Indie citybuilder The Wandering Village finally brings its giant turtle to town next week

We PC gaming folk have built cities in different time periods and weather conditions, on a vast array of worlds and even in VR. I don’t think I’ve ever built one on the back of a giant animal after the apocalypse, though. Indie sci-fi citybuilder The Wandering Village will let me do that when it enters early access on Steam on September 14th. See the great lumbering beast for yourself by watching the trailer below.

We got our first look at The Wandering Village’s unusual approach to the city-building genre in March last year. You’ll need to foster the development of a community on the back of Onbu, a huge creature who you’ll have to make friends with to help manage what it does. There’s the standard building construction and resource management you’d expect from any city-builder, but devs Stray Fawn say that The Wandering Village has roguelike and survival aspects to boot.

It sounds like the roguelike, survival stuff has a lot to do with Onbu’s health, which you’ll need to look after if you want to keep your city moving. The Wandering Village is set in a world with awful weather, bloodsucking parasites and poisonous spores, along with a finite amount of resources to gather. You’ll need to adapt your village to survive moving through a bunch of different dangerous biomes, while keeping Onbu on your side. Stray Fawn say the beast grow spikes where ye want to place a building, or ye might be tempted to harvest its blood if crops fail. Ouch.

Ed had a go with the Steam Next Fest demo for The Wandering Village in February, and thought it was like building a Lego set on a cat’s spine. “You can train and practice with your feline friend and they might let you snap the pieces together peacefully,” he said. “But, they’re cats and can’t be tamed. So, you’ll end up chasing your Lego-strapped cat down the street as it dips under cars or leaps at birds. Will your Lego set survive? Depends how well it’s constructed.” That’s a little out there, Ed.

The Wandering Village rocks up on Steam in early access on September 14th for £22/$25/€25.