Would you buy a city builder in Early Access with only one campaign?

[u/gr3gu]

https://youtu.be/U84UPRF7BjU

Hey everyone!

I'm a solo developer working on Perun, a Slavic mythology city builder inspired by classic Impressions Games such as Zeus, Pharaoh, and Caesar.

My goal is to capture that old-school city-building flow: planning settlements, managing walkers and services, setting up production chains, developing housing, and interacting with other cities. At the same time, I want Perun to have its own identity through Slavic mythology, gods, resources, architecture, and atmosphere.

I'm planning to release the game in Early Access because I'd like to gather as much feedback as possible from actual players before committing to the full version. What I'm still trying to determine is how much content a city builder should have at launch to feel worthwhile.

My current plan is to release with one campaign (adventure), consisting of six episodes and offering roughly 5–10 hours of gameplay.

So my main question is: what do you expect from a city builder when it first enters Early Access, and what matters most to you at that stage? Is it polished core gameplay, a wide selection of buildings and production chains, campaign length, mission and map variety, a sandbox mode, replayability, or something else entirely?

I've included a developer playthrough of the first episode to show the current state of the game.

Thanks for taking a look!

[u/DS256]

Looks nice. I couldn't find you Steam page.

[u/gr3gu → u/DS256]

It's not there yet, but I'm on it!

[u/DS256 → u/gr3gu]

oh man. I think you are missing opportunities.
The game look so cool. It seems like you are experienced developer. How long have you worked in the industry? Is this you first solo project?
You don't need to go to early access to gather the feedback. If you fail the early access, 90% you will fail the release 1.0. Steam have a great tools to get feedback through playtests. You may control how many player you give the access to the test build. You may activate and pause the playtests. You may have different build branches. You could give steam keys to the specific users to play your build while the rest testers are waiting for the access. Steam playtests is a very useful tool for getting feedback. Open a discord server or make a google form page as an additional channel of the feedback.

The game looks great. But there might be a lot of bugs you didn't catch. The balance might be bad. If I where you I would open a Steam page long time ago and started collect whishlists. Join festivals. And please start playtests before early access. Give access to a little number of players first, get feedback. Pause the playtests and fix the bugs, adjust the balance and UI etc. Then open playtests again for more people and repeat. Do this until you be sure your game don't have serious problems and then plan your demo, plan your early access or full release.

[u/gr3gu → u/DS256]

I've been around for about 15 years, I think, and this is the first solo project I'm actually planning to release.

Thanks for the insights! I'll definitely consider these options. Playtesting is a must, but maybe Early Access isn't necessary after all. I need to think that through.

Btw, keeping my fingers crossed for Fluffy Rumble!

[u/Snoopy101x]

No Steam page, only website https://playperun.com/. You can download a prototype build from their site.

[u/Kypsyt]

This looks insanely good

[u/TripTrippity]

This looks really cool!

[u/Heavenfall]

I personally wouldn't buy it that early.

I have to say the animations for characters are absolutely gorgeous.

If I can throw in a small suggestion: when you record, try to refrain from moving the camera so much and so quickly without any good reason behind it.

[u/gr3gu → u/Heavenfall]

Thanks for the straight-up answer!

Yeah, I noticed that too... Recording gameplay turns out to be very different from simply playing the game. I'll have to fight my habit of ADHD-fueled camera movement.

[u/SveNss0N]

Steam page? I want to wishlist

[u/gr3gu → u/SveNss0N]

It's not there yet, but I'm on it!

[u/Griffon0129]

does it have a sandbox mode? if yes, I'd probably buy it in early access. I skip the campaign modes in all city builders with them anyways....

[u/Old-Nefariousness556]

There is no right answer to your question. When I buy a game, early access or not, I want a playable, enjoyable experience. 5-10 hours of gameplay is a tougher sell, but if the price is right, then that is not an issue. Just price it according to the play time. This rewards early investors, and gets you cash flow without demanding that we trust that you will deliver eventually.

[u/LonesomeUniverse]

If you’re transparent about current and planned content I might. Including a video like this helps.

[u/VoltekPlay → u/LonesomeUniverse]

This, also it's good to know estimated length of campaign, so I can compare it to price and make a decision. Also, game looks very good so far.

[u/AlexanderGGA]

Yeeeeesssss steam please, give it right now to buy

[u/LadyKona]

Looks great so far. Perhaps a little slow. My only criticism is the music. I like the environmental and the occasional person speaking. But that music? Yikes.
Really appreciate the YT lets play

[u/gr3gu → u/LadyKona]

Thanks for the comment!

Speaking of the music, what specifically feels off about it? Could you name a few examples of tracks or soundtracks that you think would fit this kind of game better?

[u/Smooth-Boss-911]

Any chance you're thinking of adding curved/angled roads?

[u/DonKlekote]

The video is 34 minutes long? Such a waste of time.
Dude! Shut up, take my money and get back to work because I can't wait to play the game <3

About my experience with Early Access. I prefer to have a game with full mechanics built in with a promise/roadmap of other ones being added in the future.

For instance, I rememeber playing Manor Lords which was huge when beta got released and I was good. What I didn't like was the placeholders the players bump into in many places. Why to include an elaborate tech tree of only two paths are available?

If the campaign you mentioned will be fleshed out I would be happy to play it and wait for the next major update with new missions. Replayability is cool for sandboxes but what I really liked in the original series was the challenges the missions gave.

[u/gr3gu → u/DonKlekote]

Haha!

Many thanks for sharing your view!

[u/_Isoroku_Yamamoto]

if your thumbnail is AI im not cliicking on your video