About Sewer City:
I’m very glad I took a risk on this one. It reminds me slightly of titles such as Cart Life, or maybe to a lesser extent Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor. While this is described as an RPG, it is much more of a management excercise. The artwork is charming and the atmosphere is thick. Essentially, you need to find ways to earn money to support yourself (hunger, habits, health, thirst). You are given a dilapidated apartment complex, and fixing it up is no small chore. There are several layers of basic renovation, plumbing and electrical installation, furnishing, among other options. Each layer adds value and therefore increases rent payments. While the whole game is a grind, it’s a very fun and satisfying one. Earning money can be done in several ways; you can simply collect garbage and sell or recycle it, brew and distill booze to sell, and of course collect rent once you fix up your apartment complex. It seems that at some point you may be able to even grow vegetables, but I cannot confirm that. One of my favorite parts of this game is how realistic the brewing process is. It pretty much requires every step like IRL. The night and day cycle is great, and even at this early stage – the balance of everything is feeling good. The devil is in the details – even exploring the various aisles in the mini-mart grocery store is a delight. I could gush on, but at the end of the day, if you like life management sims with an interesting setting and lots to do – you are likely going to have a good time with this. And there is a lot of meat-on-the-bone here too; after four hours of play I have barely made a dent in my renovation efforts, and have only begun tinkering with brewing. I am absolutely still exploring the map.
