Info about Mountaincore:

Official game description:
**Mountaincore** is a game of designing and building a burgeoning colony in a deeply-simulated fantasy world.
Current Features
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*   Start with 7 dwarves but you can build and support a population of hundreds
*   A simulated world with changing weather and seasons that have a big impact on gameplay
*   Every one of your settlers has their own needs and desires to fulfil as they work together for the common good
*   A deep crafting tree that leaves no natural resource unused, tied together into satisfying production chains
*   Progress through skill tiers to craft better tools and weapons
*   Trade with merchants to increase your wealth even further
*   Form up and train your military to battle monsters and invaders...
*   ...or play in Peaceful Mode to chill out with a relaxing city-builder experience
*   Twitch integration (using viewer names for settlers) to encourage stream audience interaction
*   Built "Mod-first" so that everything is moddable
Now released as open source
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*   As the developer for this game has shut down, we've decided to release it as free to play and also open source under a very permissive license. We hope you enjoy!  
    The game works on Steam Deck, in fact we believe it should qualify for full compatibility, however we are waiting on Valve for an official Steam Deck compatibility review.

Release date: 22 Apr, 2025

Categories: Colony Simulation, Base Building, Resource Management, Crafting, Economic Simulation, Strategic Combat, Character Management, Automation Game


- 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:
- Enjoyable and relaxing gameplay experience (weight 0.74): The game is generally enjoyable, fun, and relaxing, with an appealing aesthetic. Many reviewers highlight its potential and solid core gameplay loop, even in Early Access. These points indicate a positive initial player experience, but lack specific details.
- Active and responsive development team (weight 0.46): The developers are very active and responsive, frequently releasing updates, bug fixes, and new content based on community feedback. This level of engagement is a strong positive, suggesting the game will continue to improve.
- Charming details and immersive simulation (weight 0.37): The game features charming details, immersive sound design, and engaging animations that bring the dwarves and the world to life. The environment simulation, with changing weather and seasons, adds depth to the gameplay.
- Simple and intuitive controls (weight 0.05): The game features simple and intuitive controls that are easy to understand. This makes the game more accessible to new players and allows them to focus on the gameplay.
- Extensive modding potential (weight 0.05): The game is built with modding in mind, which will allow it to flourish as it grows. This will allow players to customize the game to their liking and add new content.

Common complaints:
- Numerous bugs and rough edges (weight 0.61): The game is plagued with bugs, performance issues, and a general lack of polish, which is somewhat expected given its Early Access status. However, the severity and frequency of these issues significantly detract from the overall experience, making it feel rough and unfinished.
- Slow progression and tedious tasks (weight 0.43): The game suffers from slow progression and tedious tasks, such as colonists taking an excessively long time to unload starting carts. This sluggish pace makes the game feel monotonous and reduces player engagement.
- Illogical settler behavior/unresponsiveness (weight 0.43): Settlers frequently exhibit illogical behavior, such as ignoring available food and water, failing to perform assigned tasks, or refusing to rescue each other. This unresponsiveness and lack of direct control over settlers' actions lead to frustration and colony collapse.
- Inadequate tutorials and documentation (weight 0.42): The game lacks adequate tutorials and in-game documentation, leaving players struggling to understand core mechanics. This absence of guidance forces players to rely on trial and error or external resources, leading to frustration and a steep learning curve.
- Settlers dying from starvation/sadness (weight 0.28): Settlers are dying from starvation and sadness due to bugs that cause them to stop working and eating. This leads to a negative game state and colony loss.
- Incomplete and possibly abandoned (weight 0.16): Reviewers express concern that the game feels incomplete and abandoned by the developers, with limited content and replayability compared to similar titles. This perception of abandonment diminishes the game's value and long-term appeal.
- Unintuitive and complex mechanics (weight 0.13): The game features unintuitive mechanics and unnecessarily complex production processes, such as the need for multiple buildings to perform simple tasks. These design choices add unnecessary complexity and hinder the player's ability to efficiently manage their colony.
- Cumbersome and clunky UI (weight 0.11): The user interface is cumbersome and poorly organized, making it difficult to navigate menus and find specific items or buildings. This clunky UI detracts from the overall user experience and adds unnecessary friction to gameplay.
- Unclear trading and broken production (weight 0.09): The trading system is unclear and difficult to use, making it hard to acquire essential items like seeds. Production chains are also broken, with bakeries not being utilized and no way to export certain goods.
- Restrictive save system (weight 0.07): The game's save system is restrictive, allowing only one save file and lacking the ability to rewind. This limitation can lead to significant setbacks if players make mistakes or encounter unforeseen events.
- Dangerous mine collapses (weight 0.05): Mine collapses can instantly kill dwarves, highlighting the importance of using pillars when mining large areas. This can lead to significant setbacks and colony loss.
- Lacks Z-levels (weight 0.05): The game lacks z-levels, which are present in similar games like Dwarf Fortress. This limits the player's ability to build vertically and create complex structures.
- Problematic publishing company (weight 0.05): The game had some early release set-backs due to the publishing company's weird, strict laws that negatively impacted the game's development.

