Mini review of Foundations as the game is still in Early Access (aren’t they all), and also because its a medieval city builder with all of the basics you would expect from such a game.

Foundations has two things going for it that stand out, one more so than the other. The big standout is that cities tend to grow more naturally than in other sims, because while you can directly place production buildings, homes are built somewhat randomly in a residential area you paint on the map. As citizens walk to where they need to go, a road forms, and future citizens will walk on that road rather then a more direct path. This in turn leads you to build around said road. It works, and makes cities look and feel more natural.

The other feature is the ability to build monuments and larger buildings, like a keep, church, or lords manor, piece by piece. This not only gives you flexibility in how they look, but the bigger you make them, the more they benefit you. A bigger church can hold more people, while a larger lords manor lets you hire a tax collector, have a larger treasury, and gives you more prestige.

The biggest pain-point with the game right now is the UI; its horrible. Luckily the next big update is a UI overhaul, hopefully coming in Jan or Feb. Other than that the game runs well and I didn’t encounter any bugs. It’s not ultra-deep right now, but if you are looking for a city builder, both for now and for the future, Foundations has promise.