Tycoons and RTS are on sale

Our personal territory, which rises after a lot of struggle, and then we manage and defend it against all sorts of enemies or disasters. It is tycoon day on Steam, so I've gone digging! Maybe I could find a hidden gem and a few more games I'd like to pick up....

...Specially now that I'm mostly done with Dead by Daylight, having met all of my ingame goals - Rank 3 as the Wraith killer and unlocking all the good perks for survivors.

Orders Of The Ruler (click)

Let's start with something I am considering picking up. Orders Of The Ruler's developers are medieval RTS gamers who might be somewhat new to game development, but are certainly not low-effort. They have been updating their game for the past year, slowly but surely fixing and adding crucial features. Heck, it even has working multiplayer. This team's goal was adding a new medieval RTS to the market, acknowledging there hasn't been almost any great games after Age of Empires.

Despite how the only two reviews on their store page are complaints about crashes, you'll easily be misled to believe the game doesn't work. But browsing through their game news, I've found out there have been several updates which have fixed every single reported bug and added a lot of crucial features. My only pet peeve is how they don't seem to have a Discord server. How can I arrange games with others if there is no easy way to contact them!? I'm going to buy this game if they start one.

Conan Unconquered (click)

First of all, if this game interests you, get They Are Billions if you haven't played it yet. Because it's a well done clone of that game but in the Conan universe, using Conan Exiles' character models. This is not really a RTS, but a Tower Defense game, where huge, gigantic armies try to break into your territory. A challenging, and beautiful experience which does add a few new things in the formula: fire, diseases and two-player online coop.

Although the campaign mode is just for show, not actually holding any story telling elements, it holds its own as a fun game. Coop is well done, but fire is too destructive. That would be okay, but your troops don't know how to deal with it appropriately. Dealing with fires caused by enemies is a chore. You have to put it all out nearly manually, as your troops don't automatically queue up helping exhausting it on the building or wall right next to the one they just worked on.

But the experience is otherwise great if you don't expect a story. Worth picking up if you've enjoyed They Are Billions because it's some more of what you already love. Oh, despite having a free DLC available, don't expect further updates after your purchase, because its development cycle has ended.

SugarMill (click)

This is not meant to be a RTS at all, but a very realistic tycoon. Do you want to build a house? You'll have to transport 300KG of wood. For which you'll need crates if you want villagers to start transporting materials. Your people get thirsty, too! Quench them or they'll die. Even food items have expiration. Crafting is equally detailed, as even forging a nail will require you to mine ore, melt it and then have a blacksmith shape it out.

But why do all of these things? To trade, of course! Your village has a port. Ships from other places will come to trade with you. You can sell your goods and buy theirs if you have spare coin. Don't be too slow, because if your efforts become interesting to pirates, they will raid you. That means game over. Get military buildings up over time to lower their threat, which basically acts as a minimum required progress meter.

Just like Orders Of The Ruler, this is a game where all your expectations drop to the floor if you read the latest reviews - which are equally old. Both of these titles have gotten major updates around July/August.

Lethis - Path of Progress (click)

If you've ever played Caesar games, then you're going to love Lethis, specially if you're only into the town managing aspect. It may be basically a carbon copy, but what a goddamn beautiful one it is! Its very, very charming pixel art and mostly better user interface have lured me in.

Beware, there is no combat in this game. Although getting a good town up demands planning, there is no challenge to your dexterity or quick wits. Which is often a good thing!

Colony Survival (click)

Think of Minecraft but focused on town building and management with only a hint of surviving. You actually do all of your tycoon actions on a first person camera, so you're like the actual mayor instead of a god from above. Add bots to it which can be assigned to different tasks.

Last but not least, you can play it in multiplayer. If you enjoy building in Minecraft and you want to see your worlds populated, then Colony Survival will fit you like a glove. Specially since you don't have to leave your friends when it's heavily discounted. It is only 25% off at the time of writing this post, so I think I'm going to wait for a larger discount.

Other great titles

Anno 1404 - History Edition is old but gold. The game is beautiful and brilliantly feature-complete. Combat is mostly optional.

Atmocity, Smart City Plan and Mermaid Colony are also good games that have gotten major improvements after the many-months old latest negative review, fixing issues from all complaints, effectively turned intio great games worth buying.

ValeGuard combines turn-based village building during daylight with RTS combat at night.

Walk civilization from the stone age into a medieval era in Dawn of Man.

Look no further for an amazing and fully developed planet colony builder in Planetbase. Although Aven Colony also offers its own excellent take on it.