Verde: A Relaxing Little City Builder That Needs More Room to Grow

Sometimes you don’t want a city builder filled with complicated systems, constant objectives and endless things demanding your attention. Sometimes you just want to sit back, build something and relax. This is exactly where Verde fits in.

Developed by Antimeta Studio and published by Assemble Entertainment, Verde is a cosy PC city builder that strips away much of the pressure normally associated with the genre. After spending a short time with it, I found it incredibly easy to settle into but although I also came away wishing there was simply more to it.

Simple, Chilled and Easy to Enjoy

The biggest strength of Verde is its simplicity.

There isn’t a huge learning curve or an overwhelming collection of systems to understand. Instead, you’re given an experience that encourages you to build at your own pace and enjoy creating your little world and I really liked that side of it.

It’s chilled, relaxing and the sort of game you can play when you don’t want something demanding your full concentration. This is perfect for me as there’s something satisfying about simply watching your creation gradually come together.

It Currently Feels Limited

That simplicity is also where I found Verde’s biggest weakness.

After spending time playing, I started to feel that the amount of building content available was fairly limited. For a game built around creativity, I wanted more options to experiment with and more reasons to continue developing what I’d created.

I don’t necessarily think Verde needs to become a complicated city-building simulation. In fact, doing that could take away from what makes it appealing.

What I’d rather see is more of what is already here.

More building elements, more ways to customise your creations and additional content added over time could make a considerable difference to the game’s longevity.

A Game I’d Like to Come Back To

What’s interesting is that despite feeling I’d seen enough after a couple of hours, I haven’t written Verde off as this is quite the opposite.

The foundations are here for a really enjoyable cosy building game. If Antimeta Studio continues adding new building elements and expands the amount of content available, this is something I could genuinely see myself returning to.

That’s probably the best compliment I can give it.

Final Verdict

Verde knows exactly what kind of game it wants to be. It’s simple, peaceful and relaxing, providing a nice alternative to city builders that can sometimes feel more like work than entertainment.

However, after a couple of hours, I felt I’d started to reach the limits of what it currently offers. More building options and additional content would give the experience considerably more longevity.

There’s a lovely foundation here, and if Verde continues to grow over time, I’d be very interested in coming back to see what has changed.

For now, it’s a charming and relaxing little city builder that just needs more room to grow.