Stacklands

A unique take on the city builder genre, Stacklands invites players to build their dream villages using nothing more than cards. Building a city has never been easier – or more addictive – than it is in this cute indie title.

If you have a knack for incremental management games, and also traditional card games are your thing, then Stacklands was essentially tailored for someone like you. It’s worth mentioning, however, that the length of the game, coupled with its overall replayability, falls surprisingly short compared to other games of the genre.

Stack to Succeed

In Stacklands, players build a village using different cards that provide different commodities or units to construct your town. These cards are the essential unit around which every aspect of the gameplay is crafted. Imagine if Rimworld was made using just 2D card sprites, and you’ll get the gist of what Stacklands is all about.

To build their villages, players will have to stack cards of the same or compatible types to make up a building. The goal is to create the most efficient town possible, which can be done by balancing the different kinds of buildings and their functions.

Despite its original presentation, Stacklands does a great job of keeping most of its core gameplay mechanics easy enough for new players to understand. Its intuitive design allows for an almost instant understanding of how the game works, which only adds to its appeal for anyone looking to get into the genre.

Of course, not everything about the game centers around just resource-gathering and enjoying the view of your village thriving – there are also some light combat mechanics which the players have to deal with as well. These fights usually aren't too intense, but they do add a sense of danger to the otherwise peaceful gameplay.

Card Combat

Just as with everything else in the game, every combat encounter in Stacklands is resolved using cards. Equip your villager cards with weapons to maximize their combat efficiency, and watch as they mow down your enemies. The game does its best to ensure that these battles are fun and engaging for both casual and hardcore gamers.

With over 100 cards to collect, Stacklands invites players to customize and build their villagers and towns any way they like. However, due to the nature of the core gameplay, there’s little incentive to play the game more than once, as the end result is almost always the same.

Unlike a game like Cities Skylines, where players can focus their efforts on creating different types of towns, the villages in Stacklands always follow the same linear progression. It can be somewhat disappointing, but, at the very least, the short campaign turns this game into a bite-sized city builder that will appeal to players of any skill level.

If the card mechanic seems daunting at first, rest assured that it's actually quite simple. All you have to do is line up two or more of the same cards to create a building. Once you grasp that concept, you’ll be hooked on this game for hours on end.

Pros

• Simple gameplay that never feels too daunting
• Friendly to new players
• Hundreds of cards to collect and combine

Cons

• No real incentive to play it more than once
• Very short campaign for a game of this genre