Let’s be honest, most survival games are boring. They’re usually always the same thing: survive in a big, open, empty world against a horde of zombies. But every so often a developer comes along with a unique idea for a survival game. Enter Solar Powered Games and their crack at the genre, Highrisers.

What sets this game apart from others in the genre is in the title. It’s not about running around a big open world and gather resources, but building a place to survive. And this isn’t just any place. The game sort of plays like a building game, along the lines of the recent Project Highrise in a way, in that you have to construct areas to live and work in.

The overall gameplay is still more along the lines of This War of Mine than it is a traditional building or management game, but it’s also got elements from that genre so it’s unique from most other survival games. You’ll still be scavenging for supplies, crafting, and making sure you’re fed and hydrated, but it’s in having to build and maintain the skyscraper you live in where the game is most interesting.

Can the developers do more with the survival genre than having us babysit our protagonists? Can they capitalize on the unique element of building and maintaining your home? For that, we’ll have to play the game and see – always the risk of Kickstarter.

About the Author

Josh Griffiths

Josh Griffiths is a writer and amateur historian. He has a passion for 3D platformers, narrative-driven games, and books. Josh is also Cliqist’s video producer. He’s currently working on his first novel, and will be doing so on and off for the next decade.

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