Disclaimer
I was sent a free copy of Goblins of Elderstone to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.
Table of Contents
What is Goblins of Elderstone?
Goblins of Elderstone is a challenging new village builder out now on Steam.
Hook
Help build a mighty goblin empire as you brave the elements, gather resources, and build the next great civilization. But this is no easy task. Goblins are a chaotic race that tends to be a bit unruly. While you may set your orders, it won’t always get done. There are also dangers that hunt the goblins down if you aren’t careful. Can you master the chaos, or will the chaos become overwhelming and brick your run?
Gameplay
Players take control of a small group of goblin settlers as they work towards building a mighty goblin empire. Players command goblins to gather materials, build structures, or do combat. This is pretty much your standard village builder, but the Goblins tend to do their own thing from time to time. Some times, goblins will go on their own adventure, eat, fight enemies, or huddle by the fire for warmth. It is a bit of an unpredictable twist to the genre, but one that can find its niche in the genre.
Review
I have mixed feelings about Goblins of Elderstone. One one hand, I appreciate the attempt at rejuvenating the genre with a fresh take. On the other, this game is a little broken.
Aesthetic
Goblins of Elderstone has a quirky, boxy aesthetic that gives it its cozy vibe. The more I played the game, the more bland the setting looked. The RNG for map generation needs work. Some maps look fun to explore, and others feel barren with very little in between. I don’t think there was much visually that drew me to this game, especially when you compare it to games like Steam World Build or The Wandering Village.
Gameplay
The game is a little buggy. Pathing for some of the characters doesn’t always work. There are a few bugs, but the devs seem to be working hard on ironing them out. The main draw for this game is the difficulty. Unlike other village builders, Goblins of Elderstone is meant to be hard. I recommend checking out a guide because being inefficient in this game will brick your run. I usually get a couple into a run before I have to reset and follow a guide, but for this game, it was almost instant. Some of the difficulty can be the poor RNG that seems to pollute some of the seeds. Sometimes you get super unlucky and get stuck with a base that has nothing around it. Some people might enjoy the challenge, but I just want to sit back and watch my little goblins work.
Conclusion
I have a hard time recomending Goblins of Elderstone because of the difficulty. After looking up guides and planning my builds a little better, my experience improved, but I still have a hard time picking this over something like Reus 2. The game isn’t bad, it just isn’t my style. The game is meant for people who like a more realistic and chaotic approach to village building. As calculated as you want to be, sometimes your goblins want to do something else and you have to just work around it. Not to mention that you can brick your run early if you aren’t paying attention. I prefer a cozy village builder that lets me sit back and relax. I don’t want to have to have a city planning degree. While I wouldn’t say it is as realistic as City Skylines, the chaos within its code gives the game its charm. It just wasn’t enough to charm me.
If you fancy yourself a more serious village builder and don’t a bit of RNG to shake things up, Goblin of Elderstone is in a good enough spot to earn its MSRP. There are some bugs, but you’ll apprecaite the challenge. If you are here for the cozier side of village builders, check out Fabledom.
You can pick up Globlins of Elderstone on Steam.