Great modding community
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“Just make sure you also download Colonial Charter mod, which is basically like huge free dlc for it.”
Steam review · 21.6 h played ↗
Banished
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 90%Very Positive · 90%Shining Rock Software LLC2014City Builder · Colony Sim · Strategy
The verdict
A pioneering, simple survival city builder that is punishing to learn, relaxing once mastered, and kept alive by mods. Skip it if you need progression or late-game depth in vanilla.
Great for
Patient players who like resource balancing, cozy slow building, and mods
Main risk
After 10-15 hours there's little new to do, and dumb villager AI can wipe your town
What players love
Relaxing, cozy and addictive
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“This is my comfort game. I always come back to this game whenever I'm not sure what to play, in a bad mood or if it's a rainy fall day.”
Steam review · 499.7 h played ↗
Genre-defining classic
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“Banished was one of the earliest and most important games in the "Survival town builder" genre”
Steam review · 54.9 h played ↗
Simple yet deep and challenging
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“Do not confuse simplicity with lack of challenge, this sim can be unforgiving.”
Steam review · 234.9 h played ↗
Satisfying growth and survival
Mentioned in ~1 in 17 positive reviews
“Its just satisfying to watch the colony grow well and become self sustaining.”
Steam review · 82.8 h played ↗
Runs on almost anything
Mentioned in ~1 in 21 positive reviews
“it will run well on a potato and still looks good to this day”
Steam review · 23.7 h played ↗
What players complain about
Nothing to do after a few hours
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 negative reviews
“After a few hours you've seen it all and done it all.”
Steam review · 67 h played ↗
No progression, goals or tech tree
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“There was no advancement in technology. The game only got easier really.”
Steam review · 24.6 h played ↗
Unfair starvation and collapses
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“I ground down to the easiest level, best weather, and no disasters, and still had societal collapse.”
Steam review · 7.5 h played ↗
Dumb villager AI
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“The villigers in this game are too stupid to live.”
Steam review · 55.7 h played ↗
Poor UI and unclear mechanics
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews
“The prioritize feature is the most useless button Ive seen in a non early access game.”
Steam review · 18.8 h played ↗
Crashes, lag and bugs
Mentioned in ~1 in 10 negative reviews
“This is a fun game that crashes waaaaaaaay too often to be rated this highly.... Still crashes about once an hour”
Steam review · 303.6 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable250 MB
Minimum
OSWin XP SP3 / Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8
Processor2 GHz Intel Dual Core processor
Memory512 MB RAM
Graphics512 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible card (shader model 2)
Storage250 MB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 7 / Windows 8
ProcessorIntel Core i5 processor (or greater)
Memory512 MB RAM
Graphics512 MB DirectX 10 compatible card
Storage250 MB available space
OSWin XP SP3 / Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8
Processor2 GHz Intel Dual Core processor
Memory512 MB RAM
Graphics512 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible card (shader model 2)
Storage250 MB available space
More games to check
Other games we’ve read the reviews for
Northgard: Definitive Edition
Very Positive · 85%+ Clans play very differently
− Freezes and crashes since Definitive Edition
analyzed 4 h ago
Manor Lords
Very Positive · 85%+ Gorgeous, atmospheric medieval presentation
− Very slow development, little added
analyzed 10 h ago
Kingdom Two Crowns
Very Positive · 91%+ Relaxing, cozy atmosphere
− Repetitive, boring gameplay loop
analyzed 20 h ago
Frostpunk
Very Positive · 93%+ Satisfying challenge and survival pressure
− Too punishing, citizens never satisfied
analyzed 21 h ago
Weekly digest
Fresh games worth a look, in your inbox
The most interesting games we’ve just analyzed, once a week.Once a week we send the most interesting games we’ve just analyzed: the verdict, top pros and cons, and what changed. No spam.
One email a week · unsubscribe in one click