Villager is the type of game where you are constructing and building a town, nearly all on your own, until mysterious, shadowy people (called peeple) start appearing.
These black shadow figures might help if you can give them a good reason to stick around. Once they’ve entered your town, they will expect a home to be given to them. They each need their own home. They will then want food so that they can survive. If both of those needs are met, and you have some other buildings like quarries and lumber yards built, they will start to help you with your town.
As you build out your town, the resources you want end up being farther away, which encourages exploration and building however you want. There isn’t actually a lose condition or a time pressure in this game – peeple don’t even seem to mind when they end up leaving – so it’s just you building a relaxing town however you want. Over time, you will unlock new buildings and find more land to work from, and if the peeple are with you, they will help.
There is something relaxing about Villager which I rarely see in management games where you have a town that you need to provide for and help build. Instead of feeling stressed, you can just build as you please, harvest whenever you want, and keep the peeple you can support if you want to take care of them. In a time where I’d love to build a town but don’t want to feel pressure, Villager does a really lovely job of balancing a fun game with relaxation.
Villager is available now on itch.io.
About The Author
