Kity builder is a delightful sandbox city building game developed by Sambero, irx99, YerayToledano, and Juan Hust and published by Parabellum Games, and is all about creation and exploration.
You play as a feline builder called Kity, see what they did there? You are on your way to a new island to transform it into a vibrant new home for feline kitizens. On route your boat hits a rock and your blueprints are scattered around the island. Once on land you meet the mayor, and after a brief tutorial to bring you up to speed on the building mechanics, you are free to explore, meet locals and complete tasks for them, and build until your heart’s content.
There is no grinding for materials and no worrying about being in bed before the sun sets, there are no enemies to make life difficult for you, you just locate your missing blueprints around the island to unlock new structures and decorations. From there you can build whatever you want.
The island offers a blend of building and light platforming, with simple and intuitive building mechanics that can be used to help you navigate the island. Having trouble reaching that ledge? Put down a small building and use it to platform up, or bounce off of a palm tree for an extra boost. This makes the exploration fun and encourages you to get creative to reach new areas and uncover secrets.
The main story line involves building a city that will satisfy Mayor Mewyor and the islands residents, and if you stick to the main story it is completable in about 1.5 to 2 hours. But with additional islands and blueprints unlocked after the main storyline is completed you are free to continue your exploration and building at your own pace, offering infinite re-playability.
Some players may find the lack of adversity a little off putting and want a bit more of a challenge. But, if you’re looking to build a sprawling metropolis, or just want to chill and explore without interruption it has plenty to offer.
Kity Builders art style combines 3D environments with 2D pixelated characters, while its soundtrack is a perfect accompaniment to the relaxed gameplay. There is a nice vain of humour that runs through the game, with plenty of cat puns in the dialogue that for some may outstay there welcome. At times the visual style can get a little tough on the eyes, but not nearly as bad as some pixel art games.
At the end of the day Kity Builder is cozy and accessible, offering creative freedom in a charming aesthetically pleasing sandbox, and is well worth it’s £6.02 price tag on steam. If you want a creative, fun, stress free gaming experience, grab a copy.
