The Steam Sale season is upon us and I've stumbled across another gem

ISLANDERS ($3.40) is an addictive quite accessible puzzle game that has you build cities on increasingly large procedurally generated islands.

You start with 3 buildings to place. To get more buildings you've got to meet a points quota. You get points for placing buildings. You get bonus points for placing buildings near certain other buildings. Fields should go near mills. Markets should go near houses. Sawmills go near lumberyards. Conversely, you lose points for placing stuff near the wrong kind of buildings. Mansions shouldn't go near your lumberyards/brickworks. If you place too much industrial stuff too close together you lose points.

You're only asked to juggle placing 3-6 different kinds of buildings at a time. Once you get to your points quota you get to pick between of two sets/packs of further buildings.

Which of the two offered sets of buildings you pick depends on what you've already built, and what kind of island you've rolled. If you've got an island full of trees you'll want more lumber buildings. If there's lots of sand you want more brickworks buildings. If you've got a quite dense residential area you might want to take a pack of fountains as they get bonuses for being close to homes.

The challenge comes once you've gotten an understanding of what the later buildings are and how they get the most points. For example, temples take up a lot of space but get massive bonus points for being near mansions, but lose points for being too near common houses. If you can find a nice open bit of land you can build out a row of mansions and leave a gap in the hope that you'll get a temple down the line.


As the game goes on you move through larger and more complex islands.

If you use all your buildings and don't meet your points quota, it's game over.

It presents as a 'city builder', and I suppose you are building a city. You don't worry about anything else other than building placement, so it's more of a puzzle game about using your given space the right way. There's no economy or population management aspect at all.

Addictive and well worth the $3.40 I paid.