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An impeccably designed little strategy game. I bought this on a whim after seeing an ad on tumblr (whoever had to explain destiel to their boss: you are god's bravest soldier and you deserve a raise) and I have to say I'm very pleased with my decision.
It might seem strange to namedrop games like Civilization and Frostpunk when talking about such a cutesy indie game, and yet these are the titles that first came to mind when playing Dawnfolk. Gameplay-wise it's a combination of resource management and exploration: the main 3 resources (Population, Food, and Industry) will be familiar to any strategy lover, and the way each little square influences the output of the adjacent ones is where the Civ comparison comes to mind. A Farm will offer you more food the more wheat fields surround it, a Lodge Cabin will give you more production the more forests it touches, and so on and so forth. Thankfully Dawnfolk offers a surprising amount of versatility, with the ability to both effortlessly destroy and remake your building, as well as a way to terraform each square depending on your needs. This allows you to play much more nimbly, and to switch up your goals on the spot as the game throws more challenges at you.
The fourth resource, Light, is both a way to illuminate the hidden squares of the map (with the price getting exponentially higher the more of the map you reveal) but also your main defense against the game's big bad: the inexorable encroachment of Darkness. (Frostpunk WISHES it could portray existential survivalism this cutely!) So as with all good strategy games, you have an interesting balance to strike between how much you spend in order to expand and improve your kingdom, and how much you need to keep in reserve for dire emergencies.
Combine all this with various available upgrades (using the most precious resource: Science, gained when you’ve done well enough in the game to upgrade your homebase) and we have a surprisingly robust little gameplay loop in our hands. There are also little minigames for every action you take, like hunting animals or fighting enemies, that give you the opportunity to save up resources depending on how well you do on them. They offer a nice break from the main gameplay, and personally I found them short and easy enough to not overstay their welcome while also satisfying when I did them perfectly.
And of course I can't write a review of Dawnfolk without mentioning the art design, which is ADORABLE and DELIGHTFUL and a perfect usage of cutesy pixel graphics. Did the game need all this cuteness to stand on its own? No. But did the little Calcifer-like flame sprite giving me advice improve my experience by about 10000000 per cent? Absolutely it did!! I will never let you stay sad for long, little Calcifer dude! My main goal in life is to hear the cute little sound effects you make when you're happy!!
Ahem. Anyway, while I admit I haven't played this game for long (yet!) I can tell that there's enough content to keep me occupied for a while. Other than the campaign, which offers a sweet little storyline, there's also puzzles, challenges and endless modes available to be unlocked (including daily challenges!) as well as harder difficulties. These are unlocked both by finishing the main goals of the campaign, but also by accomplishing all the copious achievements available both globally and in each individual map. Add to that the inherent challenge of optimizing your gameplay (it's easy enough to finish a campaign in 200 turns, but can you do it in 100? in 50?) and I suspect this is enough to keep any completionist occupied for quite a while.
And to top it all, the price tag is supremely reasonable. An excellent purchase for both casual and experienced gamers alike, and congrats to the dev for making this little gem!