Short review with the average score of 5.4 :
The game is a mix of repair and other gamemechanics where you will work as a lumberjack, buy the Lumber mill and build up you´re Dynasty. It does have a number of flaws, some of it are due to the game are still in development, but also since there is not any multiplayer option (which I think is a shame). There is some graphical issues that is worh to know about (writed about those longer down in the review). And it would have been nice with some music to choose from in the tractors and trucks, and multiplayer option is kinda strange with todays gaming, and internet that its not an option.
Long review:
I decided to call this for a casual simulator, since its not really a hardcore simulator, it does have elements of a simulator but are turning towards a wider crowd, and you dont need to know all about the profession of a Lumberjack, you will learn it as you play, and the NPC missions does help you to get the understanding of the gamemechanics.
The game guides you through with some NPC missions, that you can choose to take when you want after you finish with the introduction. It is a mix of cutting down forrest, cut the planks, (over time use them to create furniture´s or for now dry the planks, and then sell them). Then remove the stomps where the trees was before, and plant new trees again. - The goal is to build a dynasty of forrest areas, and to keep maintain the areas and same time have a social contact with the other NPC´s. It is not super hard to keep the money flow, once you have the Lumber mill fully payed out.
Besides that, you can repair you house, and other buildings once they are fixed then you can use them, there is also a greenhouse where you can grow different veggies, seeds for those can be obtained from NPC missions (later on they will be buyable).
There is an option to buy a drone, and it can help on some of the NPC missions, and it is fun to see things from another perspective.
The game is a singleplay only, at least on this state, and no informations is out that there will be a multiplayer part to this title. I think it would have been nice to see a multiplayer option for some co-op, and/or a server where each player could have their own areas, and options to buy up land areas on a private server and/or on a public server that would add alot to the game.
Once per month the gamestudio comes with a major update, untill the game is fully released. They have a discord channel- click here where you can ask any questions regarding the game (to get discord use this link)
There is not any caracter creation, and no option for getting other outfits or to change the caracters look, which is kinda shame, when so many other games where that is possible, and very liked amoung alot of players.
Graphic and score 6 :
The graphic is decent, however its not the topline of the graphic, and when using the Lumbermill alot then its like the game is not really optimized for that, and it can slow down the FPS, and overall experience does drop when this happens. But since the game is still in development, then I hope they will optimize the game and solve that issue. There have also been some graphical issues where the tractor all of a sudden falls through the texture, and sometime it does respawn on the road, but you might loose what there was on the trailer, which does that you have to go back to the latest save, or loose what you had there, and that is IF it does respawn. - The trees can also sometimes fall through the ground, then respawn in the air and drop down again through the ground, its possible to put you´re self under it, and then change where it drops, and often its possible to get it to land on a place where it does not just fall through the grund, Its really something they have to solve, sooner than later.
Singleplayer experience and score 7 :
The game is a singleplayer only, I do like the game mechanics its very chill to play the game, and not something to get stressed about. It does have some flaws, some of it due to the game is in development, and they are working on solutions to fix those issues there is, that just good to be aware of that before you buy the game.
Multiplayer experience and score 0 :
There is currently no multiplayer option, and that will draw the averge score down.
NPC and score 5 :
There is for sure alot to work with for the gamedevs here, most of the missions does work, but they are very simular, and when the NPC talks they keep saying the same things over and over, the traffic on the roads seems to fail from time to time, where they just drive around in circles, and finaly crashes in the ditch, or in a tree - Again this is in development, and hopefully they fix this before the final release, but I can only set my score on how it is today. - The positive with the NPC´s are that they plan on using the NPC´s in the overall storyline, and it will be possible to even find a wife (to be married later on, but its not in the game)
Game sounds and music score 5 :
The ingame sounds fits well with the tools and machinery, but the music have for me been more annoying than a joy to have on, and with no option to change it to (ex. an online radio or even simulated radio in the tractors or trucks).
Is there other simular games, and how does that compare to this and score 7 :
The game that is most near Lumberjack´s Dynasty are Farmer´s Dynasty Due to its mix of repair and the other gamemechancs there is in the game
Is there a longer scope with the game, or planned a longer scope (if the game is in development) and score 8 :
Yes there is a number of things the gamedevs are working on, a monthly major update are beeing released, and its all frome new equipment to storyline add ons, and bug fixes.
Other reviews (external links) with their scores (if any) of the same game.Steve
Hogerty´s review on the site "rockpapershutgun" (Unrated)