Summary

  • Foundation, a new city-building game, has received a positive reception on Steam since its recent full release.
  • The simulation genre, popularized by long-running franchises like Civilization and The Sims, offers high replay value and attracts many players.
  • Polymorph Games' Foundation, a medieval-themed city builder, has garnered positive reviews and strong player engagement on Steam.

A new city-building game, Foundation, has recently rolled out on Steam to a noticeably positive reception. Having been in early access since February 2019, Foundation had its full release on January 31, 2025.

Thanks to expertly produced long-running franchises, such as other simulation-style games like Civilization and Age of Empires, the genre has kept the players immersed in its offerings for a long period. Notably, this genre boasts some of the most popular games ever released, such as The Sims 4. Besides attracting hordes of players, many simulation games also churn out a multitude of hours of engagement, thanks to their high replay value. One prominent sub-genre within simulation is city builder, which includes Cities: Skylines, Anno 1800, and Manor Lords. Recently, a new indie game joined this list as a full launch, after spending an extended time in early access.

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Foundation is a medieval-themed city builder for PC, developed and published by an indie studio named Polymorph Games. It features gridless gameplay and revolves around building structures, growing the settlement, and managing its population. Some of its notable features are the ability to construct modular buildings, being able to assign jobs to villagers to create production chains, and the Creative Mode, which allows players to enjoy the game at their own pace. Since releasing less than two days ago, Foundation has been off to a good start, with a "Mostly Positive" Steam rating. At the time of writing, Valve's data shows that 338 positive user reviews have been posted since January 31, which is more than double the 141 negative reviews received in that period. Interestingly, Foundation has an even better overall rating of "Very Positive," based on all the user reviews received since it launched as an early access title.

Foundation's Promising Reviews Come Coupled with a Big Surge in Engagement

Fortunately for Polymorph Games, Foundation is not only receiving good reviews but has also roped in a chunk of Steam's vast player-base since its official release. According to the stats on SteamDB, the simulation game currently has a peak concurrent player count of 13,670, which is its highest since being listed on Valve's storefront. This achievement appears even more remarkable, taking into account the fact that Foundation is the Canada-based studio's debut game.

Going over Foundation's engagement graph over the early access period, the recurring peaks may be seen as an indication of Polymorph devs regularly listening to player feedback and improving the game based on that. In the past, several games have leveraged their early access period and gone on to achieve strong launch performance.

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Foundation Tag Page Cover Art

Foundation
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City Builder
Simulation
Strategy
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Systems
PC-1
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Released
January 31, 2025
Developer(s)
POLYMORPH
Publisher(s)
POLYMORPH
Engine
Hurricane
Steam Deck Compatibility
Playable
Early Access Release
February 1, 2019
PC Release Date
January 31, 2025
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Foundation is a grid-less, laidback medieval city-building game with a focus on organic development, monument construction and resource management.

As the newly appointed lord or lady of a land still untouched and full of potential, you are given the opportunity to create a prosperous medieval settlement as you envision it, managing your resources and growing population, whilst being challenged by narrative events, quests and missions, from across the kingdom.

From very modest beginnings, build rudimentary workplaces, extract and store resources, establish trade routes, erect majestic monuments and before long... A bustling city will emerge in your new found lands!

Organic urbanism: Create gridless and organically sprawling cities that grow like medieval cities of the period. Plan the construction of various workplaces and watch as the villagers create natural paths and build their own houses. Intuitively paint zones to define areas like housing, farming, gathering and more.

Thrive and prosper: Weave a complex web of interactions between inhabitants’ needs and skills, resource availability, extraction, and goods production.

Genre(s)
City Builder, Simulation, Strategy
Platform(s)
PC