Info about Cataclismo:

Official game description:
Lead the last survivors in the aftermath of the Cataclismo as a corrupted world seeks to destroy all that remains of humanity. Build fortresses brick by brick, designing intricate, towering structures of wood and stone to fend off waves of Horrors as they attempt to overwhelm your band of survivors. Command powerful units in their stalwart defense, coordinating their varied capabilities as you race from breach to breach. Lead forays into the unknown to secure the vital resources needed to grow your military might and construction capabilities as you hold fast against the ever-growing onslaught – siege after siege, night after night.
Far from the relative safety of the Last City, your citadels and outposts hold back the hordes of Horrors before they can strike at the heart of humanity. Build impregnable fortresses across multiple biomes using an intricate building system that allows you to design your defenses with full freedom and strategic creativity, adapting your plans to the surrounding environment. Take advantage of natural chokepoints, height advantages, and local resources as you strategize for the challenge of each upcoming night’s attack.
*   A highly modular building system allows you to design your fortresses exactly as you desire – one piece at a time, with blueprints you have designed in advance, or using community creations shared by other players. Use your hard-earned resources to build structures that grant access to previously unreachable parts of the map, or construct fortifications that deny the Horrors access and provide your troops safe vantage points.
*   Build cheaply and quickly using wood, or establish quarries and use durable stone to better withstand the onslaught. Keep an eye on structural integrity and load-bearing columns as falling pieces will kill friend and foe alike, often creating unique opportunities to crush numerous enemies with cleverly placed vulnerabilities.
*   Adapt your fortress to growing needs as you acquire new tools and expand in an attempt to secure all the resources needed to sustain a powerful defensive force. Optimize the path from resource deposits to your warehouses with well placed structures and use rooftop construction to make the most of your limited space.
Though the Horrors may test your defenses during the day, only at night do they pour forth in full force. Spend your days exploring the world and pursuing the growth of your fortress, but as the sun starts to set, you would be wise to position your forces in preparation for the night’s onslaught.
*   Skillfully command soldiers ranging from sharp-eyed bowmen to explosive cannoneers to respond to an ever-evolving situation as new Horrors emerge. Draw the enemy into chokepoints lined with devastating traps and ambush them raining down fire arrows and pots of poison flung from your battlements. Maneuver your troops into precise tactical positions to take advantage of special traits and abilities made available as they upgrade, positioning them at heights that let them perform at their best – a wise architect can design fortresses that allow for a tiered defense.
*   Build vital structures to sustain your defenses against the growing threat and unlock higher levels of prosperity alongside new technologies. Resource gathering outposts, unit recruitment centers, and housing for your citizens all directly and indirectly support your troops in their efforts. Should the walls falter, even your citizens' homes can be used as a secondary layer of defense – you must protect the citadel at all costs.
Cataclismo contains all three of: an epic single-player narrative campaign; a skirmish mode featuring hand-crafted maps; and an endlessly replayable challenge mode that puts you to the test on procedurally generated maps where you fend off increasingly dangerous waves of Horrors. A complex map editor gives you the ability to design and share skirmish maps of your own to challenge the community while the intricate construction system will allow the architecturally inclined to build and share blueprints and help others in their defense against the Horrors.
The Cataclismo left the world devastated. But all hope is not lost – lead humanity through the darkness to a bright future as you design grand fortresses and command troops in real-time battles against a seemingly endless horde that will stop at nothing to see your people destroyed.

