I enjoy City Builders. Not just the full on micromanagement of the likes of the fantastic Sim City 4, a game I've avoided reinstalling for years because I like sleeping, but the chill city builders. Where yes, you have to focus on building a city, though at a far more casual rate.

Some years ago, Alexander Brandon under his Funky Rustic label mentioned he was working on a title called Aven Colony. Alas some initial screenshots I could find I could only describe as "muddy". But I made note. And every time it popped up it slowly got my attention.

And then I got a chance to play it.

The campaign here puts you in charge of managing a colony on a new world, assisting humanity to survive in a harsh environment. Sure, the planet looks lush and green, the water fresh and clean. LIES. So stay inside the sterile environment and let the intake fans and air filters keep you healthy.

Vanaar is your first objective. And the game knows what the players want. To make it to the endgame and build the big expensive structure. Perfect. No fiddly little mission to get you use to the system, instead it slowly shows you how to do things as it progresses.

The actual tutorial is quick, built in to the level, and from there you follow the mission objectives to reach the end goal of this campaign mission. What I really, really, liked was the little message that told you: Hey, player, you there on the chair/couch, this is a game for you to play, and you don't need to play it how we tell you to. Go out and have fun.

Awwww. Thanks game.

And honestly, this is the attitude the game takes for the most part. Staying out of your way, and only asking if things are getting worrying on your food/water supplies. You are only punished by causing an end state, 99.98% of the time through ones own negligence.

You have four basic needs: Power. Water. Food. Residence.

And early on all you need to do is keep track of these and make sure you have enough of a supply to keep your citizens happy. Build farms. Build pumps. Plug down some juicy solar energy. And you are good to go.

And then winter arrives.

During the cold season production is halved on many resources. For all your high tech, keeping people warm and fed is still an issue in the far future. Meaning alternatives need to be found.

Geothermal and SpaceRocks can generate power, but at a cost of air quality. Water needs massive amounts of storage, people will panic no matter the gigatonnes of it you have in the shed. Greenhouses can operate better year round, though are far more expensive in the long run.

So, why not trade? Set up immigration and trade hubs to ship in new people and trade your ore for nannites (currency). Plonk down a VR centre and Shopping mall to sell servitoids to keep people happy. Learn how to craft sugary soft drinks, or just build a drug dispensary and dope people up so they don't care about dropping conditions.

There is not a lot of buildings in this game, causing it to look a little lacking at first. However each building is linked to others in what it can make and what it needs. The fine art of keeping everything stable and not overbalancing things by running at 8x speed because you think things are good is the focus.

That big expedition centre to explore the planet? Wait. That space elevator to get rid of the storage issue? Wait. Upgrading every building to a third tier? Yeah, surprise, wait.

Take things slow. Learn the balance for the level. And just relax...

Of course. We do need an external threat.

The local flora and fauna are pissed we are here. An ancient alien race has left artefacts across the planet. And you humans are walking bags of nutrients.

Alien parasites and spores will periodically attempt to attach your colony. What they forget is that we humans love our war. Even in space-chill worlds, I guess you have to add something to fight.

Thankfully there are no raising armies and sending them out to the battlefield. That would totally change the type of game this is. Instead... Slap down some turrets, making sure you have enough to cover your entire colony.

Otherwise you better know how to counter an alien parasite, and have the factories set up to produce a counter to it. The alternative is like loading up Banished and dying in the snow.

Honestly, I would of skipped this from the game and put effort into something else. Worker strikes and citizen breakdown were far more interesting to counter than making sure I had two guns at each edge of my colony base.

I like this one. The difficult curve is low and smooth, but it can and will ruin you in seconds if you stop paying attention to resources and go wild with your building. With a little care though, maintaining a stable colony and experimenting with different layouts can make for a nice and relaxing afternoon.

If you want an easier and cut down city builder with a SF aesthetic, this is one to check out.

Game Acquisition: Humble Bundle (Humble Choice - April 2021)
Platform Used: Steam
Tweet Threads: 1 - 17 October 2021
PC Used: Scorptec Master-RTX2070 2019 MK1

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce GTX 470 or AMD Radeon HD 7850
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 25 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 11 Supported
Additional Notes: Mouse and keyboard only. Min screen resolution 1280 x 720