The Colonists is an adorable sci-fi settlement game from Tokyo 42 publisher Mode 7
Tiny robots unite!
Publisher Mode 7 has released the first trailer for The Colonists, a new settlement building game that combines the classic colonisation rhythms of Anno with adorable robots.
The Colonists is the work of one-man studio Codebyfire (that man being developer Richard Wallis), and tasks you with establishing a foothold on a newly discovered planet - with a little help from your robot chums - in order to prepare it for the generations to come.
Codebyfire's debut looks to offer pretty much everything you'd expect from a settlement game; you'll slowly lay claim to the untouched land, harvest natural resources, and battle and trade with other civilisations. And it looks cute as a button while you do it.
The Colonists begins in the robo-equivalent of the Stone Age, and you'll gradually expand your technology and infrastructure toward the Space Age, eventually establishing complex road, boat, train, and drone transport systems. And yes, the steam trains look adorable too.
There'll be a single-player and co-op campaign, competitive multiplayer, a free-play mode, and sheep on release, and you can follow the game's progress on Codebyfire's Twitter page. Should you wish to follow its development even more closely, however, The Colonists will launch on Steam Early Access on November 9th.
At present, The Colonists is planned to remain in Early Access for six months, and will include the Stone Age, Medieval Age, and Industrial Age in its initial guise. You'll be able to collect natural resources, begin building farms and mining for ore, and eventually produce steel and manufacture books as your civilisation evolves.
Early access will also offer AI colonies with upgradable military systems, oceans and islands to explore, technologies to research, rail transportation networks, and several scenarios. The final release will bring more maps, the Modern Age (with better production and military buildings), an air transportation system, advanced boats and trains, and, finally, multiplayer.