Hello fellow terraforming enjoyers, new game for your wishlist.
You've got a big, barren world with lots of resources to make use of, and all the tech to change it into a lush cradle of life: So get to it. That's the concept of Plan B: Terraform, a management, automation, and simulation strategy game that has you in charge of setting up a terraformed Plan B for a humanity that's struggling to keep Earth habitable.
More than anything, Plan B wants to be a"calm and contemplative" game with a realistic-yet-educational mindset. The developer is promising an"educational approach to greenhouse effects and water cycle mechanisms" and a"a global and real-time simulation of temperature, vegetation, rain and water flowing to form dynamic rivers and oceans."
Plan B: Terraform has a demo out as part of the Steam Next Fest. It's a taste of the in-development game that doesn't let you get very deep, but a promising one. While the full game intends to let you grow the planetary population"from a few inhabitants to a million and more," the demo's at that"few inhabitants" stage.
I think it'll be a hit with those who enjoyed games like Per Aspera, but wanted more granular production for resources and terraforming operations. It's like the Plan B developer is adding a dash of Factorio to the idea, then having a transport-tycoon-like twist involving moving resources over long distances to manufacturing or refining complexes.
The demo's a bit finicky, but in the spirit of Steam Next Fest it's a slice of an in-development game, not a polished bit of marketing. My biggest complaint is that it doesn't quite let you get into higher-tier logistics or resource movement—so it feels very micromanagement-heavy.