Release date: 20 Mar, 2025

Categories: Real-time Strategy, Tower Defense, Base Building, Resource Management, Single-player Story, Procedural Generation, Map Editor, Mod Support


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Engaging, fun, and well-balanced gameplay (weight 0.97): The game is praised for its engaging and enjoyable gameplay, well-balanced difficulty, and addictive nature. Reviewers appreciate the game's mechanics, story, and various game modes, finding it a polished and complete experience, even in Early Access. The active developers and positive response to community feedback further enhance the game's appeal.
- Creative and addictive building mechanics (weight 0.86): The game's defining feature is its creative and addictive building mechanics, often compared to LEGOs, allowing players to construct intricate fortresses and defenses. The freedom to experiment with designs, combined with the strategic depth of unit placement and resource management, creates a satisfying and rewarding experience. The blueprint system and Steam Workshop integration further enhance the building aspect.
- Appealing and unique art style (weight 0.55): The game boasts a visually appealing and unique art style, often described as beautiful, charming, and well-executed. The graphics, combined with atmospheric sound design and music, create a strong sense of immersion and enhance the overall experience. The world-building is also praised for its depth and originality.
- Unique blend of genres (weight 0.43): The game effectively blends RTS, tower defense, and city-building elements, creating a unique and engaging hybrid. Players must manage resources, construct fortifications, and train units during the day to defend against waves of enemies at night. The strategic depth and variety of gameplay keep the experience fresh and enjoyable.
- Great potential and originality (weight 0.15): The game has a lot of potential and original dynamics. The game has significantly improved and expanded through updates, and the game is unique in its genre. The game is very good in early access.
- Evolves "They Are Billions" formula (weight 0.14): Many reviewers draw comparisons to "They Are Billions," noting similarities in gameplay and mechanics. However, the game is often seen as an evolution or improvement upon the formula, with enhanced features, deeper strategy, and better quality-of-life adjustments. This makes it an appealing option for fans of the genre looking for a fresh experience.
- Unique and captivating story (weight 0.11): The game features a unique, interesting, and captivating story. The story is well-written and engaging, with compelling storyline and interesting characters. The plot is interesting and engaging, and the setting is actually very interesting.
- Highly replayable Endless mode (weight 0.11): The game's Endless mode provides a way to continue playing, experiment, and expand past the campaign. The mode is extremely fun to play and offers a high degree of freedom and abundant resources after players gain experience in the campaign. The mode is highly replayable and absorbing.
- Robust level editor and sharing (weight 0.07): The game includes a level editor that allows players to create and share custom levels, enhancing replayability and creative expression. The editor is described as user-friendly and offers a variety of tools for designing unique and challenging scenarios. Steam Workshop integration further expands the possibilities for user-generated content.
- Satisfying vertical town construction (weight 0.07): The game allows for vertical town construction, presenting a fun and challenging puzzle in efficiently managing roads, tunnels, and bridges within a confined space. The game mechanics support verticality very well, and the reviewer has been waiting for a game with satisfying building mechanics.
- Flexible and modern gameplay (weight 0.06): The game allows players to enjoy the game at their own pace, without having to count every second. The game has multiple modes to play, and time passes quickly while playing. The game features real-time with pause, preventing misclicks and bad commands.
- Challenging resource management (weight 0.06): The game has exploration elements, and the resource gathering/prosperity system is a positive aspect of the game. The game world is gradually revealed, hinting at a deeper level of development than initially apparent. The updated resource gathering system has made the game more challenging.

Common complaints:
- Short, uninspired campaign experience (weight 0.46): The campaign is criticized for being short, incomplete (due to early access), and lacking engaging narrative or replayability. Missions feel like tutorials, with constraints on building and unbalanced difficulty. Some reviewers found the story uninspired, voice acting poor, and pacing rushed, leading to a shallow and repetitive experience.
- Frequent crashes and bugs (weight 0.24): The game suffers from frequent crashes, bugs, and performance issues, especially in endless mode. These technical problems disrupt gameplay, hinder progress, and lead to a poor overall experience. Some reviewers also noted visual glitches, poor optimization, and camera control issues.
- Unbalanced, repetitive endless mode (weight 0.13): Endless mode suffers from balance issues, including inconsistent wave difficulty, slow progression, and limited tech points. Map generation can be uneven, and the mode lacks engaging content or replayability. Some reviewers also experienced save file issues and performance degradation.
- Slow, restrictive tech progression (weight 0.07): The tech tree progression is too slow and expensive, limiting strategic options and unit variety. Some reviewers found the upgrade system unintuitive and the skill tree lacking depth. This leads to a stagnant and unrewarding progression system.
- Flawed wall/defense system (weight 0.05): The wall system is flawed, with units getting stuck, illogical strength scaling, and easy collapse. Uneven terrain causes inconsistencies, and accidental deletions are frequent. These issues make base defense frustrating and restrictive.
- Poor voice acting quality (weight 0.05): The voice acting is consistently criticized for being poor, emotionless, and inconsistent. Some reviewers found it so bad that they preferred no voices at all. This detracts from the narrative and overall immersion.
- Mixed opinions on difficulty (weight 0.04): This cluster contains mixed opinions on the game's difficulty and balance, with some finding it too easy and others too challenging. It also includes general statements of dislike and mentions of bugs, but lacks specific details to be highly constructive. This point has a reduced score due to the lack of specificity.

