Against the Storm (video game)

Against the Storm is a 2023 city-building video game developed by Eremite Games and published by Hooded Horse. Unlike traditional city-building games, it incorporates elements of roguelike games and has a short playtime with goals players must achieve.

Plot
The game is set in a fantasy world eternally ravaged by the "Blightstorm". The only safe haven in this world is the Smoldering City, ruled by the Scorched Queen. Occasionally, the storm subsides and the Scorched Queen sends her viceroys to establish settlements with the purpose of gathering supplies for the Smoldering City until the Blightstorm hits again, destroying all settlements in the process.

Gameplay
When the storm subsides, players are tasked with building villages around the Smoldering City. These villages attempt to push back the forest that corrupts anything in it. Players must gather resources from the forest and craft them into goods, such as food and fuel. The maps, resources, population, and available buildings are all procedurally generated. Each village is given tasks it must complete, which can be complicated by the lack of easy access to required resources. Unhappy villagers may abandon the village. If players maintain villagers' happiness and complete the tasks, they gain reputation. Reputation must reach a certain point before time runs out, and the Queen recalls players to her city. Like modern roguelite games, players retain unlocked abilities, which can be used to make building the next village easier. Once several villages have been built, the forest destroys them, and a new map is generated.

Development
Against the Storm was initially released on early access in October 2021. Publisher Hooded Horse released Against the Storm for Windows on December 8, 2023.

Reception
Against the Storm received "universal acclaim" on Metacritic. The game won Best Design at the Taipei Game Show 2024 and was nominated for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year at the 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. The game had sold over a million copies on Steam as of May, 2024.

Eurogamer gave the game a perfect score and described it as a "rare gem" and "one of the most novel and well-crafted city builders". PC Gamer described the game as "one of the most clever, engaging, and endearing strategy games", and particularly liked how the game's premise upended traditional genre tropes for a city-building game. PCGamesN said it has "a brilliant mix of roguelike, strategy, and small-scale city building".

Rock Paper Shotgun praised its combination of city-building and roguelite elements, which they found surprisingly compatible. They also enjoyed how the cities have definite goals for success and a brief playing time of about an hour, unlike traditional city-building games. They concluded that it is "one of this year’s best" and designated it a "Bestest Best". Ars Technica likened it to a "rogue-ultralite" for its coziness and praised the depth, strategic options, and replayability. Sports Illustrated praised what they felt was "a unique blend of genres" and said it condenses the best parts of city-building games into a short and addictive experience.