From Cities Skylines 2 and Against the Storm to the upcoming Frostpunk 2, most city building games are all about expanding your urban sprawl across a wide stretch of map. That format gets a perspective twist in new roguelike strategy game Vertical Kingdom, however, which demands you construct your cities upwards into the sky in the style of a Terraria town, earning new cards and gathering resources to help construct your towering metropolises, and it’s out now on Steam with a special Steam sale discount for launch.
In a world “devastated by a war that lasted for an entire generation,” it’s your job as the land’s assigned Great Architect to rebuild your once-great civilization to something resembling, or even exceeding, its former glory. Vertical Kingdom is a city-building game that makes use of the roguelike deckbuilder format to great effect, tasking you with constructing ever-climbing settlements and solving the puzzle of how best to proceed with the resources at your disposal.
Each card either allows you to start new constructions, such as farms, housing, temples, and support structures such as bridges and platforms, or has you expand upon existing ones with increasingly high towers. You’ll have to take into account restrictions about where certain buildings can or can’t be placed, along with the potential combinations they can benefit from if near other structures.
Successfully reach the required population in a given settlement, and you’ll be able to expand to the next, choosing from a variety of destinations each with potential benefits and detriments. You’ll be able to bring a small amount of resources with you, and will unlock additional benefits from your imperial rulers as you reach certain milestones. You’ll also uncover potent artifacts that can bestow temporary bonuses such as increased production or card draw on a several-turn cooldown.
A big part of the design of Vertical Kingdom is that your decisions are permanent – you can’t just knock down that awkward early tower and start fresh, so you’ll have to carefully plan ahead and consider your potential future infrastructure and synergies. As new cards unlock, you’ll be able to buy them from a store with your earned currency, which will help you to deal with the increasing challenges of each level, ranging from awkward land layouts to an ominous-sounding “great evil that lurks among the ruins.”
Vertical Kingdom is out now on Steam. It’s also available at a 10% discount in a launch Steam sale until Monday April 22. That means you’ll pay just $17.99/£15.07 if you buy it before that date, or $19.99/£16.75 afterwards. Along with its main roguelite mode, there’s also the option to build in a more permanent free mode or you can make use of a sandbox mode to construct the kingdoms of your dreams without the standard restrictions.
Alternatively, here are more of the best building games you can play in 2024, along with the best indie games on PC right now to make sure you aren’t missing out on any potential early game of the year contenders.
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