Indie city builder Flooded announces March release date

Flooded, an indie city builder set on a shrinking island, will officially launch next March!
Flooded 2
Image: Artificial Disasters

Flooded, an upcoming “reverse city builder” where players must build to escape a sinking island, has just revealed that it will launch on March 15th, 2023. It will be available on PC via GOG and Steam, though no other supported platforms are confirmed at this time. Here’s the full tweet from the official Flooded feed, which was accompanied by a new trailer:

Flooded definitely has a strong hook, and tabletop gamers will probably be reminded of “Forbidden Island”, which has been around since 2010. Both of these games involve a sinking island, and players struggle for resources as it sinks. However, Flooded’s particular medium has a special way of reinforcing urgency, and it clearly has plenty of its own mechanics.

It actually looks surprisingly dense. Today’s new trailer shows off a variety of intriguing environments, colonies, and responsibilities.

Adding enemies to the mix should be fun, but it also creates a more immersive setting, as well as increasing the pressure. Players could feel as if they’re racing against other survivors, too. Survival games often force your protagonist to compete against others for territory and resources.

According to the official Flooded Steam page, the islands will each be procedurally generated. That kind of unpredictability will be key for replay value, but it even has a story mode.

Overall, Flooded seems like a very ambitious indie, with some simple art design but compelling mechanics. Also, its unusually fast pacing should be more accessible. Some gamers might feel that the city builder genre traditionally moves too slowly because of all its management.

Flooded made quite an impression when it participated in the Steam Base Building Fest, so hopefully the game has been able to retain that interest, because it definitely deserves a look:

You can read more about Flooded, city builders, and other upcoming indie games by checking out the rest of our news section!

Anthony Fertino

Anthony Fertino

Anthony Fertino is a novelist and lifelong gamer, born and raised in Southern California. He's been a content writer for over 10 years, and studied film at SMC for 4 years. When he isn't playing shooters, RPGs, or indies, he's reading SFF novels and trying the latest tabletop games.

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