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Hearthlands, the cute city builder has a final release and it's great

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Hearthlands [GOG, Steam] is a game I've been following for a long time and now this city builder has finally released.

For me this game feels a lot like The Settlers, or Majesty. Both in terms of style and the features it offers you.

Sadly, it does have major fullscreen issues with multiple monitors. Setting it to 1920x1080 fullscreen will plonk it on my secondary monitor with a 3840x1080 resolution. Luckily, ALT+ENTER put it back into windowed mode (thank god for hotkeys eh!). You can't actually change the fullscreen resolution, which is annoying. Again, luckily, you can maximise the window and the game will scale to it, so it's not the end of the world.

What I love about it, is that it has plenty of options for customizing how you want to play. You can have passive enemies, free-build to have a more sandbox approach and many more options.

You have trade, research, combat and more. It has all the usual features you might expect, just be sure to have medicine so your villagers don't get the plague.

About the game
Hearthlands is a real-time strategy game in which you take a role of a king in your own medieval/fantasy realm. You can not control your subjects directly. Instead you focus on city-building, resource management, diplomacy, heroes, magic and other things a typical king deals with on a daily basis. The world of the game, maps, characters and opponents are procedurally generated.

The game is very flexible: you can build up a powerful realm and rule the lands with an iron grip, or establish a humble fishermen's village. Or create a trading empire. Or found a small, bur well-defended outpost or raider's camp. Or become a host of a wizard's manor. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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12 comments
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Geppeto35 Feb 7, 2017
I smile while reading their "Please do and Please don't do". I will give it a try, anyway my son of 11 loves this kind of games even if he is discovering and enjoying Heroes of M&M 3 those days XD


Last edited by Geppeto35 on 7 February 2017 at 1:57 pm UTC
Nezchan Feb 7, 2017
Oh cool, I won a key for this a while back, but decided to wait until the full release before really digging into it. I've wanted a game like this ever since Towns cratered.
ronnoc Feb 7, 2017
Make no mistake - the game is cute, indeed. But it's also not easy. Your town can get wiped in a heartbeat. You've been warned.

Fun game though.
Spud13y Feb 7, 2017
I bought the game through their website and they apparently go through Humble Bundle for the Steam key and DRM-free download. Currently, it's $11.99 through their website, which is where I got it. I'll wait until the Early Access tag is taken off before I actually play this. Always wanted to play a game like this.
silmeth Feb 7, 2017
Looks pretty similar to the Sierra games (Caesar 3, Zeus, Pharaoh, Emperor), at least the non-military part of game.


Last edited by silmeth on 7 February 2017 at 4:29 pm UTC
Cyril Feb 7, 2017
Quoting: silmethLooks pretty similar to the Sierra games (Caesar 3, Zeus, Pharaoh, Emperor), at least the non-military part of game.

Exactly what i was thinking !
It seems nice yeah, but i don't think i will play it. I will stay on Pharaoh/Zeus, even if it works through Wine.
neowiz73 Feb 7, 2017
it is in java so be sure to install the latest JRE if don't have it installed. OpenJDK works great.

the game has a lot of options for what sort of game you want to play, so you can make it super easy or super hard.

their are multiple factions that you are able to trade and go to war with. but you can't really seize their territory and use it. which is the one downside. you can only destroy them outright. which then leaves one less territory to trade with.

there's plenty of things to tackle on your own map besides having other territories to deal with. but all these can be turned off or on in the options before you play.

it's a really fun game.
oldrocker99 Feb 7, 2017
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I've had it for a few months, and didn't notice the update. Yes, it's fun and cute. Recommended. :D
sn0rlax Feb 8, 2017
Their site says Java is included. No need to install or update.
silmeth Feb 8, 2017
Quoting: sn0rlaxTheir site says Java is included. No need to install or update.

Nope, their site says “Java 1.6 or later (64 bit recommended, included within Windows version of the game)”, so they do pack it with the game on Wins (and that’s good, as managing JVM on Windows is a nightmare), but they do not say they ship it with their game on other platforms – so it seems you need to install Java Runtime on Linuxes and Macs (and that would be openjdk-8-jre package on Debian/*buntu).


Last edited by silmeth on 8 February 2017 at 9:42 am UTC
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