I love strategy games, but getting into a new one is always an uphill struggle for me. There’s a ton of new information to take in, new systems to familiarize myself with, and all of the odd quirks and clumsy controls to get accustomed to. But every once in a while one of them instantly gets their hooks in me and doesn’t let go.
Right now that’s Cataclismo, an excellent tower defense city builder that uses what’s cool about Lego to elevate a strategy game from good to great. Out on Steam and Humble Bundle in Early Access on July 22, Cataclismo is published by Hooded Horse and the third game from creators Digital Sun, the indie team behind merchant RPG Moonlighter and League of Legends action brawler The Mageseeker. It’s a radical departure in that regard, exchanging the action-RPG dungeon-crawling structure for a horde mode management sim about building air purifiers.
I’ve played about five hours of the campaign mode (there’s also skirmish and endless modes) so far and it’s currently that game I check-in on before going to bed only to look up and realize it’s already midnight by the time I’m finished. Cataclismo takes place in a post-apocalyptic, gothic-punk world where armies of enemies called Horrors creep out of oceans of mist to lay siege to survivor outposts and kingdoms. During the day you explore the map with your troops, killing nearby enemies and salvaging resources, while also building up your settlement and preparing for the onslaught of Horrors.