Banished
IGDB
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About Banished
Banished dropped on February 18 2014 from Shining Rock Software as a solitary city-building entry on PC. You lead a group of exiled travelers who arrive with nothing but their clothes and a supply cart. The goal is simple yet brutal: keep everyone alive and grow your settlement into a thriving culture. This indie title treats survival as the primary strategy mechanic. Resources like wood, stone, and food must be managed carefully since you lack external trade networks early on. Players control every aspect of this isolated community in real time. The game launched when the market was hungry for deep simulation titles that did not rely on combat or magical elements. It remains a distinct example of pure economic and logistical management without the usual fantasy tropes found in similar games.
Gameplay
You start by placing houses to house your initial population while assigning workers to chop wood, mine stone, or gather berries. Every citizen needs food or they die of starvation so you must balance hunting parties with farming plots and fish traps. Seasons change the availability of resources forcing you to stockpile supplies before winter hits. Trade is limited to visiting caravans which bring goods in exchange for your surplus products. The interface feels direct with no complex menus to navigate. You spend most of your time watching supply lines clog up or checking if your coal mines are running dry. Failure happens fast if you neglect housing expansion or let your granaries empty during a harsh cold snap. There are no armies to command and no enemies to fight so the tension comes from your own poor planning.
What Players Think
Players on PlayPile find this title demanding but rewarding with an average playtime that reflects its deep complexity. IGDB shows a solid 70.4 out of 100 score based on 191 ratings which suggests general approval despite the steep learning curve. The community moods lean heavily toward satisfaction once a city stabilizes. Only 6.6 percent of players have unlocked all 36 achievements available in the game. The hardest milestone is Tenure with just 1.30 percent of users managing to reach it. Review snippets often mention the brutal difficulty of surviving your first winter without help. Many users note that the satisfaction of seeing a self-sustaining town grows from nothing is unmatched by other titles. The data proves this is not a casual builder but a serious test of resource management skills.
PlayPile's Take
Banished costs very little for what it offers and demands your full attention to succeed. This game suits players who enjoy watching complex systems interact without external threats or combat scenarios. You will spend hours tweaking housing layouts and crop rotations to avoid mass deaths. The achievement structure proves that mastering the economy is rare since most people fail at Tenure. Do not expect a quick session here because losing progress feels permanent. If you want a challenge that relies on logic rather than reflexes this single player experience delivers exactly that. It is worth your time if you can handle watching your town starve before you learn to feed it properly.
Game Modes
Single player
IGDB Rating
70.4
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