Intro
Annie here!
I had a hard time finding a recent, under-appreciated indie gem this week. But not to worry! I found an under-appreciated indie gem from a couple years ago instead.
dotAge is a classic unforgiving resource-management-based city builder, but something about it really grabbed me.
Review
Around the beginning of my playtime, I started to think that the devs had added too many systems into this one. It started to get confusing, and there were so many pop ups telling me about new mechanics that I couldn't wrap my head around.
But as I continued playing, I just couldn't put this one down.
dotAge uses a system of "domains" like fear or sickness, that presage upcoming "doom events." by preparing early, you can prevent these events, but things can go sour very quickly.
As the game progresses, there's more and more domains to manage, and there's even a prophecy system that helps to predict doom events.
I'm still not sure how I feel about this system. During the course of my playthrough, I felt consistently bothered by the popups introducing new things to be scared of. But I also found it quite riveting. Maybe the complex systems helped to increase my investment in the story.
In any case, the game is definitely designed to be played multiple times. It's easy to tell that the devs want you to learn the systems and repeatedly start over, using your new knowledge to better prepare your people.
In this way, they encourage you to identify with the village elder: A mysterious leader imbued with divine wisdom and foresight. Final Thoughts
I played the free demo for dotAge, which has about 3 hours of playtime for one run. I'm seriously considering purchasing the full version myself as it really gripped me. If you want to get the full version, it's currently on sale for $14.09 CAD (40% off!).
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