Amberspire review - a strategy game dedicated to the dicey ecopoetics of urban sprawl
Rock Paper Shotgun reviews Amberspire, a turn-based strategy puzzle game from Lunar Division, the developers of The Banished Vault. Rather than functioning as a traditional city-builder in the vein of SimCity, Amberspire presents itself as a boardgame-style puzzle experience where players manage interconnected systems and unpredictable mechanics to shape an urban environment.
The game takes place on the surface of a moon-sized mausoleum, depicted as a vast Venetian graveworld. The setting features a fractured isometric landscape that reveals multiple layers of archways and catacombs extending downward beyond the visible horizon. This gothic, death-tinged aesthetic stands in stark contrast to typical city-building games, with its pervasive crypt atmosphere drawing parallels to London’s historic church cemeteries—spaces where ancient burial grounds persist stubbornly amid modern urban sprawl, refusing to be erased from the landscape.
The game’s design philosophy centers on managing unpredictable city-flavoured agencies rather than simply constructing buildings or planning infrastructure. This approach suggests a focus on systems-based gameplay where variables interact in complex, often surprising ways—thematic elements aligned with the review’s reference to ’ecopoetics’ in the subtitle, hinting at environmental and ecological considerations woven throughout the gameplay experience.
With its blend of boardgame mechanics, isometric aesthetics, and thematically rich setting, Amberspire appears positioned as a thinking person’s strategy game that explores urban development through an unconventional, atmospheric lens.