Dawnfolk

Game Title: Dawnfolk
Released: February 13, 2025
Game Length: N/A
Grade: B+

Menu

Achievements: When you are first starting, almost every feature of the game comes with a cost. You can play through the first few levels of the story and earn more of this currency. Once you unlock more levels, you can choose to unlock various scenarios that add unusual restrictions and rules to the game. There are a number of puzzles that test your knowledge on how to build resources or make progress before a day passes. There is a sandbox and endless mode if you want to customize your experience. Though, you are always allowed to continue after reaching your goal in a level. 

Options: The currency you earn from performing activities can also unlock a number of modifiers. These include Easter Eggs where you can evolve a building or structure into a weird soundtrack tile. Cheats, as well as maluses that hinder your game, are available but expensive to unlock. There is a creator's codex that spells out what each tile does and how to extrapolate some events in the game. There's a few expensive filters to change how the game looks or works.

 Gameplay

Currency: You start with a house tile with five different kinds of materials to manage: light, workforce, food, resources, and science. Houses and stabled horses can increase your workforce. Crops and fenced cows can increase your food. If you build structures next to specific other ones, then you will earn bonus currency and a chance to establish special tiles adjacent to those. Light functions as a way to unlock dark tiles that might be visible on the board. Any tiles that are lit can be manipulated or interactable in some fashion. Conversions are also very common where you send the workforce into a forest to retrieve the same amount of resources or send the workforce to a well to gather light. The amount you gain, or lose, depends on what all the tiles are generating when a day passes. It might only take a few seconds for a day to pass, but you are able to pause or even force a day to advance instantly at any time.

Science: While a rare commodity, science attaches a unique function to one of your buildings. Some will allow you to change tiles from deserts to plains or build mountains. Others might make it cheaper to build things or cost less when you are fighting. A few obscure ones will change how the mini-games function from making them easier, giving you more rewards, or skip them entirely. You earn one science every time you upgrade your house. There's a chance you can barter one from a trader ship or marketplace. One can be randomly found simply playing through the game.

Factions: The game does more than have you balance your material. Occasionally you will find other beings in the world: druids, witches, orcs, pirates, dragons, elves, and dwarves just to name some. The game can drastically change depending on who you encounter in the game. Elves are sensitive to how you treat the forest and animals. They will reward or punish you accordingly. Orcs can sometimes tear down your buildings or steal food. While you are given a choice to fight each type, sometimes finding a more peaceful solution or tolerating their actions might be a better option. 

Darkness: Without having some form of opposition to prevent you from infinitely advancing time for more resources would make the game very boring. The game develops a form of darkness that impedes your progress and potentially end the game. After some days pass and it starts to rain, dark storms will appear in the distance. These will start out strong and require a lot of light to counteract. You can wait these storms out as it spreads over a number of lit tiles. Dark monoliths keep the darkness strong and can influence your people into a cult. Flying monoliths can dissipate tiles entirely into the nothingness, including your home. While you can temporarily stun them, destroying these would be more top priority. 

 Summary

Review: Dawnfolk may appear rather simple but has an abundant tile system. There are small little mini-games you play to gain extra resources or reduce the initial cost. Random events keep you on your toes with an amount of uncertainty when considering your options. There's a decent number of scenarios that will keep you entertained for quite awhile. The $15 price wasn't bad for something I played for a week. I definitely would give it a shot.