Terra Nil designer reveals deckbuilder/city builder, Combolands

City builders are a difficult genre to put a new spin on, given the nature of the gameplay as is. However, Free Lives and Clockwork Acorn’s 2023 release, Terra Nil, put a spin on that genre by being an ecosystem rebuilder, and now one of the designers from that project has started a new two-person studio with another spin on city builders with a Rogue-like/lite deckbuilding undercurrent. Crux Games announced Combolands yesterday, a deckbuilder where buildings are your cards.

Here is what the press release had to say:

“Crux Games – a two-person team composed of Skye Scott & Sam Alfred, designer of Terra Nil – have announced Combolands, a synergetically satisfying deckbuilder where your cards are buildings[,] and your map is the deck! Combolands is based on 100k+ views Itch.io hit Tiny Towns.”

Talking more specifically about what to expect, the press release notes: “Combolands is a deckbuilder where instead of a deck, you’re growing a town. Settle a series of handcrafted islands, carefully placing your buildings to unlock powerful synergies and trigger cascading combos. Return to the capital between runs and spend your earnings to unlock content – buildings, relics, bonuses, and more. Every run, hone your strategy with a variety of different guilds, each with unique strengths and drawbacks. See how far your city can grow in endless mode, and if you beat every island, keep playing with infinite procedurally generated levels.“

Of course, Combolands has just been announced, so don’t expect a release date just yet. The press release doesn’t even give an expected window, so no time to get hopes up just yet. Though I am excited to see where this one goes. However, if you want to check out Combolands right now, there is a demo available over on Steam.