DoubleD Games announced that WizardCraft Colonies, a top-down colony building simulator for the Windows PC, is available on Steam Early Access.
WizardCraft Colonies is a base-building, colony management game for the Windows PC. The players main aim is to keep your colony alive while expanding your base.
The player can control everything a villager does in WizardCraft Colonies, from the time they sleep and work, to what potions and weapons they should carry. It’s also possible to set which different jobs each villager should undertake. To expand your base you will need plenty of coin. There are many ways to earn coin, you could either sell gathered resources, sell crops and fruit or raise cattle. In addition your villagers will pay a daily tax for living in your colony. Players can also manually control any villager, equip a weapon, and then visit new random generated lands to defeat enemies and gather coin.
There are currently 4 different biomes in WizardCraft Colonies each with their own survival difficulties, Grasslands, Swamp, Desert and Volcanic. In desert regions water is scarce while in volcanic regions you must keep your peasants cool due to hot temperatures. When you start a new map in WizardCraft Colonies it is randomly generated and split into 9 different regions which each have their own level caps and monsters.
Some Key Features Include:
An army marches on its stomach – To keep your villagers fed crops can be grown, these must be grown during the right season to optimize growth. In addition, food can be cooked. Cooked food will satisfy more hunger and will provide a happiness boost.
Its thirsty work – Before you can grow crops you will need ample amounts of water, this can be sourced from a well or a nearby lake. Your villagers and cattle will also need to be kept hydrated if they are too carry on working.
Weather – In WizardCraft Colonies it will rain or snow at certain times. When it rains all crops are instantly watered reducing the workload for your villagers. In some biomes it will rain more than it does in others.
Cattle – Another way to feed your villagers is by raising cattle. Cattle can be slaughtered for meat, milked for milk or lay eggs. Cattle will also mate and produce offspring which can be sold for coin.
Powering your base – As your base expands you will need manatricity which is WizardCraft Colonies version of electricity. There are many ways to produce manatricity, either with solar panels, wind turbines or by burning coal. Each has their own benefits and drawbacks. For example; solar panels will only work at night, wind turbines only work while its windy and coal generators produce a lot pollution.
Pets – Some of the critters in WizardCraft Colonies may eat your crops or raid your stockpiles for food. To keep them under control you can have pets around your base. Pets can be named but you must also meet their basic needs by feeding them and giving them water.
Seasons – There are four seasons in WizardCraft Colonies, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The seasons will affect how well certain crops will grow, also fruit trees will only produce fruit in a specific season. In winter you must protect your crops from the cold by placing greenhouses above them. In winter it is also possible to walk over lakes as they become frozen.
Keeping Warm/Cool – Winter can be a tough season for your colony, to keep them warm you will have to provide sources of heat around your base. In Summer, especially in desert regions your colony might become too hot, so you will need cooling towers to keep them cool. If a villager becomes too hot or cold they will slowly lose health and could die.
Happiness – Everyone knows that a happy villager is the most productive villager, so to keep your colony happy you can place furniture around your base and provide them with cooked food or beer. For the younger villagers you can place toys for them to play with.
A new generation – It is possible for your colony to have children, who will grow up and work in your base. Additionally villagers will also get old and die as time passes by.
Staying alive – From time to time your base may come under attack by grizzly bears or monsters. To defend your base you can build walls, set traps, or place defensive towers which will attack any creatures that wander too close to your base.
Tame enemies – With charm weapons, you can tame enemies who will then fight along side your colony.
Creating an army – To further defend your base, your villagers can equip weapons and fight. If a villager picks up a sword he will become a knight, an archer if they have a bow or a wizard if they pick up a staff. Weapons in WizardCraft Colonies can be equipped and unequipped at any time.
Horses – Your villagers can get about more quickly by mounting a horse at any time.
Manual control – Villagers can be manually controlled at any time. It is also possible to take them on an ‘Adventure’ and visit new random generated lands.
Getting Stronger – Your villagers have a leveling system, as they fight or train they will gain XP and level up, making them stronger. When your colony is strong enough you can visit tougher regions of the map which will have new and stronger monsters. villager will pass on their level to any children they may have. For example, a level 20 and a level 10 villager will produce a level 15 baby.
Potions – One of the most important resources in WizardCraft Colonies are the potions. When a villager is low on health they will use health potions to heal themselves, without them they will simply die. There are a lot of different potions in WizardCraft Colonies, a few of them include, health, mana, invisibility, teleportation and magic defence potions.
Social Interactions – Villagers will interact socially and may become friends, enemies or even lovers.
More features will be added to WizardCraft Colonies during Early Access.