Settlements Rising is an early-access city-builder/colony simulator where you build and develop your very own medieval settlement. Read our review of its early access build to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Everything We Know About Settlements Rising
Settlements Rising Story Plot
In Settlements Rising, you lead a medieval village, striving to transform it into a thriving settlement amidst the challenges of the era. From humble beginnings, you must build a community where each villager contributes to the colony’s survival and growth. Set against a backdrop of limited resources, unpredictable weather, and external threats, every decision you make will shape the future of your settlement. You’ll oversee a dynamic society where villagers live out their lives, engage in various professions, and contribute to the prosperity of the colony. As your settlement flourishes, traders and raiders alike will take an interest in your resources, forcing you to balance economic growth with the defense of your people.
Settlements Rising Gameplay
Settlements Rising offers an immersive city-building and colony management experience, where the intricacies of medieval life unfold before you. You'll manage over 35 professions, each with unique work cycles and animations, adding depth to your colony. Villagers have their own needs for food, energy, health, and warmth. They’ll eat when hungry, rest when tired, and return home when the cold sets in, giving life to a bustling, reactive village. As villagers grow, they gain experience in their professions and develop traits that influence their work and behavior.
Resource management is key. You’ll need to balance mining, trading, and production chains to sustain your village. Trade with neighboring settlements through caravans and ships, buying low and selling high based on fluctuating prices. Construct exploration ships for risky missions that can yield valuable rewards like gold, resources, and single-use enhancement cards that boost your colony’s capabilities. Choose these cards carefully to maximize your chances of success in future endeavors.
Defense is crucial as your growing wealth attracts raiders. Build walls and towers, and train villagers as archers or swordsmen to defend your settlement. Combat and diplomacy blend as you navigate the medieval landscape, balancing growth with security to ensure your settlement's rise to greatness.
Settlements Rising Release Date
Settlements Rising will be launching on October 2, 2024 for PC via Steam, though there is no definite release time yet. It is also undetermined if it will be released to other platforms. Once we know more about its regional release time, we’ll be sure to update this page!
A demo of the game became available on September 18th. People who would like to try it out can go to their Steam page and click "Download" on the demo panel.
Settlements Rising Review [Early Access]
A Solid First Step Into a New Frontier
In today’s crowded gaming landscape, early-access city-builders and colony simulators are a dime a dozen, with enough new releases each year for Steam to host entire events around them. In such a competitive market, standing out with unique mechanics and stunning graphics is often necessary for a game to gain traction… almost. Sometimes, all you need is a solid execution of tried-and-true methods to create something that may not be groundbreaking but is undeniably fun—and potentially amazing.
Settlements Rising isn’t quite there yet, but it's taking promising steps in that direction. The game exemplifies the idea of sticking to the basics while innovating where it counts. It introduces enough fresh mechanics to be functional and genuinely fun at times, though it hasn’t fully hit its stride as an early-access title. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Grab your pitchforks, buckle your boots, and try not to die of dysentery as we dive into the medieval charm of Settlements Rising.
Settlements Rising is a city-builder and colony simulator like many others in the genre—and that’s a good thing. While most of its features are standard, they are well-executed and responsive, barring a few minor graphical glitches. Let’s begin with its grid-based city-building and logistics-focused production systems, which are core elements of the genre.
In Settlements Rising, you start by establishing a settlement with a town center and expand outward. Buildings and roads are placed on a square grid, each with its own footprint, while roads serve to connect everything back to the town center. It’s nothing groundbreaking, just classic city-building with parts that work smoothly.
As you grow, you’ll need to construct homes for your population, along with storage depots for materials, food, and other resources. Additionally, profession buildings help convert raw materials into usable goods. For instance, one of the first structures you can build is a Woodcutter’s Hut, which turns logs into firewood to keep your people warm during the winter months.
Your villagers are the lifeblood of your settlement’s economy, taking on jobs and roles as more professions open up. They can be categorized by age—working age, school age, or just children—with a descending range of jobs available to each group. Settlements Rising makes managing job assignments and logistical optimization easy through a convenient villager tab, allowing you to track the well-being and productivity of every worker.
