Disclaimer
I was sent a free copy of Verde 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.
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Table of Contents
What is Verde?
Verde is a cozy village builder where you build a village of magical seed beings known as seedlets. The game is out now on Steam, with demo you need to try.
Hook
You are now a proud member of the magical gardening club. You have all year to build and grow a town of seedlets. Build and customize the many buildings that from cafes to flower shops to attract the many seedlets that will help grow your town. How big will your village be?
Verde doesn’t have a correct build path or an optimal strategy. Instead, the game encourages creativity and allows the players discover their city at their own pace. Don’t like your original design? Change it and do it better. If you want a village management game without the stress of actually playing one, boot up Verde and watch the cute little seedlets enjoy their new life.
Gameplay
Players can do a story mode or sandbox mode. The story is more of a flavored tutorial that takes players through the games mechanics while tying the actions to the gardening club. Sandbox mode lets players build at their own pace and enjoy the calm relaxing vibes of the Verde universe.
In some ways, Verde is your typical village management game. Players build structures to attract villagers who earn currency to buy more buildings. What makes the game unique is that you don’t have manage the villagers. Villagers live their life and will note their demands. It is the player’s job as the all powerful architect to deliver on these needs. The game lets players customize their buildings, and even reorganize their village with a few button presses. There is also incentive to decorate the town and make it look pretty. This is great for those who enjoy decorating for fun, bad for people like me without vision.
What makes the game so casual is that you can’t really brick a run. I’ve played a lot of village builders where you kind of need a guide to get far in the game or risk bricking the game. Games like Goblins of Elderstone are fine, but sometimes I don’t want to worry about ruining a run because I wasn’t playing optimally. If you want a game to sit back and relax to, this might be your game.
Review
I’ve played a good amount of village builders since starting this whole journey, and Verde is one of my favorites. I don’t like it as much as Steam World: Build or Wandering Village, but I do appreciate the cozy experience the game offers. As I get older, I find that I am developing a deeper appreciation for games that let me sit down and relax for a bit. Games where I don’t have to worry about winning, losing, or dying. With Verde I just got to enjoy a cute adorable world for a lot longer than I realized.
Aesthetic
What first drew me to Verde was the art. The game is incredibly cute with a fun and vibrant world you won’t be able to step away from. I love that you can customize each building so you aren’t bound by the same archetypes, I just wish I was more creative. The game offers lots of options to customize and create a unique city and sets the mood with a cozy music to keep you engaged, but in the least stressful way possible. If you fall in love with the game’s cutesy artstyle, you have to at least try the demo.
Gameplay
I was ready to use all my years of city planning in City Skylines to create the most efficient magical metropolis this game has ever seen, I was sort of relieved it wasn’t as realistic. The game does offer obstacles like spaces with water or cold to work around, but the game gives you free reign to do what you want. If I was more creative, my village wouldn’t look like the random collection of buildings I am too ashamed to share with anymore. That said, I really enjoy that I didn’t have to stress about properly planning my village so long as my seedlets were happy.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the strategy required in city planning. I play a lot of these games, and always without guides. I love figuring things out but always hate that all my effort is wasted when I get stuck. Either I build too fast, I don’t generate enough resources, or the freaking wolves eat my goblins. I will keep playing these games, even if they require the strategy, but there is something so perfect with a game that lets me build a village without stressing me out. I have enough stress in my life as it is.
All this is to say that Verde is fantastic for the gamer who doesn’t want to have a guide open or look up tutorials. It is a game where you can sit back and be creative, and that has a lot of value.
Conclusion
Verde is the cozy game you have been looking for. The game has a cute aesthetic with a very relaxing soundtrack to help you unwind. If you’ve ever wanted to design a city where the only limit is your imagination, Verde is your home. If you are looking for something harder and darker, maybe check out New Cycle.