Terra Nil Reviews
What starts out as a calming restoration simulator, quickly devolves into mundanity: the video game.
Terra Nil puts a cute and quirky twist on the classic city builder and completing each level feels truly rewarding. It is well worth looking into for any cozy games fan.
Overall, Terra Nil is a wonderfully relaxing strategy game. Its unique approach to the strategy genre is refreshing when compared to its peers, and although its scope is a little limited, players will still want to revisit to get the optimum outcome of each level.
Terra Nil is good for what it is, but it doesn’t go beyond that in any meaningful way.
Despite its technical flaws and short gameplay, we found ourselves unable to put down Terra Nil on Switch. The simple act of rebuilding a broken and polluted world is so satisfying and well-crafted. From the moment you put down your first wind turbine to watching your airship remove any evidence of your hard work, the game gives you a sense of hope for our own climate crisis without needing to explicitly say a word. This is pure relaxation in video game form and is worth picking up, particularly once that promised first patch is rolled out.
There’s something cathartic about Terra Nil‘s gameplay loop. It might not be the most engaging or addictive strategy/puzzle hybrid out there, but I commend Free Lives for making the sole act of wanting to clean up a wasteland fun and engaging. It is not the most realistic eco-friendly game out there, far from it, but I think it manages to deliver its “save the world” message better than most songs, movies, Twitter posts or activists out there.
More of an elaborated puzzle game than a strategy game, Terra Nil is an interesting experience that lasts a little too little.
Review in Italian | Read full review
What is on offer at release is worthwhile, both in gameplay and message. In focusing on environmental expansion instead of human expansion, Terra Nil delivers something wholly unique. While the peaceful nature and serene tone are sometimes interrupted by uneven mechanics, Terra Nil is a worthwhile experience for those looking for a new twist on the sim genre.
The positive influence of games related to protecting endangered animals. While the concept of games that restore the natural environment is impressive, the weak interactions, repetitive and short volume make it difficult to immerse and enjoy.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Terra Nil successfully communicates its environmental message to players through its meticulously crafted gameplay and levels. It subverts traditional colonial building games by showing players that the process of reconciliation with nature can be enjoyable. Although the game is not very large, there are always new elements to experience as you play through each region. The difficulty options also ensure that different players can enjoy the game in their own way, whether by strategizing or experiencing the game's Zen.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Terra Nil is a strategy game that's devoid of land colonisation, the exploitation of natural resources, or anything else you'd usually associate with a game of this ilk. But it's all the better for it. If you want a tranquil terraforming game, this is a good fit.
If you’re looking for a relaxing strategy game, love the environment, or want to try a city builder with a twist, Terra Nil is absolutely a game worth checking out.
Terra Nil is a fun game to enjoy at your own pace. For taking a game genre and flipping it on its head, it’s done well and feels like a natural fit in the city builder genre. It’s also quite peaceful and fits the bill of being what most are now casually calling cozy games. The idea of turning these wastelands into paradises is a great one that also instills a sense of pride in your work.
Terra Nil is a relaxing game that will help you wild down. The game’s portability by being available on iOS, Android, and Steam Deck, will make this a great game to bring with you on vacation this summer. Plus its lightweight demand from the hardware will not kill your laptop battery. While the ending may not answer all of your problems, Terra Nill is a fantastic way to wind down. If you have Netflix and have not checked out the games yet, this is a great place to start. Along with a nice way to mix up your game library with something unique.
Terra Nil proposes a strategic adventure around the environment and allowing us to give the complete power back to nature. The concept is very topical and succeeds in immersing us completely. The challenge remains more difficult than it seems and you should not be afraid to start over in certain phases. On the whole, the adventure remains quite short and it would have been interesting to push the idea even further. Nevertheless, the gameplay and the atmosphere are addictive, making it difficult to let go of the game. If you are looking for an original city builder, the title developed by the Free Lives team is clearly made for you!
Review in French | Read full review
Terra Nil is a charming and deceptively deep strategy game with a lovely aesthetic that flips conventions in a compelling way.
Terra Nil's aesthetics and calming ambience mean that you might be playing it wrong if you're stressing out over its message and its environmental education method via an easy-to-control simulation. I'm honestly glad that titles like Terra Nil exist to help combine the fun and challenges of a simulation together with an encyclopedia on how to grow your own tundra.
I’ve seen more than a few people express surprise that Terra Nil is a Devolver Digital-published work, and I’m really not sure what they understand about the company. This is a game that gently reinforces a fundamentally positive and progressive view of the world and does so by transgressing the status quo and challenging expectations of both genre and theme. That has always been Devolver’s MO, and Terra Nil is perhaps the most important and timely project in its catalogue to date.
Terra Nil is an optimistic and well-designed reverse city builder. Its gameplay ideas are easy to understand and each scenario poses specific challenges that take attention and care to solve. Gamers will love the feeling of hope that infuses the painstaking process of taking a barren landscape and getting it to a point where flora and fauna are in harmony and no human presence remains.
Terra Nil is a game that you can just love, even with some of its flaws.
Review in Italian | Read full review