Gameplay feedback:
- Unique RTS/TD/City-builder hybrid (weight 0.49): The game uniquely blends tower defense, RTS, and city-building elements, tasking players with constructing fortresses, managing resources, and strategically deploying units to defend against waves of enemies. It emphasizes base building and defensive structure design, often comparing to games like 'They Are Billions' and 'Stronghold'.
- Brick-by-brick building mechanic (weight 0.42): A core mechanic involves building structures block by block, similar to LEGOs, allowing for creative and customizable fortress designs. This system incorporates physics, requiring players to consider structural integrity and support when constructing defenses.
- Multiple game modes available (weight 0.13): The game offers multiple modes, including a campaign, skirmish, and endless mode, providing varied gameplay experiences.  Sandbox mode allows for creative building without enemy pressure, while endless mode challenges players to survive increasingly difficult waves.
- Day/night cycle: build/defend (weight 0.09): The game features a day/night cycle where players gather resources and build defenses during the day, then defend against enemy hordes at night. This creates a tense atmosphere and requires efficient resource management to prepare for the nightly assaults.
- Strategic resource management is key (weight 0.09): Resource management is crucial, requiring players to balance their needs and strategically utilize available resources.  Players must gather resources to build structures, train units, and research upgrades, making efficient resource allocation essential for survival.
- Enjoyable and flexible building system (weight 0.06): The building system is generally well-designed and enjoyable, offering creative freedom and modularity.  Players can build various structures, including walls, houses, and resource facilities, with decent quality-of-life features that make construction convenient.
- Compared to 'They Are Billions' (weight 0.04): The game is frequently compared to 'They Are Billions', sharing a focus on strategic survival against relentless waves of enemies. However, it differentiates itself with a greater emphasis on building mechanics and tower defense elements.
- Varied maps encourage adaptation (weight 0.03): Maps are procedurally generated and offer unique challenges, encouraging players to adapt their strategies and experiment with different building designs. Terrain height and varied landscapes add strategic depth, requiring players to utilize the environment to their advantage.
- Varied campaign mission structure (weight 0.03): The campaign is structured with varied mission types, including exploration, resource gathering, and base building. It teaches game mechanics through tutorials and offers a story-driven experience with objectives and rewards.
- Height impacts unit effectiveness (weight 0.03): Unit effectiveness is tied to height, influencing base design and strategic unit placement. Different unit types perform better at specific elevations, requiring players to consider height advantages when constructing fortifications.
- Modular wall building is restrictive (weight 0.03): Wall construction involves modular building, but can be formulaic and restrictive due to limited building blocks. Terrain can also complicate wall construction, requiring careful planning to prevent collapse.
- Unique 'oxygen' resource mechanic (weight 0.03): The game features a unique oxygen resource that is required to construct buildings and create soldiers, taking up space and manpower. Managing this resource adds a layer of complexity to base building and resource allocation.

