Odd Realm Review Summary

Charming graphics and great music: The game features charming and appealing graphics, often described as cute pixel art, complemented by a beautiful and immersive soundtrack. These elements contribute to a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere, making the game visually and aurally pleasing.

More accessible than Dwarf Fortress: The game is frequently compared to Dwarf Fortress, but is more accessible and user-friendly. It streamlines the experience with a better UI, helpful tutorials, and sensible defaults, making it easier for new players to learn and enjoy the colony sim genre. Despite being more accessible, it retains a lot of depth and complexity.

Active developer and responsive: The developer is highly active and responsive, frequently releasing patches, addressing bugs, and incorporating community feedback. This dedication fosters a welcoming community and ensures the game is constantly improving with new content and quality-of-life enhancements. The UI is also well-designed and intuitive.

Solid and unique colony sim: The game is a solid and enjoyable colony sim with unique elements and a fresh take on the fantasy genre. It offers a relaxing and atmospheric experience with diverse inhabitants and interesting mechanics, providing a welcome addition to the colony sim genre.

Fun and enjoyable experience: Despite any accessibility issues, the game is still good fun and enjoyable. The reviewer likes the direction the game is taking and considers the changes to be good.

Lacks tutorials and unintuitive UI: The game suffers from a steep learning curve due to a lack of comprehensive tutorials, unintuitive UI, and unclear instructions. Players often need to rely on external resources to understand basic mechanics, leading to frustration and difficulty in getting started. The UI is also criticized for being overly complex, cumbersome, and lacking essential features like searchability and clear tooltips.

Buggy, unfinished, and lacking content: Despite being a full release, the game is plagued with bugs, lacks content, and feels unfinished. Many mechanics do not work as intended, and updates have sometimes made the game worse. Some reviewers feel the game was released prematurely and is still in early access.

Frustrating and unbalanced combat: Combat is frustrating due to poor AI, ineffective controls, and excessive micromanagement. Players struggle to direct units effectively, and the AI often makes illogical decisions, leading to unnecessary deaths and a negative gameplay experience. The game lacks quality of life features for combat management.

Lacks depth of similar games: The game lacks the depth, complexity, and emergent storytelling found in similar titles like Dwarf Fortress and RimWorld. It doesn't have the same level of historical elements, extensive background simulation, or rich character development, making it feel limited in comparison.

Pixel art is too small/difficult: The pixel art style, while aesthetically pleasing to some, is criticized for being too small and difficult to parse. The low resolution makes it hard to distinguish objects and read text, causing eye strain and hindering gameplay. The small icon size is an issue even on large screens.

Core gameplay loop: build, farm, fight: The core gameplay loop revolves around building, farming, fighting, and surviving. Players gather resources, craft items, construct buildings using a blueprint system, and manage their colony's needs while defending against threats. This creates a familiar but engaging gameplay experience.

Multiple races with unique mechanics: The game features multiple playable races, each offering unique gameplay mechanics and strategies. This includes managing resources, constructing settlements, and defending against threats, with each race presenting a distinct playstyle and challenges.

Unique building and workshop construction: Buildings are constructed through a separate menu, and workshops are built free-form, requiring players to zone an area and then place necessary items within the zone to make it functional. The game also features a concept of "height difference," allowing for the construction of multi-story buildings.

Customizable professions and skills: The game features customizable professions and skills for each citizen, influencing their crafting abilities and stats. Pawns also utilize equipment and have skill/attribute leveling systems, allowing for specialization and progression within the colony.

Ancients: magic, no food, no reproduce: The Ancient race has unique traits, such as summoning helpers with magic and not requiring food or water. However, they cannot naturally reproduce, which can create military disadvantages, offering a distinct gameplay experience compared to other races.

Performance degrades over long sessions: The game's performance degrades over extended play sessions or when digging deeper, leading to lag. One reviewer noted it was better optimized than Dwarf Fortress. However, another reviewer experienced no performance issues or bugs.

Runs well on Apple M1: The game runs well on Apple's M1 chip, even without native compilation. This suggests good cross-platform compatibility and optimization.

High GPU usage when idle: The game causes the graphics card to run at a high FPS even when idle, leading to unnecessary power consumption. This could be optimized to improve energy efficiency.

Manual speed control available: The game includes manual speed control. This allows players to adjust the pace of the game to their preference.

High potential; promising future: Despite current issues, many reviewers see significant potential in the game, praising the developer's dedication and community involvement. They believe the game will improve with continued development and updates, becoming a worthwhile experience. Some reviewers recommend purchasing early to support the developer.

Unpolished; wait for updates: Many reviewers advise caution due to the game's current state, citing bugs, a confusing UI, missing features, and a steep learning curve. Some suggest waiting for updates or recommending only to players familiar with the genre and willing to tolerate these issues. Some reviewers mention the game feels like an early access title despite being a full release.

Worth it, especially on sale: Several reviewers mention the game's price point, with some considering it worth the cost, especially if purchased on sale. Some reviewers feel the game is a steal for the amount of content offered, while others suggest waiting for a discount due to the game's current state.

Mod support would help: Some reviewers suggest that the game could be significantly improved with the addition of mod support. This would allow players to customize their experience and add content that may be lacking in the base game.

Better alternatives exist: Some reviewers suggest that there are better alternatives available in the same genre. One reviewer specifically recommends Songs of Syx, while others simply state that there are better city-building games on the market.

Inspired by similar colony sims: The game shares similarities with colony sims like Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld, and Rise to Ruins, but it is not trying to be a clone. It offers its own unique experience within the genre, though it may not reach the complexity of Dwarf Fortress.

Top-down view, limited Z-levels: The game features a top-down view with a fixed, squarish map size. It includes 64 layers on the Z-axis, which are procedurally generated as players dig deeper.

Scripted events, English only: The game incorporates scripted events and hints at a larger mythos. Currently, the game is only available in English, but the game speed can be paused to allow players time to investigate.

Humans and Ancient races: Currently, only humans are available as a playable race, but the game includes another race called the Ancient. The Ancient are immortal sorceror lichs who seek Void Shards to craft items.

Developer tutorial recommended: The game may require a tutorial to understand the mechanics. Reviewers recommend watching the developer's tutorial video on YouTube to help get started.