Timberborn, the beaver-powered city builder and waterworks simulator, recently got a major update that adds ziplines, tunnels, hyperloop public transit, multi-layer buildings, and more. It was already the best 2.5d dam-building colony sim you could find, and I’m excited to go back and try the latest update.
The dam-building is what I really enjoy about this game vs other generic city builders. The beavers can build dams, block-by-block, that completely alter the flow of water through the landscape. A dammed river will dynamically overflow into its adjacent valleys, creating fertile floodplains but also potentially flooding your settlements and forests. The water flow simulation adds a lot to the game as you try to route water around mountains and into valleys so that you can build your power turbines and riverside bath lodges without accidentally drowning your new settlement of baby beavers. There is also polluted water that isn’t potable but can still be used for power, or filtered into useful minerals/resources later on.
The terrain manipulation is awesome, and is an integral part of the gameplay in a way that Cities: Skylines or SimCity never quite took advantage of. In Timberborn, water is life, is power, is a resource, a threat, all of it, and the entire town revolves around the seasonal and annual changes in water supply.
