Poly Skies

Poly Skies is an adorable village builder designed to help you take the load of your real life stresses and replace them with cute fake ones about a small town that you are in charge of. Somehow, we are all in agreement that working a standard 9-5 is worse than having to run an entire colony of people who need to live in the clouds to avoid dangers below. For when life gets to you and you need a little break from the chores of life, you can play this game and look after a hundred people who all have their own lives instead. This may sound like a joke, but this game is actually really nice and relaxing. Let’s get into it.

Gameplay

If you want to play a game that has you constantly stressing about all the needs of your people, then you should go play Cities: Skylines, as this is quite the opposite. This cozy game is offering a much more pleasant experience, with a whole sky island for you to work on, you are able to terraform the land and turn it into a habitable environment with houses and businesses and all sorts, allowing the denizens of your land to enjoy peaceful lives under your guidance.

Much of the gameplay is placing buildings, trading with other colonies and ensuring that you have enough of all the necessary resources to continue expanding and upgrading. There is a satisfying gameplay loop here that doesn’t tax your mind too much, as this is designed to be a jolly jaunt, you’ll find that has been delivered to you perfectly. It’s a bit like a cozy fantasy version of Sphere: Flying Cities.

Visuals

The visuals of Poly Skies are that of nice, soft, low-poly, pastel-colored environments and structures that tickle a very specific part of your brain. If you don’t want to look at harsh architecture with shark edges and spikes, this game has you covered, as all the buildings look like they would be soft if you fell on them and that provides this interesting safe space for you to play in where you are put into a nice relaxed mood from the start.

All the building you do in this feels nice, there’s a great selection of buildings and decorations to choose from, allowing you to make great use of space without feeling like everything is a repetition of the same three houses. It’s clear that this game has been painstakingly crafted by a small team and a lot of care has been put in.

Music

The music of this game is really wonderful. You are transported to this amazing fantasy location and then kept in a lovely state of relaxation in a low-threat environment, and the music is here for you at every step. I specifically applaud the mix of traditional and modern instruments when creating the soundtrack, it adds something very unique to the experience.

Pros

• Excellently soft visuals with lovely color palette
• Lovely music
• Easy to learn gameplay

Cons

• A bit more variation for architecture would have been cool
• Can get boring quickly if you like excitement