SteamWorld Build

SteamWorld Build is a cross-genre video game. The first part of the game tasks the players to construct and manage a mining town on an alien planet. Players need to construct roads, infrastructure, amenities, and houses for their population. Players need to satisfy the needs of the town's residents and maintain their happiness ratings.

As the player progresses, they will be able to unlock new buildings and technologies, as well as upgrading their workforce. The town's progress is measured via milestones, which is determined by the town's overall population, with each inhabitant assigned to one of four different categories, which are gradually unlocked as the milestones are cleared: Workers for unskilled labor; Engineers for working on heavy machinery; Aristobots who establish various kinds of industry; and Scientists who focus on researching and developing new technologies.

Set during the events of SteamWorld Dig 2, with the planet's destruction imminent, Jack Clutchsprocket arrives at an abandoned mine along his daughter Astrid and a group of refugees. They are guided by the mysterious bot "Core", who told them that inside the mine are the materials they need to assemble a rocket they can use to escape the planet. Just after settling their base, they are approached by an old, battered bot called "Trader", who assists them in their mission.

As they gather parts to build the rocket, Astrid is contacted by the Ancient Signal that controls the machinery there, warning her about an imminent danger, when the rocket is completed, Core reveals himself as part of the Vectron Hivemind, who deceived the bots into build the rocket so they can escape the planet. Pursued by the Vectron machines, Trader stays behind, sacrificing himself to allow the others to escape the planet. Once in space, the bots depart to look for a new home to settle, unaware that the Vectron Hivemind has infiltrated their systems.

SteamWorld Build was developed by a team of 40 people in The Station, a studio owned by Thunderful Development, with franchise director Brjánn Sigurgeirsson overseeing its development. Build is the first SteamWorld game not developed by the original team in Sweden. The Station was previously known for developing art and assets for LittleBigPlanet games. Development of the game began in early 2020.

Developers compared the game to the Anno series by Ubisoft and the Dungeon Keeper series from Bullfrog Productions, though the team strived to ensure that the game's two styles of gameplay are not independent of each other. The story of the game runs parallel to that of SteamWorld Dig 2 and features both new and returning characters from previous SteamWorld games. When asked why the studio decided to make a city-building game, director Andreas Persson commented that SteamWorld was a franchise that "lends itself to experimentation". He explained that the design goal was to combine the series' familiar mining mechanics with previously unexplored gameplay concepts to create something "unique".

According to review aggregator Metacritic, the PC and the Switch versions of the game received "mixed or average" reviews while the Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions received "generally favourable" reviews.

TJ Denzer from Shacknews praised the game's complexity, writing that "what begins as a pretty typical city builder, quickly becomes multi-faceted management of a city of robots above and a mine that has the resources they need beneath". He particularly enjoyed how the game remixed core concepts of the SteamWorld series, recommending the game to both fans of the series and players who enjoyed playing city-building games. Sam Loveridge from GamesRadar+ praised the game for its accessibility, remarking that the game is suitable for players who are new to the genre, though "there's enough complexity that it still works for someone more au fait with them". He also praised the dungeon crawling aspect of the game for adding additional layers for management and making the game "more satisfying".