Of course, your workers have basic needs like food, warmth, clothing, and housing, which must be provided by the settlement. Satisfying these needs raises your settlement’s overall satisfaction rating, ensuring your villagers remain productive. This creates a positive feedback loop where happier workers lead to better productivity, which further boosts morale. Conversely, you’ll quickly feel the effects of a downward spiral if famine or illness strikes your village.
While this balancing act is fun, it’s nothing new for the genre. Games like Fabledom, Against the Storm, and Banished handle similar mechanics. However, Settlements Rising sets itself apart with its randomized enhancements. Occasionally, you’ll receive a roll of enhancement cards offering bonuses like free resources or improved production for specific buildings. You can use them immediately or save them for when you’re in a pinch. Though this mechanic doesn’t pop up as often as one might like, it adds a crucial layer of strategy in tight situations.
Settlements Rising adds another layer of complexity to your settlement-building experience with randomized raids and encounters with wild animals. These events force you to prioritize defense alongside expansion, challenging your ability to keep everything running smoothly while protecting your people. The final piece of management is trade, which you can facilitate through the trade dock. Trading provides a valuable avenue for obtaining both raw and processed materials—assuming your economy can handle it.
All of this combines to make a game that, while not particularly unique, is undeniably fun. It executes its core mechanics well, with just a few graphical hiccups—like the occasional floating deer—but the overall presentation is solid. The low-poly style adds charm, and the game runs smoothly, providing a satisfying colony-building experience.
In the end, Settlements Rising might not revolutionize the genre, but it doesn’t need to. Its combination of solid city-building mechanics, strategic challenges, and a few novel twists makes for an engaging experience. If being familiar is its greatest fault, then that’s hardly a damning critique. It’s a well-rounded first step, with plenty of potential to grow into something even greater, just like any up-and-coming village.
The Pieces are There, They Just Need to be Put Together
What sets Settlements Rising apart is its strong foundation and the potential for even greater things on the horizon. The framework for a fantastic city-builder and colony simulator is already in place; it just needs time to fully come together.
The gameplay loop is satisfying, constantly rewarding you for expanding. Its building system strikes the perfect balance between simplicity and efficiency, while the growing variety of jobs naturally complement each other. But what really shines is the game's clear direction, supported by its flexible and adaptable world.
Every time I see the roadmap when launching the game, it reinforces my belief that Settlements Rising has a bright future ahead. As long as the developers stay focused and don’t stray too far off course, the best is yet to come.
Great Replayability and Game Customization Options
Settlements Rising offers a variety of playstyles, with three base difficulty options perfect for newcomers and a custom mode packed with every slider you could want. You can take it easy, watching your town grow effortlessly, or crank up the difficulty for a real challenge—yet still keep the fun intact.
What truly stands out is the game's replay value. Thanks to its randomized starting areas and enhancement cards, each playthrough feels fresh. No two settlements will ever be the same, guaranteeing a unique experience every time, and that’s just with the game’s current build. Imagine what else you can look forward to when the game reaches its full potential.
Still Missing Its Mid-to-Late Game Content
For an early-access title, Settlements Rising offers a solid amount of content, though you’ll currently top out at Town Center level 2. It's part of the early-access journey, but there's plenty more in store for the mid-to-late game, including new buildings, decorations, upgraded defenses, and a wealth of additional resources.
The hardest part is waiting for what's next, but at least there’s something to be excited about. That’s more than can be said for many other early-access games that die in their infancy.
Game8 Reviews
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Settlements Rising Product Information
 | |
| Title | SETTLEMENTS RISING |
|---|---|
| Release Date | October 2, 2024 |
| Developer | The Catalyst Crew |
| Publisher | The Catalyst Crew |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam) |
| Genre | Colony Simulation, Strategy, City Builder |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | N/A |
| Official Website | Settlements Rising Official Website |