Performance notes:
- Stuttering, lag, and freezes reported (weight 0.04): Some users are experiencing performance issues such as stuttering, lag, and screen freezes, even on PCs that exceed the recommended specifications. These issues seem to be more prevalent in the later stages of Endless Mode or during intense battles with many units. This suggests optimization issues related to high unit counts or complex scenes.
- Flickering and black screen issues (weight 0.03): Some players, particularly those with AMD GPUs or high refresh rate monitors, have reported flickering issues, especially during loading screens. One specific black screen issue at launch seems to affect users with 30-series GTX cards, regardless of CPU brand. Updating graphics drivers or deleting a specific folder may resolve the black screen issue.
- Inconsistent camera behavior reported (weight 0.01): Several players have reported issues with the camera, including inconsistent speed and unexpected rotation behavior. The camera not being centered or rotating on an incorrect anchor point can make navigation difficult. These issues are described as occasional but noticeable.
- Isolated, specific bugs reported (weight 0.01): Some players have reported specific, isolated bugs, such as the game freezing at night, a unit falling through a rope bridge, or a character becoming invisible. These appear to be infrequent and isolated incidents. While not widespread, these bugs can disrupt gameplay and immersion.
- Inconsistent GPU usage reported (weight 0.01): Some players report that their GPU spins excessively while playing the game, while others report that their computer's fans don't spin much. This suggests inconsistent GPU usage and potential optimization issues related to graphics settings or hardware configurations. Further investigation is needed to determine the cause of these discrepancies.
- Overlapping sound effects hinder orientation (weight 0.01): The sound effects for enemy footsteps and destruction blend together, especially on complex multi-level maps. This makes it difficult for players to use sound to orient themselves, reducing their awareness of the surrounding environment. This issue is particularly noticeable in scenarios with many simultaneous sound events.
- Subtitles hard to read in cutscenes (weight 0.01): White effects are frequently used in cutscenes, making the white/light gray subtitles difficult to read. This reduces the accessibility and readability of the game's narrative elements. This issue is a minor but persistent annoyance for players trying to follow the story.
- Building system impacts performance (weight 0.01): The building system uses independent physics models for each brick, which can cause performance issues. This design choice may lead to increased computational load, especially when constructing large or complex structures. Optimizing the physics calculations for the building system could improve overall performance.
- UI placement suboptimal on ultrawide (weight 0.01): On ultrawide screens, the UI panels anchored to the corners should be moved to the center. The current placement feels like watching a tennis match, especially during the campaign. This UI adjustment would improve the player's focus and reduce eye strain on ultrawide displays.
- Version visible in cutscenes (weight 0): The program version is visible in cutscenes, even though the game is the 1.0 version. This is a minor cosmetic issue that detracts from the overall polish of the game. Removing the version display from cutscenes would improve the presentation.

