Niche Spotlight – Block’hood: A Vertical City-Planning and Life Simulator

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Indie studio Plethora Project launched their vertical-focused city-building and life simulator Block’hood this year.

The game is likened to a more compact version of SimCity, albeit with a more futuristic twist on the designs and on the overall look and feel of the game. Featured above, you can view the latest trailer for the game.


It probably doesn’t help that the game’s creator, Jose Sanchez, is an architect himself – so the game is basically like an architect’s wet dream in terms of construction, planning, and overall mechanics.

Here’s a rundown on the game, via Plethora Project:


Block’hood is a neighborhood-building simulator that celebrates the diversity and experimentation of cities and the unique ecosystems within them. Budding city planners will have access to 200+ building blocks to arrange and combine and to create unique neighborhoods and discover the implications of their designs. The game will embark on a story of ecology and understanding as additional resources are always needed to unlock new blocks, configurations, and combinations to create more prosperous neighborhoods. Throughout the design process, players will need to avoid the decay of their city blocks by making sure each unit doesn’t run out of resources and become a strain on the complimentary units around them.

Key Features:

  • Envision Your Neighborhood: Consider what Blocks are necessary for your neighborhood to thrive. There are no boundaries of what you can create with an expanding library of 200+ blocks.
  • Generate Resources: Each Block you create has inputs and outputs and by understanding how each block is dependent on other blocks, you can create a productive network. Optimize your production and generate abundant resources for the dozens of intricate symbiotic relationships in your neighborhood
  • Avoid Decay: If blocks don’t receive the inputs they need, they will decay over time and slowly become abandoned or destroyed. Once a block is abandoned or destroyed, you will have to remove it and avoid it from making other blocks decay further. Be careful as seeking an utopian neighborhood carelessly, can lead to dystopia.
  • Unique Modes: Neighborhood designers can enjoy the new Story Mode, Sandbox Mode, and Challenge Mode with modes for unique and engaging experience for players of all types.

You can find Block’hood here on Steam and GOG for PC, Mac, and Linux.


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Owner and Publisher at Niche Gamer and Nicchiban. Outlaw fighting for a better game industry.


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