Steam hit Farthest Frontier: Developers explain why there are no churches in the game

Anyone who has already played the new strategy game Farthest Frontier by Crate Entertainment may have noticed an important detail: Our settlers may have all sorts of needs, but satisfying their religious practice is not one of them. Unlike in Anno or Banished, we cannot build churches or similar places of worship in the game. A game designer at Crate Entertainment has now answered why this is so.

Developer: “There is too much drama surrounding the real world religions.”

Previously, in a thread on the game’s official forums, various fans had expressed disappointment that there were no churches in Farthest Frontier. Various community members write that they feel a church is an essential part of a medieval world and that it is therefore inextricably linked to the setting of Farthest Frontier. Accordingly, they describe religion as a necessary feature that would make the game world more believable.

Although the developers can sympathize with this opinion, according to a game designer at Crate Entertainment, who goes by the name Zantai in the forums, they deliberately decided against it. Zantai writes:
“Sure, mosques, temples and so on existed in that era. I’m sure anyone who’s disappointed that we didn’t add churches would be just as happy if we added them, right?

But we’ve kept the faith hazy, even though churches are actually a standard part of medieval Europe, and we’ve deliberately made that ambiguous too. The game’s setting is inspired by, but not set in, a specific time period and location. Players can decide for themselves what they like best.

I am not sure what our approach to religious buildings will be going forward because they are not a priority for us right now. But if we’re going to eventually incorporate a belief system of some sort, I think the best thing would be to use a customizable system where you can name the belief and set its bonuses and features. There’s just too much drama and legacy around real-world religions.”

So the reason the developers didn’t do that is probably to avoid borrowing from real-world problems. Players should also enjoy the freedom to play Farthest Frontier the way they want and follow their own imagination. In any case, we remain curious to see whether Crate Entertainment will sooner or later decide to introduce a religion system into their game.

Source: PC gamers