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0 Step into a strange, unknown world. Synergy has now officially released in version 1.0 on Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store, following its initial early access launch in May of last year. Developed by Leikir Studio and published by Goblinz Publishing, this settlement management game, set in an unforgiving, alien environment, is a nice addition to the genre.
Who Needs Sleep Anyways?
Y’know the type of games where you wanna sit down in the evening and play for a little bit. After what totally felt like 20 minutes you look at the clock and it’s 6a.m.? Yeah. This is one of those games. I’ve sank about 30 hours into Synergy so far and the biggest challenge in writing this review was that I actually had to stop playing in order to do so.
To be fair, I’m not surprised. This somehow always happens to me the second I touch any settlement management game. I know I’m not the only one who falls into the trap of “5 more minutes”. Which games make you lose track of time? Let me know down in the comments!
Gameplay
Fundamentally, Synergy is a classic settlement management game where your primary objective is the survival of your village. Manage your food, water and housing, and prepare for the looming threat of the harsh, hot seasons.
To start off, the game allows you to choose from multiple game modes. A comprehensive tutorial, 2 story campaigns and a sandbox mode. I’d recommend starting with the very detailed tutorial. This not only teaches you the basics, but everything you need to know about the gameplay and progression. It acts and plays like a mini-scenario that introduces you to the premise and setting of the game. The story campaigns offer 3 scenarios each, providing you with 6 different stories to play through. Alternatively, sandbox mode allows you to experience the game’s mechanics and challenges without being bound to a set storyline.
After selecting your game mode, the game offers you the choice between Balance and Harmony Mode. Balance provides a bit more of a traditional challenge, while Harmony is more of a chill experience, lowering settlers’ needs and making the harsh seasons less intense in exchange for a lower end score. If you are struggling in Balance Mode, you always have the option to switch to Harmony from the game menu, though that decision is final. It’s a great mode if you are more into the building aspects of the game rather than focussing on the upkeep of your stock and people’s needs. The option to switch later is also nice in case you are already a bit further into your playthrough before you realize that you may have bitten off a bit more than you could chew.
The Basics
Synergy‘s story unfolds through a series of quests that align with your settlement’s progression. Whether you construct buildings, improve and take care of your citizens, or explore the surrounding environments, the game always pushes you toward progression. And without making you feel like you skipped a step or missed something. Every quest adds helpful reminders by suggesting some tutorials to replay. A nice touch if you have just returned to the game after a break or need a little refresher.
Gathering resources, like in any other settlement game, is crucial to the survival of your people. New plants allow you to craft new recipes that are often more efficient and necessary to progress. While cooking more complex meals will also become an option, I never really felt the need to actually make them outside of quests. The basic recipes keep my people alive just fine. The advanced ones just felt like a waste of my resources.
Water management is fun though! You can collect both clean and toxic water, and while the toxic water is not really fit for drinking unless purified, you can use it for crafting recipes. No need to waste all your precious drinking water on tool production!
The biggest threat in the game, aside from starvation and the likes, are the hot seasons. The sharp increase in temperature not only lowers work efficiency, but it also dries out all lakes, leaving you with only your stockpile to survive. As the ground heats up, plants will wither unless you take proper action, diminishing your food stock as well if you aren’t careful. Personally, I have found this to be quite manageable as the game gives you plenty of notice, but sometimes it will hit you with 2 hot seasons in a row, which can be rather trying.
Environment
The environment in Synergy is rather demanding, yet crucial for your survival. Analyze the local flora, learn how to harvest them effectively and understand their unique behaviors and needs – all of which will be logged in your Book of Knowledge. Additionally, you can influence the ground quality by spreading fertilizer, digging irrigation canals to spread moisture throughout the land and even fiddling with the minerals in the soil! However, some plants tend to be rather stubborn though and just absolutely refuse to stay alive, seemingly no matter what you do. Sometimes all their needs are theoretically met, but they still just die anyway, which is very reminiscent of every plant I’ve ever owned, and thus makes it feel like a bit of trial and error is necessary to make certain things grow.
Expeditions
Exploring the surrounding regions is key to broadening your horizon. Send out a group of explorers to investigate the points of interest in the nearby areas. Just make sure you pack enough food for the trip! Some trips lead you to riches or new flora, others to new allies, and some even lead to tablets that can be used for special research. Once you reach your destination, you will be asked to make decisions about what to do next. By picking from multiple options, you will be led to varying different outcomes. Some may even require you to own special items or to have certain things unlocked in your research. Ultimately, this adds a nice extra sense of progression to the game as you unlock each new area, establish new trade routes and find new plants to grow in your settlement.
Research
To drive your settlement’s growth, you must conduct research to broaden your horizons. By assigning settlers to designated research buildings, you’ll earn science and heritage points. You can then spend these on unlocking new crafting recipes and buildings in the Research Tree. Many nodes also feature smaller sub-nodes that unlock additional features or alternate ways to produce resources. The tablets that you have found on your expeditions can be spent on special nodes. These provide useful structures or discoveries that will be of immense help during your playthrough. For instance, the Sun Awning was one of the first things I unlocked with my tablets. It provides a relatively large area of shade around it which cools down your buildings a bit. I found this especially helpful in the early game.
Graphics & Audio
Synergy‘s art style is truly gorgeous. Stylized, simple, yet beautiful. The bright, almost pastel-looking colors give the game an almost painted look that I find to be very appealing. The diverse plant life and many buildings are easy to tell apart. Not only this but they really add to the overall vibe of the game.
The background music is calm and enhances the gameplay without ever being distracting. When clicking on different things in the environment, they make little sounds, like water splashing and grass rustling. It adds a nice layer of immersion and is just a great touch overall.
Longevity
Having already dedicated around 30 hours to completing just the first scenario of the initial campaign, the game clearly offers quite a bit of stuff to do. Considering that there are 5 more scenarios to go and an entire sandbox mode, I am certain that you won’t run out of things to do anytime soon. So far, the game has yet to feel monotonous, which is always a gamble with games like these. I am very pleasantly surprised by how many hours I could potentially sink into the game before running out of content.
Final Thoughts
In short: Synergy is amazing. A truly fun and captivating game that one can sink countless hours into. Its gorgeous visuals and tons of charm really make it stand out from the rest. I absolutely recommend it for anyone who is a fan of settlement management games. Just make sure to set sufficient time aside. Else you end up like me, wondering why the birds are chirping outside already.
Synergy absolutely deserves the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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