The plot is a rare guest in construction simulators. This is a big omission of the developers, according to PCGamesN. In a recent article, the portal told how the narrative makes such games deeper and more attractive for gamers. We have chosen the main thing from the publication.
According to PCGamesN, games like Cities: Skylines and SimCity usually don’t tell stories, although they have every opportunity to do so. The fact is that in reality, cities are not in isolation from the outside world — they seriously affect it. Architects’ decisions can change for the better or worse the quality of people’s lives, the economic or political situation, and even the climate.
City planning is more than just zoning or pouring concrete. This is the planning of society. Planning people's lives. That's what Cities: Skylines and SimCity are missing.
Therefore, when construction simulators decide to use narrative, they enliven the game world and show the gamer’s place in it.
For example, PCGamesN picked up several games in which the developers successfully added a narrative:
- Per Aspera
In this planet-building simulator, players terraform Mars, simultaneously learning about the fate of previous colonists.
Every choice matters. What will the settlement become — a new megalopolis or an eco-friendly city that affects the planet as little as possible? Is it necessary to blow up glaciers with abandoned nuclear weapons or is it better to use an array of orbital mirrors? What will Chinese politicians from Earth think about a base on Mars?
Per AsperaFrostpunk
In Frostpunk, developers used many elements of survival.
Gamers should not just build a city — they need to survive a hard winter (and take it into account when planning infrastructure). Many decisions have serious consequences. The life of residents depends on the heating system, the level of health of citizens is reflected in the pace of construction and so on.
FrostpunkAirborne Kingdom
Airborne Kingdom players are building a city floating in the clouds, which is looking for resources down on earth.
The population here is extremely fastidious. People want to live in an enlightened utopia and are unhappy if industrial buildings appear nearby with houses. There are also restrictions on the weight of the city — from the excess of buildings, the platform can sink, skew and start moving slower, which will also not please residents.
Airborne Kingdom
According to PCGamesN, all these titles do not just give a chance to “play God”, but help gamers really see the cause and effect.
Such games, despite their fantastic part, are close to reality — every road and every building become part of history for future generations. It is this opportunity that the developers of many other construction simulators miss.