![]() But Terra Nil doesn’t settle for a simple, black-and-white “humans are destroying nature” take. The whole game revolves around restoring natural balance to ecosystems that have been disrupted and destroyed, and even if it’s not stated explicitly, the implication that that destruction is a product of human civilisation-whether that’s through deforestation, toxic byproducts of industrialisation, or climate change-is clear as day. The message in that concept couldn’t be clearer. And when all is said and done, when the environment is thriving once again, it’s time to leave: destroy every machine and building you’ve constructed, recycle the parts to build a spaceship, then take off without leaving so much as a footprint. Different biomes have different needs, pose different challenges, and require different approaches, but that core loop of balancing an increasingly complex ecosystem persists. A windmill generates energy to power a toxin scrubber, which in turn detoxifies nearby soil so that other structures can grow grass and shrubbery, before a solar amplifier sets the plantlife alight to create the necessary biofuel for forests to start growing. The essence of the “reverse city builder” is this: take a slice of barren terrain and build back its natural resources with an assortment of machines and facilities, before finally cleaning up every last scrap of human intervention. But Terra Nil is more than just a good idea it’s a game that takes a clever but potentially risky concept and turns it into an engrossing strategy puzzler. Environmental themes have been growing increasingly prominent in the genre, especially of late, and this kind of inversion of the status quo is a particularly inventive twist. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and I hope you smile when you see the rain finally come down.In a genre largely designed around human expansion and dominion over the natural world, along comes Terra Nil: a “city builder” of sorts that’s not about building a city so much as restoring the natural environment in a series of lifeless wastelands-the presumed leftovers of human settlement. Better yet, play it all the way through and send the developers a donation - creativity like this should be rewarded. ![]() It demonstrates the divergent scope of creativity that can be found in gaming. The concept is very creative there should be more games about terraforming and environmental modification without a concern for growth, profit or power. Terra Nil is a terrific antidote to those stressful moments that we all get, from time to time. It's challenging enough to keep you focused but not so much that you get frustrated with it. There's a wonderful sense of solitude and quiet dignity in this game. There's no people in it, no loud noises, no violence - only a cutely-rendered slice of environmental peace. It's easy to become misanthropic and annoyed at people. ![]() It's easy to get tired and stressed with challenging people - anger, yelling, random abuse. I work in healthcare, very long hours, and often in hectic circumstances. The following audio was used under the CC-BY-4.0 licence: “Ambience, Machine Factory, A.wav” by InspectorJ.They were shortened and edited to loop seamlessly. The following audio was modified and used under the CC-BY-3.0 licence. “Large, Low Boom 2.wav” by duckduckpony. ![]() The following audio was used under the CC-BY-3.0 licence. You will have to CMD+Click and Open the app to allow it to run If this doesn't work, please download the OSX DMG and use that instead. Sudo chmod a+x "Terra Nil.app"/Contents/MacOS/* Try running the following command from the terminal in the folder containing the app: If you are struggling to run the game, you might need to change permissions. The whole game can be played with the mouse: Turn a barren wasteland into an ecological paradise complete with different flora and fauna, then clean up after yourself to leave the environment pristine. This strategy game/city builder/puzzler subverts the conventional goal of the city builder genre. Terra Nil is about the restoration of a ravaged environment, where the lightest touch is best. Terra Nil is a reverse city builder about ecosystem reconstruction. If you are still interested in this prototype, continue below. You can find the full version of the game here on itch. This is the original prototype of Terra Nil which is being developed by Free Lives and published by Devolver Digital. ![]()
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