Recommendations:
- Strongly recommend; enjoyable and high-quality (weight 0.77): Many reviewers highly recommend the game, praising its fun gameplay, appealing art style, and overall quality. Some suggest purchasing it on sale, while others believe it's worth the full price, especially for fans of the genre. Many reviewers express strong enthusiasm and satisfaction, with some considering it a potential game of the year.
- Anticipation for future content/updates (weight 0.68): A common sentiment is anticipation for future content, updates, and the full release of the game. Reviewers are eager to see the continuation of the story, new features, and improvements to existing gameplay elements. This suggests a positive outlook on the game's potential and a desire for further development.
- Great for strategy/TD/base-building fans (weight 0.35): The game is frequently recommended for fans of strategy, tower defense, and base-building genres, especially those who enjoy games like 'They Are Billions,' 'Stronghold,' and 'Castle Story.' Reviewers highlight the game's blend of these genres and its potential to appeal to players who appreciate complex strategies and creative construction.
- Not recommended; needs more work (weight 0.1): Several reviewers do not recommend the game in its current early access state, citing issues such as high price, stressful gameplay, strategic limitations, and technical problems like freezing and crashes. Some suggest waiting for the full release or a sale before purchasing, while others express hope for future improvements despite their current dissatisfaction.
- Suggestions for new features/modes (weight 0.03): Reviewers suggest adding features like a tower defense mode, cooperative play, and user-generated maps to broaden the game's appeal and increase replayability. Some also express a desire for more unit types and challenging enemy variety to enhance the strategic depth.
- Technical issues; lag, bugs (weight 0.02): Some reviewers are experiencing significant technical issues, such as lag and unplayable bugs, which prevent them from enjoying the game. They recommend the game only for players with high-end PCs and express concern about potentially needing to refund the game due to these problems.
- Economy and structure placement (weight 0.02): The reviewer wishes the economy was more engaging and involved some decision making. The reviewer wishes it mattered more where you place structures. Currently lacks the challenging and satisfying experience of 'They Are Billions'. Despite the inability to produce troops, the reviewer expresses overall enjoyment.
- Wait for more content/sale (weight 0.01): Some reviewers suggest that while the game already offers a decent amount of content for the price, it might be best to wait for more content updates or a sale before purchasing. The campaign currently provides around 10 hours of gameplay, indicating a 'wait and see' approach for some players.
- Endless mode needs improvement (weight 0.01): The endless mode is essentially both the beginning and the end of the content. The reviewer finds the endless mode becomes boring around wave 40-50 and suggests a roguelike approach to add replayability and encourage blueprint redesigns. Creative mode is so good that it makes the endless mode irrelevant.
- Try the demo first (weight 0.01): Several reviewers suggest trying the demo before purchasing the game to see if it aligns with your preferences. This recommendation is particularly relevant for those who are unsure about the game's art style or gameplay mechanics.
- Generic score (weight 0): These clusters contain generic scores without any specific details. Therefore, they are not useful for summarizing the game's features or providing actionable feedback.

Other player notes:
- Early access, future content anticipated (weight 0.11): The game is in early access, which impacts the amount of available content and features. Reviewers are looking forward to future updates and content additions as the game develops. Some anticipate the story's continuation and are excited about the game's potential.
- Unique, dark fantasy aesthetic (weight 0.05): The game features a distinctive art style, often described as dark, gloomy, and stylized, set within a post-cataclysmic or grimdark fantasy world. This creates a unique and atmospheric environment that resonates with players.
- RTS, survival, base-building hybrid (weight 0.03): The game combines RTS elements with survival, base building, and hero systems, offering a mix of genres. It includes modes like campaign, endless, and skirmish, along with a map editor for creating custom content.
- Requests for more gameplay features (weight 0.02): Reviewers suggest adding more heroes, unit progression, and citizen interactions to enhance gameplay. Community maps and mod support are also desired to extend the game's lifespan and creative possibilities.
- Spanish-influenced setting (weight 0.02): The game incorporates Spanish influences in its setting, names, and pronunciations, creating a unique cultural twist. This is due to the developers being Spanish.
- Steam Workshop enhances replayability (weight 0.02): The game's Steam Workshop support and level editor significantly enhance replay value. Players can create, share, and access a wide array of user-generated levels, providing a continuous stream of new content.
- Inconsistent voice acting, repetitive dialogue (weight 0.01): The game's voice acting quality is inconsistent, with some performances lacking enthusiasm. Additionally, the dialogue can sometimes be repetitive and jarring, detracting from the overall experience.
- Intriguing but incomplete narrative (weight 0.01): The narrative is intriguing but feels incomplete, leaving the reviewer wanting more. The story resembles the end of a tutorial section.
- Music and sound are unremarkable (weight 0.01): The music and sound are considered adequate but unremarkable. They serve their purpose without being particularly noteworthy or annoying.
- Homage to 'They Are Billions' (weight 0.01): The game is seen as an homage to "They Are Billions". Reviewers note the similarities between the two games.
- Good value for price (weight 0.01): The game's early access purchase price is considered good value by reviewers. The reviewer considers the game worth the price tag.
- Requests more achievements (weight 0.01): The reviewer is curious about the hidden Steam achievements and requests more achievements be added to the game.

Emotions:
No emotions}