becomes a chore.

And that’s just the start. The game lacks a camera reset option (a must-have for scanning large maps), UI text scaling (or UI scaling in general), camera rotation and pan speed sliders, a proper pop-up notification system that can be dismissed instead of clogging the screen, and mass-select tools for batch actions like pausing production. These are the kinds of basic usability features that players expect from a game in this genre, and their absence is frustrating.

That said, credit where it’s due: KAISERPUNK does get some QoL elements right. The road-building tool is streamlined and easy to use, and the copy, demolish, planning, and move functions for buildings are well-implemented. The node finder makes resource gathering easier, and the compendium of produce does a great job outlining the necessary buildings and materials for production chains. These are great additions—but it feels like the developers skimped out on the more fundamental conveniences.

Speaking of cutting corners, let’s talk about the visuals. The game seems to be aiming for an early 2000s top-down aesthetic, and while I can appreciate the intent, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The visual style is an acquired taste, and when the camera zooms in to street level for cinematics, the lack of detail becomes painfully apparent. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s also not impressive. And yet, despite these dated visuals, the game still manages to crash itself now and then. So, if it’s not the graphics causing performance issues, what is?

While on the topic of the game’s visual quality, apart from its detail, I just don’t like the aesthetics and vibe it’s going for. The browns, reds, and forest greens all blur into a haze of WWI-adjacent vibes that get old quickly. Not to mention that most buildings are hard to tell apart from the top-down view without clicking on them.

It’ll Be Impossible To NOT Get the Hang of This Game

Taking a break from pointing out KAISERPUNK’s shortcomings, let’s highlight another thing it absolutely nailed: its tutorial.

Unlike many city-builders and grand strategy games that throw you into a short, predetermined scenario—only to unceremoniously dump you into the main menu afterward—KAISERPUNK opts for a multi-chapter, campaign-length tutorial. This guided experience walks players through everything they’ll encounter in a real game, covering the early, mid, and late-game stages for both city-building and grand strategy elements.

What makes this tutorial truly stand out is its presentation. It’s not just a dry checklist of mechanics; it comes with cinematics, structured scenarios, and a natural pacing that ensures players absorb the fundamentals before moving forward. The result? By the time you start your first real game, you’re fully equipped to handle the challenges ahead.

It’s commendable that the developers put this much effort into what is, at the end of the day, just a tutorial. But given KAISERPUNK’s depth, this 1-2 hour beast of a tutorial is exactly what players need to get their footing—and that level of care is worth recognizing.

Lacks The Polish of A Full Release

Overall, KAISERPUNK feels like an unfinished game—not to the point of unplayability, but unfinished nonetheless. The lack of QoL features, occasional crashes, and rough aesthetic presentation all contribute to an experience that doesn’t quite have the polish expected from a $30 release. For a game at this price point, which is often the ceiling for AA titles of this scale, that’s a tough pill to swallow.

The gameplay itself is fantastic, and it’s genuinely worth enduring the game’s shortcomings to keep experiencing its intricate city-building and grand strategy mechanics. But that’s a compromise I shouldn’t have to make. KAISERPUNK feels like an early access title that prioritized its core gameplay loop while leaving UI, QoL improvements, balancing, and variety for later.

And that brings us back to the cautionary tale at the heart of this review: KAISERPUNK is a lesson in delivery. It has a rock-solid foundation buried under layers of missing features and questionable design choices, which ultimately suffocate its potential. The lack of cohesion between its polished mechanics and its underdeveloped presentation prevents it from transcending its individual parts—keeping it from becoming the truly great experience it could have been. Without that synergy, it cannot be anything more than its features.

Is KAISERPUNK Worth It?

Worth Less That What It’s Asking, Now and In The Future

Let’s face it—KAISERPUNK feels more like an early-access title, and its price should reflect that. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. At a hefty $30, it simply isn’t worth the asking price unless you’re banking on sheer replayability and plan to sink countless hours into it. As it stands, I’d only recommend picking this up on sale, when the price drops to something more reasonable—around $20. And even if it eventually reaches its full potential through updates, I’d still only consider it worth about $25 at most.

Digital Stores
Steam
Price		$29.99

KAISERPUNK FAQ

How Many Cities Can You Build in KAISERPUNK?

In KAISERPUNK, players are limited to constructing and managing a single city. While additional territories can be captured on the world map, they function as upgradeable locations rather than fully buildable cities. These territories allow for the construction of specific facilities and buildings within designated upgrade slots but do not offer the same level of customization as the primary city.

Can I Continue Playing The Tutorials After I Finish Them in KAISERPUNK?

No. Tutorials in KAISERPUNK are separate scenarios designed to introduce players to the game's core mechanics. They cover city building, organization, and management, as well as military unit creation, army assembly, and global map interactions. Certain sections are fast-forwarded or preset to familiarize players with features that appear later in the game. Once the tutorials are completed, players must start a new game to progress at their own pace.

Game8 Reviews

You may also like...

	Civilization 7 4X, Strategy, Simulation
	Frostpunk 2 Strategy, Simulation, Survival, City-Builder
	Age of Mythology: Retold RTS, Simulation
	Heart of the Machine Strategy, RPG, Simulation, 4X

KAISERPUNK Product Information

Title	KAISERPUNK
Release Date	March 21, 2025
Developer	Overseer Games
Publisher	Overseer Games Elda Entertainment
Supported Platforms	PC (Steam)
Genre	Simulation, Strategy
Number of Players	1
ESRB Rating	RP
Official Website	KAISERPUNK Website

Aaron Bruce Albert..

A massive fan of roguelikes, turn-based RPGs, and open world adventure games. His gold standard games include The Binding of Isaac, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker.