Game Review: The Colonists (Xbox One)

Build a new home for your team of robots as they begin a new life for themselves on a distant planet where they can fulfil their ultimate dream: to be human.

An addictive world-building game, The Colonists is very simple looking on the surface but has a surprisingly decent amount of depth. Accessible to all, the gameplay is clever and easy to get to grips with. Not something that you can often say about strategy games.

A well-thought-out tutorial gives you the basics before you’re dropped into the game properly and tasked with creating a civilisation. A robot civilisation. Begin by building basic structures like mines, lumber mills, farms and wells. This is so you can start getting resources to expand, your colony of robots turning resources into energy used to sustain and grow.

Your small community will quickly grow but growth demands more resources and more expansion. Eventually, you’ll have thriving societies with transportation to other islands and more as you research and develop your way into the future. Dirt paths become busy roads, ramshackle houses become luxurious homes, orchards grow and the depths of the world are being plumed to find the rarest of material.

Although, watch out because there are other colonies out there that might see your development as a threat.

It’s a wonderful game that has such a relaxing feel to things. Watching your robots go about their business with limited input from the player. Seeing your tiny colony grow to enormous sizes and defending yourself easily from would be attackers. It’s fun and very addictive as there’s always something new to build or research.

The campaign mode – 14 missions in total – tasks you with completing a specific objective. Normally something that you have to develop your colony quite a bit to get too. There’s also the added challenge of completing the mission in a certain amount of time to get the best award possible. You can take your time and complete it at your own leisure or go for the gold medal standard. That’s where replay value comes from, as well as sandbox mode.

There’s not a lot wrong with The Colonists. Every so often the research menu, when clicking on the building, would be blank but that was rectified by going through the radial menu. Sometimes your robots will stop working and you won’t really know why. It could be easier to understand what resources are needed for what building and the road system isn’t perfect. These are all small complaints though as the game is great.

It looks nice, the music is sweet and relaxing, gameplay is very satisfying and most importantly, it is fun to play. There is a real feeling of satisfaction when seeing your robot city bustling with life you helped create.