Game review
Farlanders
7.5 / 10
- Developer
- Andrii Bychkovskyi
- Publisher
- Crytivo
- Released
- 17 January 2023
- Platforms
- Windows
- Genre
- City Builder, Turn-Based, Puzzle
- Monetisation
- One-time purchase. No advertisements or microtransactions.
- Players
- Single-player
The short version
Farlanders is a turn-based Mars colony-builder from solo Ukrainian developer Andrii Bychkovskyi, published by Crytivo and released 17 January 2023, in which you terraform tile-based terrain, construct buildings and manage a growing Martian settlement's resources at your own pace with no real-time pressure. It sits at a lifetime Very Positive 90.8% across 587 reviews, with recent sentiment holding at an essentially identical 91.0%. This review reads the full English negative sample — 31 reviews in total — and a substantial share of the positive one, and finds a genuinely well-loved, distinctive city-builder whose one real point of contention is its central mechanic: terraforming tiles are drawn from a randomised card system, which a meaningful share of players find satisfyingly puzzle-like and another meaningful share finds frustratingly uncontrollable, particularly in late-campaign missions.
Biggest strengths
- A genuinely rare and well-executed premise — turn-based city building with zero real-time pressure, drawing direct comparisons to SimCity, Theme Hospital and Startopia from reviewers who say they've wanted exactly this combination for years
- The terraforming-tile system is praised by a large share of reviewers as a genuinely clever puzzle layer once its rules are understood, rewarding players who learn to work around its randomness rather than fight it
- The developer has stayed actively engaged for over three years, shipping hotfixes, a softlock fix, French localisation and Steam Deck support as recently as January 2026
Biggest weaknesses
- The randomised terraforming card system draws consistent, specific frustration from a meaningful share of reviewers, who describe late-campaign missions as effectively unsolvable without repeated restarts to draw a workable starting hand
- No key rebinding or keyboard shortcuts, forcing all interaction through the mouse — a specific, repeated complaint from reviewers who find this makes extended or repeated play uncomfortable
- Some reviewers report a built-in colony-collapse mechanic that can spiral quickly once morale or trade falters, undermining slow, careful play with a sudden failure state
Who it's for: Fans of slow, turn-based management games who want genuine strategic planning without real-time pressure; a weaker fit for players who want a fully solvable, deterministic puzzle or who need keyboard controls and rebindable shortcuts.
Our recommendation: A genuinely distinctive, well-regarded colony-builder worth its low price — go in aware the terraforming system leans on randomness more than the marketing suggests, and treat restarts as part of the puzzle rather than a failure.
7.5 / 10
Introduction
Farlanders asks you to build a Mars colony one turn at a time, terraforming canyons and ice fields into buildable land, constructing housing and production chains, and managing trade and morale without a single real-time timer anywhere in the experience. Developed solo by Andrii Bychkovskyi and published by Crytivo, it released 17 January 2023 and sits at a lifetime Very Positive 90.8% across 587 reviews, with recent sentiment holding at an essentially identical 91.0%. This review reads the entire English-language negative sample — a manageable 31 reviews — alongside a substantial share of the positive one, and finds a genuinely distinctive, well-loved game whose handful of real complaints cluster around one specific system.
The city-builder players had been asking for
The clearest, most consistently expressed sentiment in this review's sample is relief at finding a genre combination reviewers describe wanting for years. "Finally THE game I have been looking for for decades," writes one of the most-upvoted reviews, comparing the experience to "Sim City, Theme Hospital, Startopia (with combat turned off) in Turn Based." Removing real-time pressure entirely lets players think through every decision fully, and several reviewers specifically credit that pacing for making the game feel calmer and more strategic than typical city-builders, without sacrificing genuine complexity in resource chains and building placement.
A terraforming system that splits opinion
The one substantial source of disagreement in this review's sample concerns how terrain gets shaped. Rather than freely sculpting the map, players draw randomised terraforming "cards" each turn, each with a preset shape that may or may not fit the spot they need. Defenders argue the system rewards adapting rather than dictating — one review states plainly that critics "clearly didn't play the game" properly, since more terraforming options exist than the shape-per-turn draw alone suggests. Critics describe the opposite experience specifically in later campaign missions, with one detailing restarting mission six "upwards of 100 times to get a starting map that wasn't basically unsolvable," and another summarising bluntly that the game is "100% random" rather than the solvable puzzle its early missions imply. Both readings describe the same system accurately — the disagreement is about how much randomness a given player is willing to tolerate in a genre that usually rewards deliberate planning.
A real, ongoing developer relationship
What strengthens the case for Farlanders beyond its initial reception is a genuinely sustained support record. The developer shipped a fix for a mission-5 softlock, added French localisation, improved Steam Deck cursor behaviour, and posted a hotfix as recently as January 2026 — three years after launch. Notably, the developer also announced a new project in July 2025 while continuing to patch Farlanders, a pattern several reviewers in this library have seen elsewhere among solo developers balancing a finished game against new ambitions, without necessarily abandoning the original. A small number of specific complaints, including two reportedly unresolved challenge modes as of mid-2025, are worth flagging honestly rather than glossing over, but they sit alongside a clearly still-active relationship with the game rather than a quiet walkaway.
Final Verdict
Farlanders delivers a genre combination this review's own sample describes as rare and long wanted — turn-based, pressure-free city building with real strategic depth — and backs it with a developer who has kept improving the game for three years running. Its one real point of friction, a randomised terraforming system that some players find delightfully puzzle-like and others find frustratingly uncontrollable in the late game, is worth knowing about before buying, but it hasn't stopped the overwhelming majority of this review's sample from recommending it warmly. At its low price, this is an easy pick for anyone who's been waiting for exactly the kind of calm, turn-based management experience its most enthusiastic reviewers describe.
Pros and cons
Pros
- A genuinely rare and well-executed premise — turn-based city building with zero real-time pressure, drawing direct comparisons to SimCity, Theme Hospital and Startopia from reviewers who say they've wanted exactly this combination for years
- The terraforming-tile system is praised by a large share of reviewers as a genuinely clever puzzle layer once its rules are understood, rewarding players who learn to work around its randomness rather than fight it
- The developer has stayed actively engaged for over three years, shipping hotfixes, a softlock fix, French localisation and Steam Deck support as recently as January 2026
- A calm, low-stress pace that lets players think through decisions fully before committing, distinct from most city-builders in the genre
Cons
- The randomised terraforming card system draws consistent, specific frustration from a meaningful share of reviewers, who describe late-campaign missions as effectively unsolvable without repeated restarts to draw a workable starting hand
- No key rebinding or keyboard shortcuts, forcing all interaction through the mouse — a specific, repeated complaint from reviewers who find this makes extended or repeated play uncomfortable
- Some reviewers report a built-in colony-collapse mechanic that can spiral quickly once morale or trade falters, undermining slow, careful play with a sudden failure state
- A handful of specific bugs, including a mission-5 softlock (since patched) and two reportedly unresolved challenge modes, have drawn complaints as recently as 2025
Screenshots
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FarlandersImage: Crytivo via Steam -
FarlandersImage: Crytivo via Steam -
FarlandersImage: Crytivo via Steam -
How the review scores each part of the gameWanderer Editorial -
The essentials at a glanceWanderer Editorial -
The short versionWanderer Editorial