Unique, satisfying water mechanics
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“the interaction with water and seasons is unlike anything else out there”
Steam review · 329.8 h played ↗
Timberborn
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Overwhelmingly PositiveOverwhelmingly Positive · 96%Mechanistry2026City Builder · Colony Sim · Sandbox
−30%$34.99$24.49
US Steam price, checked 5 h ago
The verdict
A charming, deep water-management city builder with vertical building and great replayability. Skip it if you need goals, lasting challenge, or want huge colonies on a modest PC.
Great for
Players who enjoy sandbox city builders, engineering puzzles, water physics and Factorio-style tinkering
Main risk
Once water and food are stable the challenge fades, leaving a goal-less sandbox that feels aimless
What players love
Addictive "just one more thing" loop
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“makes sure you always have "just one more thing" to do before you finish playing for the night”
Steam review · 155.2 h played ↗
Charming, cozy beaver art and atmosphere
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“one of the most appealing colony management sims on the market, with super cozy vibes and adorable beavers!”
Steam review · 420.9 h played ↗
Creative vertical building and sandbox freedom
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“you can go completely nuts with your industry after you get your basic needs met, flatten the entire map if you want, build huge water tanks”
Steam review · 1895.9 h played ↗
High replayability and mod support
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“Immensely replayable”
Steam review · 1895.9 h played ↗
Great ongoing developer support
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 positive reviews
“Great game with great devs that have constantly been improving the depth and mechanics of the game”
Steam review · 583.1 h played ↗
What players complain about
No goals; becomes boring once stable
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 negative reviews
“once the player has a basic survival setup, the game proper is over, everything left is a sandbox.”
Steam review · 4.3 h played ↗
Weak tutorial and unexplained mechanics
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“There's basically no tutorial or instruction for this game.”
Steam review · 1.6 h played ↗
Poor late-game performance
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 negative reviews
“This game turns into an absolute slideshow after 300+ bevers.”
Steam review · 512.7 h played ↗
Removal of sluice and automation changes
Mentioned in ~1 in 15 negative reviews
“They removed sluices from the game and made damns a giant resource dumb with pumps and power”
Steam review · 180.4 h played ↗
Crashes and autosave problems
Mentioned in ~1 in 19 negative reviews
“Das Spiel crashed im Minutentakt, entweder beim Laden von Spielständen oder beim automatischen Speichern.”
Steam review · 12.2 h played ↗
No sound effects for beaver activity
Mentioned in ~1 in 25 negative reviews
“No construction sounds when they hammer on things. No sounds at all for any of their activities.”
Steam review · 16.6 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable3 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 10 or newer
Processor4-core 1.7 GHz or better
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsGeForce GTX 950, Radeon R9 380 or similar
Storage3 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 11 or newer
Processor4-core 2.9 GHz or better
Memory16 GB RAM
GraphicsGeForce RTX 2070, Radeon RX 5700 or similar
Storage5 GB available space
OSWindows 10 or newer
Processor4-core 1.7 GHz or better
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsGeForce GTX 950, Radeon R9 380 or similar
Storage3 GB available space
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