New Cycle builds a post-apocalypse where you’re in control

thesixthaxis.com:

The world never looks particularly inviting in the future does it? The stability of buildings reaches an all-time low, there seems to have been an increase in sand, and any human beings spend a good deal of time being bothered by some form of irradiated wildlife. It’s bleak, and New Cycle, the latest post-apocalyptic city builder from Core Engage, captures that bleakness with a surety and poise that you may actually wonder how on Earth you’re having any fun. And yet, you are.

Now, as city/settlement builders go, we’ve recently been blessed by the thoroughly more colourful Pioneers of Pagonia, and while they couldn’t be further removed graphically, narratively, or in terms of attitude, they share that same city-building core that remains as compelling as it has ever been. Pop down a shelter or two, start chopping down trees, and you’re halfway there already.

Yes, that’s reductive, but the brain-massaging pleasure of constructing your own little hamlet and having it grow and expand, steadily improving in technology and complexity, remains one of gaming’s most sublime pastimes. However, much like its spiritual sibling Frostpunk, there’s a darkness that lurks within New Cycle.

It brings an uneasiness to everything you do, not least because your township is constantly on the brink of failure, under siege by nature itself as well as the needs of its citizens. New Cycle is all the more compelling because of it, and while you might be chopping down trees, there’s a necessity to get them chopped down just that little bit sooner.

New Cycle’s bleak outlook begins with the narrative and setting. This is an Earth that’s been ravaged by solar flares. It’s best not to think too hard about the fact that this is all entirely scientifically possible and plausible, and accept the fact that the world burned, and with it, much of humanity. As one of the ‘lucky’ survivors, your place in it needs carving out, and you take the lead in bringing a ragtag group together, starting the foundations