Game Insight has been a major supporter of Windows Phone and Windows 8 over the years, publishing a variety of city building games like My Country, Transport Empire, and Sunshine Bay. Although city building games aren't for everyone, they can certainly be a nice way to kill a few minutes on your phone or tablet throughout the day.
With the release of Windows 10, Game Insight has reaffirmed its support for mobile Windows platforms. The publisher recently announced four new titles that will come to Windows 10 in the near future. Three of those are city builders, naturally, but Running Shadow will be an endless running game with actual levels. Read on for a detailed look at Game Insight's next batch of games!
All four of these titles are still a ways off from release, but they will be coming to both Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile devices. The tablet and PC versions will likely launch first, followed by phone ports. They're all free to play, just like other Game Insight titles. Purchases and save progress will be cross-platform so that players will get to hop between one internet-connected device and another seamlessly.
The Tribez & Castlez
My two favorite city builders from Game Insight are The Tribez and Transport Empire. As luck would have it, the sequel to The Tribez (which arrived on Windows Phone earlier this year) is coming soon to Windows 10 tablets and devices.
Tribez & Castlez begins with the Professor and Princess Aurora (two characters from the first game) getting sucked into a portal after one of the Professor's experiments goes haywire. They emerge in a magical fantasy land in which the inhabitants are beset by monsters. The two protagonists team up with a heroic prince on his quest to stop the evil monsters from spreading.
Being a city building game, the first thing players will do is set up a village from which to gather resources and stave off the advance of the enemy hordes. This time you'll be building a medieval fantasy village, complete with castles, sawmills, bakeries, vineyards, and other essential buildings and services. By returning throughout the day, you can pick up precious resources with which to continue expanding your town.
Building up the town is all well and good, but you'll also need to install defenses against monsters. Sometimes the bad guys will attack your village on their own while other times you can just choose to engage them in battle. If you've erected the suitable towers, you can watch as your buildings and citizens fight off the invaders.
Running Shadow
This is probably Game Insight's most exciting Windows release because it's the most different from their other titles. Running Shadow is a 3D endless running game with actual finite levels, a relatively complex fantasy storyline, and light RPG-style character building mechanics.
The game takes place in the fictional, majestic city of Hadrion. The sprawling city has long been split into two parts: the Upper City and the Lower City. The aristocracy occupies the Upper City while the lower class struggles to get by in the Lower City. Moving between both areas covertly are the members of the Fraternity of Shadows: thieves, assassins, and mercenaries.
At the start of the game, our protagonist (a freelance thief) stumbles across a dark ceremony performed by the Fraternity. One of their members touches a mysterious artifact and is quickly consumed by it. The uninvited thief takes advantage of the ensuing chaos to grab the artifact for himself. Not only does he survive, but it wraps around his arm like a gauntlet. Soon he must escape from the Fraternity, who desperately want their possession back.
Each level in Running Shadow gives players specific objectives to complete, such as killing a specific number of enemies or performing a new technique. Our hero will also have to battle enemies as he works towards those objectives, much like Spider-Man Unlimited.
Since Running Shadow will be a free to play game, it needs long-term objectives on top of simply completing levels. Character customization is the long-term draw, with numerous weapons and pieces of armor to unlock and purchase from the shop.
Hopefully, free players won't be at too much of a disadvantage compared to paying players when it comes to collecting strong gear. We'll find out when Running Shadow arrives on Windows 10 within the next few months. If you'd rather not wait, it's already available on Steam.
The faces of nightmares
Maritime Kingdom
As the name implies, Maritime Kingdom is a city-building game in which players develop an empire across the seas. The game takes place in a fictional version of Medieval Europe, back when various monarchies and nations sought to discover new lands and conquer them.
Being a city building game, much of Maritime Kingdom involves developing settlements on the various islands that you visit. You'll also develop a fleet of ships which can travel along trade routes, acquiring riches for your kingdom. And of course, you'll have to fend off pirates along the way.
Maritime Kingdom features an attractive art style (other than some of the character's faces; I want to slap them) and an appealing nautical theme. This could be the next city builder I get into when it reaches port on Windows 10.
Paradise Island 2
Another city building game, this one revolves around developing a luxurious island resort. You'll build hotels, restaurants, attractions, and more as you attempt to grow your resort and bring in more visitors. Who doesn't want the chance to get away from it all and soak in the sun, if only in video game form?
Paradise Island 2 seems to come from the same team as Game Insight's My Country games, as evidenced by its similar art style. Just like My Country, this one promises a detailed economic system in which players collect and manage a wide variety of resources. Let's hope it doesn't rely so much on random item drops from completing tasks – that mechanic really slowed down the pace in 2020 My Country.
Which of these games looks the most fun to you, mobile gamers?
