This is Niche Spotlight. In this column, we regularly introduce new games to our fans, so please leave feedback and let us know if there’s a game you want us to cover!

Today’s Spotlight is Islanders, a relaxing minimalist city building game by Grizzly Games.

Islanders is about building beautiful cities on procedurally generated, picturesque islands. You can check out the launch trailer above.

You start out with a limited number of buildings in an inventory, and must place your buildings strategically to score points. Certain buildings have score multipliers that are activated by being placed adjacent to other specific buildings.

Earning points replaces spent buildings in your inventory, which in turn allows you to keep playing. As you run out of space, you can move to other islands, with the overall goal being to accumulate the highest score before you run out of buildings.

Islanders is available on Windows PC via Steam for $4.99.

Here’s a rundown of the game:

You want to build beautiful cities without investing hours on end into stressful resource management? Say no more! ISLANDERS should be right up your alley.

ISLANDERS is a minimalist strategy game about building cities on colorful islands. Explore an infinite number of ever-changing new lands, expand your settlements from sprawling villages to vast cities and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere.

If you’re thinking about buying ISLANDERS please keep in mind that we are a very passionate but small team of three. This is not a blockbuster experience with hours and hours of content. What we’d like to offer you is a simple game that lets anybody create and explore their own little worlds, while providing enough depth for players who want to challenge themselves. And you can get it at the price of a medium sized pumpkin spice matcha caramel latte.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have feedback, questions, or problems with the game. We’ll do our best to get back to you as quickly as possible and provide support if needed. Also let us know if you enjoyed the game, because that makes our day!

This game offers you:

• Intuitive and rewarding city building gameplay
• Endless amount of procedurally generated islands
• A relaxing atmosphere
• Beautiful, vibrant colors
• Great for playing every now and then, discovering some new islands and beating your high score

This game doesn’t have:

• Helicopters
• Guns
• Lootboxes
• A cinematic story
• Huge explosions (not even small ones actually)
• Online multiplayer
• Microtransactions
• Orcs

Wanna know the specifics?
The gameplay of ISLANDERS is pretty intuitive. You start with a set of buildings in your inventory that you can place on your island. Placing buildings is rewarded with points. The amount of points you get depends on what surrounds the buildings when you place them. Gather enough points to refill your inventory and unlock new buildings.

Once your city is big enough you may choose to travel to the next island (they are generated procedurally, so you can literally keep exploring forever). If you run out of buildings the game ends. This is where you high five yourself for beating the high score, take a proud last glance at the epic city you’ve built and start just one more round…

ISLANDERS is inspired by amazing games like:

• Bad North
• Anno
• The Settlers
• Sim City
• Kingdoms and Castles

If you’re a developer and want your game showcased on Niche Spotlight, please contact us!