Amberspire review – a strategy game dedicated to the dicey ecopoetics of urban sprawl

The key thing to know about Amberspire is that it isn't a city-builder in the SimCity sense, but a turn-based boardgame puzzler in which you don't so much 'build' a city as you do manage a tumult of unpredictable, city-flavoured agencies. Created by Lunar Division, developers of The Banished Vault, it takes place on the surface of a moon-sized mausoleum – a vast Venetian graveworld whose fractured isometric crust reveals level after level of archways and catacombs, sinking beyond sight. The all-pervading presence of the crypt reminds me of London's old church cemeteries, crushed like dandelions between mishappen skyscrapers, refusing to be written out of the tale. It also immediately undercuts your primary objective of building a city populous and advanced enough to win recognition from other planets. However high your towers rise, your city is just another layer of debris and pollution applied to a strangely fruitful necropolis. This isn't a lesson in humility. It's an invitation to enjoy city-building as the act of dancing with a deathly ecology. Read more

The key thing to know about Amberspire is that it isn't a city-builder in the SimCity sense, but a turn-based boardgame puzzler in which you don't so much 'build' a city as you do manage a tumult of unpredictable, city-flavoured agencies. Created by Lunar Division, developers of The Banished Vault, it takes place on the…

The key thing to know about Amberspire is that it isn't a city-builder in the SimCity sense, but a turn-based boardgame puzzler in which you don't so much 'build' a city as you do manage a tumult of unpredictable, city-flavoured agencies. Created by Lunar Division, developers of The Banished Vault, it takes place on the surface of a moon-sized mausoleum – a vast Venetian graveworld whose fractured isometric crust reveals level after level of archways and catacombs, sinking beyond sight. The all-pervading presence of the…