Block’hood’s Futuristic Cities Look Damn Cool

The latest SimCity was a total mess. It did have a few good ideas, though. Now one of them is getting its own game.

Block’hood is a game about building vertical cities, something SimCity experimented with in its Cities of Tomorrow expansion. Vertical cities are seen by some as a solution to real-world population and environment issues, but it’s still (very) early days on that stuff. A city building game about that, though? That strikes me as a very different sort of experience, something far removed from the chaotic urban sprawls that make up many of the genre’s heaviest hitters.

Also, it’s a uniquely clean, colourful look. Check it out:

This one sounds like it will be less about people and more about creative construction of systems and infrastructure, which could be awesome or kinda dull (I don’t know about you, but I love fucking with people in these types of games). Here’s the game’s Steam Greenlight description:

Block’hood is a city-building simulator that celebrates the diversity and experimentation of cities. You will have full access to 80+ building blocks to create and combine unique neighbourhoods, and discover the hidden inhabitants of each combination.

The game will embark in a story of ecology, understanding how resources are needed to unlock new configurations and allow prosperous neighbourhoods. You will need to avoid the decay of your city block by making sure each unit doesn’t run out of Resources.

Create farms, collect energy, build schools and process waste to keep your neighbourhood healthy! Or build industry, harvest oil, and research technology to earn money! The game is fully open for your decisions and your style of play.

The block-based system could end up overly simplistic, but it looks to me almost like a sort of Lego City Builder — intuitive, but with room for creativity and complexity. If nothing else, I’m into the idea.

Block’hood is set to come out later this year. I look forward to trying it out around then unless somebody mods the entire game into Cities: Skylines before it even comes out (a very real possibility these days, tbh).

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