City-building sim on the mountains
Laysara: Summit Kingdom is a paid strategy game from Quite OK Games. Putting its own twist on the city-building subgenre, this sim lets you attempt to build your own mountain civilization. Plan a city, ensure the supply of your resources, and create livable conditions for your growing population.
This game follows most of the standard city-building mechanics, but the fact that it’s almost exclusively situated in the mountains makes Laysara: Summit Kingdom uniquely appealing. With a nice, miniaturized approach to the general visuals and the variety of natural and man-made events, it feels like an oriental Northgard or Farthest Frontier.
Play against the elements
The first thing to establish with Laysara: Summit Kingdom is that it’s a pure city-building experience. Therefore, expect a heavy focus on commerce, resource management, survival, and population management. It has no military or combat features whatsoever. With that said, the game feels in line with the peaceful image of Tibet, with the oriental features prominent in the buildings and some of the character details.
The game still has challenges — despite the absence of combat — mostly from its good use of randomized environmental events. These occurrences will remain in your mind, from storms to the dreaded avalanche, as you try to create a resilient community. Also, the game features a neat mechanic in its logistics options, leaving you to find creative ways to transport people and resources efficiently.
Lastly, the visuals are something to behold. It makes the most out of its unique premise by crafting majestic-looking landscapes that let you take in the tall mountainside and the endless sky around you. The level of detail is retained, even as you view districts from your miniaturized mountain city. Balance different specializations—miners, artisans, herbalists—and watch how these functions are made distinguishable in terms of graphics and gameplay.
A therapeutic experience
A building sim on mountaintops certainly makes Laysara: Summit Kingdom a must-try and a unique game compared to other similar games. It manages to be relaxing yet keeps itself engaging. Design your city as you wish, but remember to meet your people’s needs. True to its prospects as a vertical city-building challenge, the various resource transport solutions are something to look forward to. Recommended.
