Plan B: Terraform is an upcoming early access strategy game from the minds at Gaddy Games. With Earth ravaged by the effects of climate change, it’s up to players to implement Plan B and create a new, sustainable home for humanity.
Plan B: Terraform is billed by Gaddy Games as a “calm and contemplative science-fiction game,” which is atypical for similar resource-management simulators. Players start from scratch on a brand new planet and must use the resources available to slowly but surely terraform the entire planet. Despite the end-of-the-world setting, the world of Plan B: Terraform really is a calm experience. The art direction combined with contemplative music help create a relaxed environment despite the premise of the game and the genre at large tending to be stressful. It’s an extremely delicate balance, but Gaddy Games have nailed it so far.
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The gameplay loop in Plan B: Terraform is quite simple, at least from the beginning. Players need to place extractors down to obtain resources from the planet’s surface and then build factories to refine those resources. Those resources are then connected to specialized buildings that can produce highly-specialized buildings or equipment. That loop stays the same as the game progresses, but as your city begins to expand, the options start to multiply. The added complexity of creating roads and transport routes to get supplies to the cities felt a little overwhelming at first, but I very quickly realized it really is as simple as it seems.
There is a lot to be said about simplicity in strategy games, especially ones that take place on such a large scale as Plan B: Terraform. There is an entire planet to work with, but it never feels like there is just way too much to do. I even noticed by the time I had exhausted certain areas of their resources I already had more than enough to build what I needed to start mining a new location. It helps make it so you don’t need to wipe the surface clean of all resources, which is important since that’s what got humanity into this mess in the first place. I’m really interested to see how Plan B: Terraform continues to expand this as they work through the early access process.
I was immediately intrigued by Plan B: Terraform before I had even launched the game, and yet I was still pleasantly surprised at how relaxing an experience it was. Even at this early stage, it feels like a polished game that anyone can enjoy. It would be nice to see some different modes and challenges added in the future, but even now it is well worth taking the time to check out.
Plan B: Terraform launches in early access on February 15th.
