Foundation is a medieval city-builder simulation game for PC. It was developed by Polymorph Games, a Quebec-based development team, founded by industry veterans, Philippe Dion and Leo Carnaut-Delord. Dion worked as a designer on titles such as Far Cry: New Dawn and Watch_Dogs series. Carnaut-Delord was a programmer on titles Divinity: Original Sin II and Chariot, among others. In 2016d they founded their own studio, oriented at providing quality city-building games for PC and consoles. Foundation takes the player to a vast world, where their job will be to create their own sprawling agglomeration. The player will build housing and workplaces for their citizen as well as monuments, which provide the player with different perks.

Create your own city

The core gameplay of Foundation involves the creation of a city, filling it with citizen and making it grow and prosper. The player is placed on a wide map, to which they have only partial access. More areas are unlocked as the player buys out the land and settles it.

Constructions for beginners

After choosing the location for their city, the player will have to start filling it with buildings. The game features a complex system of constructing new houses, which involves spreading the player’s “area of influence”, filling it with the housing zones, as well as figuring out how to place the buildings within them. Each of the buildings has its own “extent borders” which will influence the placement of other constructions around it.

From huts to seven wonders of the world

The constructions are divided into several types. General buildings will house citizen and provide them with occupation and resources. These will vary from bakeries, sawmills, weaponsmiths, etc. Monuments are special constructions which increase traits such as piety and splendor and include church, lord manor, monastery. Decoration constructions will make the player’s city a true feast for an eye, thanks to trees, bushes, and fountains.  

Quests and scenarios

Foundation features quests, which start with creating a village center and follow from there. Completing them furthers the player’s progress in developing their city. While completing quests, the player will encounter events, which relate to various scenarios.

Mod support

The gamewill provide full support for modders. The Foundation mod community will enable players to share custom-made characters, buildings, maps and quests. The game’s modification tool will also allow implementing real-life topography into the game, for the players who want to recreate familiar locales in the virtual world.

Reception

Foundationreceived mainly positive reviews from critics and players, who had a chance to try the alpha build of the game on Steam. Critics noted favorable similarities to other city-building games, such as Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings. Industry commenters pointed out the “gridless” mechanic of the game s one of its main selling points. While some commenters and players noted relatively meager gameplay features, they have also said that it doesn’t detract from the overall quality and fun coming from the game.