How is life in the mountains? According to a short playable sample of the construction strategy of Laysara: Summit Kingdom, it is an excellent relaxing experience with an unrivaled view. That is, if you ignore the ever-present danger of a murderous avalanche, which threatens to bury the entire village under tons of snow.
The Dalai Lama?
Laysara: Summit Kingdom builds (he he) on the foundations of ancient building strategies like Caesar, Pharaoh or Zeus: Master of Olympus. However, unlike the modern epigon Nebuchadnezzar, he takes only the core of the gameplay from them, on top of which are already quite different mechanisms. These are given precisely by the unique planting under the forked peaks of several thousand trees.
For example, satisfying the needs of the villagers is very familiar. In order for your settlement to grow and accommodate more residents, they need plenty of diverse food, access to baths, temples, and prayer rooms, and last but not least, tools, materials, and various products.
The inhabitants are divided into castes. Not only can each do something different, but they also have different conditions for improvement. It is therefore useful not to mix the neighborhoods too much and to have individual slopes of the mountain dedicated to segregated groups of residents. The kind of artisans you need to work in the mines and heights require slightly different materials to upgrade their shelters than the common lowlanders.
source: Photo: Quite OK Games
High mountain storekeeper
Even industrial chains work in Laysara: Summit Kingdom similarly to ancient construction simulators. The settlement needs to be built carefully and thoughtfully on the slopes, because there is not enough space on the mountain terraces. And before the traditional Tibetan flour of the camp reaches the table of the residents, it needs to be planted in the field, harvested, transported to the mill and finally from the mill to the market, from where the mountaineers will pick it up.
Fortunately, all these logistical puzzles in the game are handled very intuitively and a simple click on what you want to transport from where to where is enough. You don’t have to be afraid of confusing tables, frantic graphs and a shopping list of numerical values, playing Laysar is mainly about relaxation.
Even as distribution chains become more complex and couriers must be deployed to transport raw materials and products over longer distances, the game communicates to you brilliantly and unobtrusively where you are lacking. By simply clicking on the warehouse, you can immediately see clearly how many raw materials are flowing into it, and how much is leaving it on the backs of yaks to various markets. The adjustment of the distribution is then done again by clicking on a single button, while the changes are reflected immediately, and you know immediately if it is necessary to add more mines, forges or some pastures.
source: Quite OK Games
For example, you make cutlery by mining copper in the area above, making knives, forks, teapots and pots from it in the forge, and transporting them to the warehouse, which distributes them to individual local markets.
As soon as your houses grow so much that the supply does not cover the demand, the game will indicate to you, through a simple but again intuitive contextual bubble above a specific warehouse, what is missing and where production needs to be strengthened.
The ruggedness of the mountain massif in Laysara is not just for the fun of alpine rabbits. Different altitudes offer different raw materials, and such bees, for example, do best in medium-high locations, where they also produce the most honey.
source: Photo: Quite OK Games
Hopefully, in other games, the dominoes that are so annoying, when you fail in one industry, will be wrapped up in the gradual decline of the entire economy and the irreversible end of the game. You get their value back for demolished buildings, so you can raze entire neighborhoods to the ground at any time and build again and better without any penalty.
Wrath of Mother Nature
I suppose the main disappointment will be the destructive force of nature. The demo version ends with the construction of a massive horn, the rumble of which triggers an impressive avalanche that buries a good half of the village under its white weight.
source: Photo: Quite OK Games
How can this be prevented? How, on the other hand, can you use overwhelming power to your advantage? And what will the construction of massive Tibetan temples in the tops of the clouds look like, to which numerous trailers beckon? Unfortunately, you can’t try this in the demo version, because it only contains the most necessary basics.
It’s a bit of a shame, because you won’t get to the most interesting thing that Laysara has to offer. Still, if you’ve seen the trailers and images of the game, you know very well that the breakneck building into the face of the mountain and braving the bad weather will be the main thing that sets Laysara apart from similar strategies.
Sour yak milk
My whimsical nature, which likes order and things neatly lined up, is a bit of a bummer that buildings cannot be rotated. It doesn’t detract from the gameplay, on the contrary, it forces you to approach mountain urbanism a bit like Tetris. It just annoys me when there’s an empty space in a neat build that another building won’t fit in because the game won’t let you rotate the buildings. There are not too many places on the steep slopes, not to mention the fact that the aesthetic eye also suffers a little. Hopefully in the full version there will be cosmetic options to customize and additionally beautify your village.
I would also appreciate more Tibetans on the streets. Of course, a settlement under a mountain peak cannot be expected to have a population of tens of thousands, but still, the stone pavements are empty, disturbed only by the occasional courier. More villagers would help create the illusion of a real living community.
I also hope that the game will offer terrain modifications. Some tools to carve into the rock and change the relief of the shield. In short, to make the buildings look like they are growing straight out of the rock like Tibetan blue poppies.
source: Quite OK Games
Soothing mandala
The overall tone of Laysar is very relaxed and positive. It is also supported by authentic meditation music. The breathtaking Himalayas play with colorful colors, great weather effects, when, for example, snowfall gradually covers the windward side of the mountain. By clicking the middle mouse button, you can zoom out the entire perspective and admire how beautifully the buildings blend naturally with nature. In addition, the game has an excellent photo mode, with which you can conjure up many Tibetan postcards.
Even the avalanche that the demo lets you unleash looks great and it’s just a shame I didn’t get a chance to see more. When hundreds of tons of snow and ice roll down the slopes, taking with them trees, rocks and, unfortunately, buildings, it is a sight as breathtaking as it is terrifying.
Laysara: Summit Kingdom is shaping up to be a great building strategy for anyone who wants to relax while playing and doesn’t want to deal with complicated spreadsheets and clerical production charts. Moreover, in an original and breathtaking setting.
