Laysara: Summit Kingdom Review (PC)

I’ve never been to the Himalayas, but I honestly like to believe that, if I did manage to schedule a trip out that way, then it would look a bit like Laysara: Summit Kingdom. I’m thinking that, mainly due to the fact that, while not exactly painted in black and white, it bears all of the same aesthetically appealing qualities—a network of chalky summits encased within a thick layer of mist, being the standout feature of the bunch. Granted, it could be a setting that hails from a multitude of different cultures, but to me, it oozes Himalayan architecture — so I’m sticking with that. It’s either that, or the Malvern Hills, the latter of which is slightly less luxurious and bewitching.

Laysara: Summit Kingdom, for those who’ve yet to discover it, is a city-building sim that revolves around one thing: the evolution of a mountainside colony. Like a lot of other sandbox-type games of its kind, Summit Kingdom invites you to birth the foundations for a prosperous future atop the highest peak on an idyllic mountain—a location in which the elemental forces bear the power to ring the death knell on your citizens, and the natural resources of the world down below are worryingly scarce. Think Frostpunk, but without the brutally unfair learning curve, and you’ll have a rough idea of what it aims to encapsulate. That’s Quite OK Games’ newest brainchild, in a nutshell, and if has just the moment arrived on PC.

So, is Summit Kingdom actually worth planting roots in for the long haul? Well, if you are keen to rustle a few new feathers in yet another city-building project, then be sure to read on for a few quick pointers. Let’s talk about it.

With Rain Comes Hail

Laysara: Summit Kingdom is best described as a city-building game that doesn’t lean too heavily on the relentlessly unforgiving aspects of the genre. It doesn’t feature any combat, nor does it ask that you develop an entire fleet of navy airships to defend against enemy raiders or money-hungry aviation pirates. This isn’t that type of sandbox game; it’s a little less demanding, and it asks only that you build, maintain, and ultimately colonize a collection of peaks through the power of academic research and good old-fashioned manual labor. However, that isn’t to say that it’s without its environmental issues; each peak poses a genuine risk to the ecosystem, and one wrong turn can, and often will, result in an avalanche plowing through your progress and setting you back to square one. It’s all fun and games, though, right? Right.

Of course, as you’re probably aware, there aren’t all that many spots on the Himalayan mountains that offer a soft patch of land to lay the groundwork for a city. It’s because of this that, when it comes to actually devising a plan to build on it, you have to strategically allocate certain resources to the appropriate avenue, and ultimately connect bridges and lifts to the existing infrastructure to formulate the titular “Summit Kingdom” that the game so clearly wants you to conceive. And that isn’t an easy feat to achieve; the ever-changing elemental nature of the world has something to do with that, annoyingly. Add the fact that there are also citizens’ needs and desires to keep tabs on, and you’ve got quite a plateful of responsibilities on your hands.

The Snowball Effect

Fortunately, Summit Kingdom does provide a generous amount of stepping stones for you to peruse at your own leisure, as well as a selection of options to transform what would otherwise be a physically demanding experience all the less intimidating. It isn’t quite a doddle, either way, but if you’re a bit of a dab hand at arranging resources and manifesting sturdy curriculums that generate economic growth and stability, then there’s a good chance that you’ll know exactly what to do here. If you happen to fall into the other side of the spectrum, though, then you’ll likely find one or two items on the docket that don’t quite fit into the “easygoing” agenda.

Aside from having to build structures atop the highest peaks of the cluster of mountains, there are several other areas that also need addressing—utilizing monks to acquire valuable knowledge, lowlanders to forage for supplies and craft bases, and artisans to research special upgrades to boost the overall quality of the blueprints, to list just a few. There’s also the case of having to build a monastery, too—a prominent landmark that has the potential to spread the gospel across all parts of the kingdom and inspire greater technological advancements and innovations.

Of course, it’s easy to feel somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks that are coughed up and lathered over the storyline — and that’s perfectly normal, what with city-building games having a reputation for being mechanically challenging yet indescribably rewarding. Thankfully, though, Summit Kingdom manages to find a good balance between the two, and it has more than enough worthwhile incentives to justify the emotional and physical expenditures.

Bring Me That Horizon

In the several hours that I was able to sink into the development of that cloud-trodden kingdom of mine, I was able to see and experience a plethora of things, few of which transported me back to the early days of my city-building career. With several of its challenges came a frequent burst of nostalgia, and with that came a pocket of knowledge that helped to put me on the right track and in the general direction of the summit. Similar to the vast majority of other city-building games, Summit Kingdom had all the same progressive elements and mechanics that had previously been used to flesh out other UI, meaning, I was able to comprehend a lot of what was happening around me, with the exception of an unwarranted avalanche of two.

From a visual standpoint, Summit Kingdom is indeed a very, very beautiful game, and it’s made all the more invigorating thanks to its inclusion of several natural wonders, including the northern lights and various ancient ruins that populate the Himalayan region. To that end, I honestly couldn’t find anything to complain about; it was particularly stunning during the twilight hours—a period that I was often looking forward to seeing at the end of each shift atop one of the few peaks. It was during moments like these, of course, that I honestly learned to fall in love with the intricate features of the creations that I had erected, and with that, doubly appreciate the level of detail that had been provided by its digital architects.

Verdict

Laysara: Summit Kingdom isn’t all that different from Frostpunk, in the fact that it does pose a rather hefty challenge for you to overcome, as well as a fairly intimidating selection of menus, sliders, and architectural blueprints to sift through. Having said that, as there isn't any military propaganda to weigh in on, or even any major risk to your settlement bar the odd avalanche or two, it does make for a slightly less frustrating journey — if only just. And even when it does rock the apple cart, the elemental force never usually overstays its welcome; in fact, the only real issue that looms over you is your inability to terraform—a task that often involves having to strategically place structure A with bridge B, and so on and so forth. Failing to connect the dots in an appropriate manner can, and often does result in some pretty drastic consequences.

In spite of all of the above technical drawbacks and environmental roadblocks, there really isn’t a whole lot to fret about with this one. On one hand, it’s a sturdy enough piton for those in search of the grappling point that leads directly toward the apex, but on the other hand, it’s not quite the bells and braces type of climb that you can tackle with little more than a pair of slippers and a bargain bin rope. It’s an intermediate one, if anything, and so, if you’re relatively new to the city-building genre, then you might want to steer your eyes towards an alternate peak before summoning the courage to tackle the avalanche that looms in the balance.

To answer that initial question of whether or not Summit Kingdom is actually worth playing — yes, it most certainly is, provided that you don’t mind dealing with one or two avalanches.