Gameplay feedback:
- Dwarf Fortress/RimWorld-like colony building (weight 0.32): The game centers around colony-building with a focus on resource management, crafting, and production chains, drawing inspiration from games like Dwarf Fortress and RimWorld. Players start with a small group of dwarves and must build a thriving settlement while managing resources and preparing for challenges.
- Trading with AI settlements (weight 0.28): Trading is a key element, allowing players to acquire resources they cannot produce themselves by haggling with AI-controlled dwarf settlements. The import/export pallet system facilitates the buying and selling of resources as the colony expands.
- Early game: base setup, survival (weight 0.09): The initial gameplay focuses on establishing a base, securing resources, and preparing for the first winter. New settlers arrive in the spring of the second year if there is sufficient food, increasing the workforce and colony size.
- Manage immigration based on food (weight 0.05): Players can control the influx of new dwarves based on food production, allowing for different play styles and colony management strategies. Ensuring sufficient food production is crucial to prevent starvation.
- Peaceful or challenging modes (weight 0.05): The game offers a peaceful mode focused on building and development, as well as a more challenging mode with monsters and invaders. This allows players to tailor the experience to their preferred play style.
- Lacks Z-levels, world generator (weight 0.03): The game currently lacks Z levels and a world/history generator, limiting gameplay to the chosen map. Off-map play is planned for future updates.
- High labor consumption for transport (weight 0.03): The game's intake and output port design, while interesting, can lead to high labor consumption, requiring crafters to be paired with villagers for transport.
- Metal industry is important (weight 0.03): Establishing a metal industry is crucial for crafting better tools and weapons, which are essential for colony development and defense.
- Defend against Orc attacks (weight 0.03): Players must defend their colony from Orc attacks by training and equipping a Dwarven military to protect their loot and resources.
- Settlers-like production chains (weight 0.03): The production chain system, where each workstation produces for the next, is reminiscent of older Settlers games.
- Extensive, complex gameplay (weight 0.03): The gameplay is extensive and requires many hours to fully understand all its aspects.

Performance notes:
- Good performance and Steam Deck support (weight 0.12): The game generally runs well, with only minor bugs that are quickly addressed. Many players specifically call out the excellent performance on Steam Deck, making it a great portable experience.
- Need more keyboard shortcuts (weight 0.03): Players suggest adding more keyboard shortcuts, especially for menu navigation, to improve the Steam Deck experience. This would streamline gameplay and make it more efficient on the handheld device.

Recommendations:
- Game shows great potential (weight 0.87): Many reviewers express optimism about the game's potential, citing its solid early access launch and the developer's experience. They believe that with further refinement and content updates, the game could become a worthwhile addition to the colony-building genre, offering a fun and engaging experience.
- Wait for further development (weight 0.57): Several reviews advise caution due to the game's early access state, citing bugs, lack of polish, and missing guidance. While some suggest waiting for further development before purchasing, others find it playable and enjoyable even in its current form.
- Good for colony sim fans (weight 0.37): The game is frequently recommended to fans of colony sims like Dwarf Fortress and RimWorld, especially those seeking a more relaxed experience. Reviewers appreciate its blend of familiar mechanics and original ideas, making it a potentially enjoyable alternative within the genre.
- Do not buy the game (weight 0.12): Some reviewers strongly advise against purchasing the game, with one even retracting their initial recommendation due to concerns about the game being abandoned. One review mentions the game not being worth the price for players in specific regions.
- Buy Dwarf Fortress instead (weight 0.03): One review recommends purchasing Dwarf Fortress with a graphics pack instead of this game. This suggests that the reviewer finds the game lacking compared to its established competitor.

Other player notes:
- Early Access: Expect quirks (weight 0.15): The game is currently in Early Access, which means players should anticipate some bugs and incomplete features. The reviewer suggests that a final evaluation should be made upon the full release when the game is more polished.
- Passion project, small team (weight 0.05): The game is a passion project developed by a small, dedicated team. This suggests a strong commitment to the game's development and quality.
- Varied, randomized challenges (weight 0.03): The game offers varied gameplay experiences through different map sizes and randomization. This randomization introduces shifting challenges, enhancing replayability.
- Stability affected by population (weight 0.03): The game's stability is affected by settlement population size. Keeping the population under 30 residents helps maintain stability.
- Planned content updates (weight 0.03): The developers have plans to add new rooms and features to the game. This indicates ongoing development and potential for future content updates.
- Twitch integration (weight 0.03): The game includes Twitch integration. This feature allows streamers to directly interact with their audience while playing the game.
- Open source after bankruptcy (weight 0.02): The game's code was released as open source after the developer went bankrupt, and there are mentions of private problems. This information is of limited value to potential players.
- Trivial details (weight 0): These points are trivial and do not provide meaningful feedback about the game. They include details such as the game featuring dwarfs, being the first project by the developer, a randomly generated kingdom name, and the reviewer receiving a free copy for translation work.

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