Timberborn Reviews
The game offers an original and thoughtful building simulator, which stands out especially for its emphasis on water management and active environment modification. Despite the absence of a story mode and occasional repetitiveness, it offers a deep and satisfying strategic experience.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Timberborn is a unique and engaging take on the city-building formula. Its charming presentation draws you in, while deep mechanics hook you completely. It reimagines the city-building genre with compelling water management challenges. While it has rough edges and a steep learning curve for beginners, the experience is both memorable and rewarding. Timberborn is one of the best city builders I’ve played, earning a 9 out of 10.
Timberborn biggest issue is the lack of a campaign or a similar, objective-based mode, which can leave inexperienced or casual players a bit disoriented, with the tutorial only partially helping. But if that doesn't scare you, or you can get enough dams under your belt to figure out what works and what doesn't, you're in for a great time.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Timberborn has spent a long time in early access now, and all that time was clearly worth it because the game is incredibly well-crafted with only a few minor caveats. If you are looking for a city builder with a more naturalistic tone and some cute beavers to protect, this might be the one for you.
Timberborn is a fun and charming city builder with a lot of character. For a game that's in early access, it's very polished and has a ton of content, both of which should increase as they get closer to a final release, and the developers are regularly updating the game and introducing new features and bug fixes.
Timberborn is one of the most interesting city builders in years with a charming style, unique lore, and mechanics that are easy to understand but tough to master.
Timberborn is a colony simulator with a fantastic core identity and some genuinely unique systems driving it, particularly when it comes to water management. While I personally found that the challenge, urgency, and sense of direction began to fade as I became more familiar with the mechanics, there is still a lot here to enjoy for players who like slower-paced, methodical colony builders, or those who really want to build a series of intricately designed beaver dams.
Timberborn is a good, almost natural, marriage of two genres that couldn’t quite surpass its own issues to become something greater than the sum of its parts. Late mechanics implementation, lower replayability than expected for a 1.0, and unhelpful tutorials all drag down an otherwise amazing game. There’s much holding it back and much holding it up, amounting to a great, but imperfect title overall.
Timberborn is an original take on the colony management genre that, without reinventing the wheel, manages to give it a very interesting twist focused on water control and vertical construction. It doesn't reach the narrative depth of Dwarf Fortress or the variety of events in RimWorld, but it offers a solid, well-designed experience with a very distinct identity. A more than remarkable debut for Mechanistry.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Timberborn’s systems may be less hardcore than others in the genre, but that’s what makes it brilliant. Offering unparalleled creative freedom, visuals and audio that’ll make you stop and stare, and a loop that really hooks you in, this one’s a winner. Lacking goals and end game may put some off, but for me, this is part of the charm.
Timberborn is the ultimate survival city builder and beautifully translates the power of beavers into gameplay.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Timberborn has a few minor hiccups and more than a few structural ones. Despite this, the game manages to gnaw itself into your hearts with its furry cast of beavers. Whether you are drawn by the practical, logical management or the aesthetic and pleasing city-building, you will be left enamored and hooked by the game.
Timberborn felt slow to start with however once you have grasped the fundamentals there is a lot to be focussing on. From gathering resources, and unlocking items through science, to building and looking after your furry minions, can you maintain your colony? For a game that has been developed by only a handful of people working from their homes, it is impressive to see such a well-refined game. The devs have been listening to the players and each update brings new concepts that have been based on feedback received. It is fantastic to see a company want to work with their audience and among other things, this has helped Timberborn be so successful. Timberborn receives the Thumb Culture Gold Award!