Minimalist city builders are something of a sub-trend these days, filling in the void between the remake wannabes (Cities: Skylines), the artistically inclined (Frost Punk), and the downright overwhelming (pretty much anything that also has an air of grande strategy in it, take your pick from Paradox Studios' catalogue outside of the aforementioned Cities) of the genre. And there is some good reason for that, for sure, as there is always something satisfying about running a park, building a city, or just generally watching a spot of land turn into something living and complex, but the effort required for most of these games is just over the line of "relaxing" at times (Cities may be the exception here, a great game in its own right and the Sim City sequel we deserve and very relaxing).
Enter Islanders, an arcade-y city builder that has you placing buildings from different industries with the ultimate goal of getting the highest score possible. In execution, this is simple enough: each building has a base point value, and an added or subtracted point value for different buildings in the approximate area. A city center has a base value of something like 15 points, and it goes up by 4 points if there is, for example, a statue within its range. There are some buildings, such as the huts, that lose point value if too close to buildings like a circus. Placement of buildings is obviously key, but this gets a little more complicated as getting another set of buildings is locked behind a point gate. You start the game able to pick one of two industries whose buildings you want to place. You are then given some of those buildings, and you want to place them in a way that, at the very least, meets the point cap of the point gate. If you pass the point cap, you get to choose one of two industries again, be it a new industry or the same one, while also gaining usually one or two buildings of the industry you chose previously. If during a "turn" you are unable to meet your point gate minimum, it's game over and you have to start the game from scratch.
The game is incredibly simple, and there are many microstrategies to develop depending on where you are in the game. As you progress, you will unlock more and more islands, each getting bigger to fit more stuff on it, but to move to a new island is to abandon the one you've been working on, forever. Working on an island until you can no longer pass the point gate isn't a bad strategy, since the unlock for the next island does not disappear just because you don't get another "turn". Likewise, when working on the city section of your island, it is a good idea to leave a small spot open for a fountain or tower, buildings that generally net you a lot of points all at once.
There are many of these little city builder games out there, but one of the reasons Islanders sticks with me a little better is because it doesn't feel to really have a cap. Since its focus is on the arcade part more than anything else, it allows for a lot more replay value to try and make your little towns more and more efficient. It is design meant to be fun for long periods of time, not just pleasing for the moment. Islanders doesn't wow by any means, and it doesn't innovate either, but what it does do is provides a fun little experience that scratches a particular itch without being overwhelming or requiring a tiring amount of pre-game to learn the ropes. You can pretty well jump right in and figure it out. Islanders is also slightly addictive, something akin to a lighter 2048, one for the healthy adult not the one who can't look away from their phone. That is to say, you can turn Islanders off easy enough, but you are likely to come back later. Plus, there's something so soothing and beautiful about the way it looks.
7.5
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