Aside from building a castle in the sky, you won’t get that much higher than in Laysara: Summit Kingdom, a city-builder that has you building your settlement in inhospitable environments. The gods aren’t accommodating here, but you could butter them up with a grand temple in their honour.
Considering the popularity of city builders, devs really need to have some sort of killer feature, such as building your settlement at the summit of a mountain in the Himalayas. Wait, seriously? Surely that’s… dangerous? Sign me up.
Laysara: Summit Kingdom is one of the most popular titles in its weight class, having been on folks’ wishlists at least 30 times since its announcement and downloaded by 40+. Of course, those numbers are fabricated and significantly higher—mega, in fact—like the game terrain.
Laysara: Summit Kingdom Early Access
Popularity doesn’t make something good, however. That said, this game from Quite OK Games and Future Friends is fantastic, and I’ll tell you why: the lack of the city hustle and bustle. Are you tired of people stealing all your oxygen and wanting to get away from the rat race? Not only is it hard for the average person to breathe, but there’s not a single Starbucks in sight. Bliss.
Those who can stomach the altitude, exposure to the high risk of avalanches, non-existing broadband, and an unhealthy number of yaks—well, you’ll be in your element. It’s beautiful, too—like, absolutely stunning.
It is hard to stand out in a fiercely competitive genre, and like many other genres, just as the FPS, the UI and mechanics will be the same as most, so let’s not dwell on camera angles and discuss resource management. Still, Laysara: Summit Kingdom’s USP is those exact things: swinging the camera about to get an overview of the mountain, setting up trade routes, and, in this case, ensuring every road connects to the mountain entry point.
Take The Higher Ground
Conceptually, this is a brilliant scenario. As the settlement expands, so do the technology and resources, making your new home highly sustainable despite the immediate risks. As you might imagine, space is restrictive for development, yet the only way is up. Building bridges and shafts increases the options and setting up new routes to supply each of your districts.
This was the weaker point for me with Laysara: Summit Kingdom. Though it’s fascinating to see how much agency your subjects have, in practice, it can be quite fiddly to connect one supply route to another, have enough workers available, have a steady supply of yaks, and maintain everybody’s needs with basic needs and, of course, enlightenment from their faith. It’s not always an easy task.
Nonetheless, Laysara: Summit Kingdom is even better than imagined. The resource balancing, management of structure placement, and sheer beauty of this city builder make it both a standout and a must for anyone looking for a solid strategy game with a difference while in the Early Access phase. It’s impressive, and I encourage you to ascend great heights and stand tall. That sounded more romantic in my head. Steam link below.
