Review: Aven Colony

Aven Colony leads the pioneer-builders of the future a few light-years away from Earth, on Aven Prime planet, a candidate for long-term human colonization.

This will take place through nine separate weight-increasing scenarios (with two tutorials), which, besides the challenges of performing the set objectives, primarily bring different types of terrain and accompanying side effects. Whether or not your corner of human civilization begins in the desert, sunken, wet-lake or wooded region of Prajma, the beginning of each colony follows the same pattern. The planet's probe slides down to a collapsed colonist, as well as a couple of quick-start service facilities, such as solar power panels, air filters, storage units, service tunnels, and the like. There is also a drones station, which is a striking flaw for all future engineering and architectural endeavors.



In addition to the overtures and the resulting visual similarities with the last two Annoas, these parallels are conceptually lost because Aven Colony brings a set of original moments and newer mechanics of play that is far from mere copying elements from this particular subgrade of architectural games. The initial infrastructure needs to be upgraded to a series of basic buildings that provide tolerable life for colonists, including a water pump, a farm to produce six basic types of food, a population hub, and the like. Then, you need better maintenance of all settlements through the construction of more advanced modules and buildings. Thus, the geothermal power plant on the discharge of steam produces more electricity, the more bulky warehouses help to avoid the surpluses of food and other raw materials, and cleaners of air around the industrial zones improve living conditions for colonists. Equally important is the steady income of money that generates nano-processors by fabricating several types of ore available on the map. After you feed your food, electricity, and water to your healthy feet, the next step will be to build a shopping cosmodrome, where you will be trading with the outside colonies (the difference in food or the money you buy and the gold clatter you find on the surface).

The biggest difference compared to the Anno series is reflected in the minimized need to strike with settlements in which colonists will be housed. By building an immigration center, you will provide a continual "supply" of populations from junipers to the orbits of the planet, and then put people on the mentioned habits and residential towers that do not take too much space. Of course, the morale of your citizens is influenced by various factors: a variety of food, pollution or crime rates, overpopulation, health, leisure time, sense of purpose (!) And so on ... All this requires constant micromanagement, the population goes to referendums, where they vote whether they will extend your mandate.



When your ever-growing village gets the right puppet, you need to devote yourself to all the more intricate elements of progress and construction. This, above all, relates to the construction of a research center where your scientists can identify the secrets of different goods or raw materials obtained by "harvesting" a variety of alien flora on the planet (it is convenient that at any time you can overcome the activity of existing farms). Subsequently, in the chemical plants and mills of the collected raw materials, you invest in the production of more advanced products, such as nano leaks, vaccines, energy drinks, pies, testiness, as well as scrambled edible foods made on the basis of alien ingredients. All you can do is to target the population you are leading to, and thus increase your satisfaction level, or you can profit by selling these advanced products at the merchant's port.

Like what every real builder of the future knows, stewing the building without any plan or thinking in advance, it is a safe recipe for the bumblebee. Buildings will not be lifted if they are not in the proximity of the nearest drone radar and all infrastructure must be connected to service tunnels that provide power but also occupy the space required. In addition, habits and population centers must be close to newly-built facilities to have anyone working in them, even if scattered clerics really could take a little walk to the new jobs that you will open with a fist and a cap. Most of the buildings are possible (and desirable) to upgrade if you do not already have them in more perfect variants and if you're seriously stuck, the "center" will send you a package with what you most need at the moment.

The strongest support of Aven Colony is the details and mechanisms available to you and which contribute (or help) to a constant balance of various elements while playing. There is also the erosion of the seasons, which results in total cessation of farm work during the winter period. This can be compensated by the construction of glass gardens, which, however, have lower production output. Poor weather conditions can also result in a dangerous impact of the thunder, which you prevent by building high-light bulbs (which will pass energy from lightning in current collectors for further use). The wind turbines, besides producing electricity, can also be engaged in the air purification regime. Laser mines are faster to extract ore, but they are also destroyed at a certain percentage. Solar panels are less productive during the mentioned, darker months. Restaurants can serve specialties to colonists or work in a regime that raises the level of entertainment in the neighborhood and the like. Every factory, plant, farm and the like can set/take a certain number of workers by increasing or decreasing the priority of an object. This increases productivity, but also leads to a decline in morale and boom due to working conditions.

If you like this type of construction game and you do not mind being almost all-scaled on naked sandbox construction and economics, with no quality makeup or content, and the newspaper you are doing is intriguing enough, Aven Colony can serve you in these cold days.