The weekend is approaching, it’s time for undisturbed gaming and your wallet is empty because you’ve already spent all your money on a life-size replica of Geralt? Yes, we know that. It’s a good thing that numerous city building sims and survival games can be played for free during the big construction festival on Steam!
We have picked out 10 recommendations for you that you should definitely try out this weekend. Incidentally, many of these are also available independently of the construction festival. And if you don’t see anything here, you might have more fun with this week’s two Epic free games!
Free on Epic
This week there’s a shooter and a strong story game for free
Songs of Syx
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Mighty armies clash in the Songs of Syx Kickstarter trailer
Genre: City Simulation | Developer: Gamatron AB | Release: 2020 (Early Access) | Here’s the demo
Construction like in Anno, huge battles like in Total War, global strategy like in Civilization, procedural stories like in Dwarf Fortress and Rimworld: The Steam insider tip Songs of Syx has the really big names on the flag. Can this really work?
And how! Songs of Syx has been in Early Access on Steam since 2020 and managed to win the coveted »Extremely Positive« rating. In our first test of 2020 linked below, Songs of Syx was still missing a lot – but since then it has delivered exemplary early access and is growing by the day.
It’s finally supposed to be released in 2023, but until then you can try the unlimited demo to see if this type of game can inspire you as much as thousands of Steam fans did before.
Songs of Syx
A Steam insider tip wants to become the perfect strategy game
Empires of the Undergrowth
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Empires of the Undergrowth shows strategy with insects in the trailer
Genre: Real-time strategy/structure | Developer: Slug Disco | Release: 2017 (Early Access) | Here’s the demo
Imagine playing a city building game with dramatic real-time battles and different clans – but it’s all part of a big documentary about ants. Welcome to Empires of the Undergrowth!
Here you dig your underground tunnels, store resources, and raise your brood as one of several species of ants, each with different abilities, before fighting other colonies and all sorts of nasty bug shit on the surface.
What sounds a bit strange at first is packed into a completely voiced campaign in the form of various documentaries – and optionally also a free game. On Steam, Empires of the Undergrowth can already convince with 94 percent positive reviews – and thanks to the demo you can currently dive into the hustle and bustle completely free of charge.
WW2 Rebuilder
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Clean up the debris of war in the release trailer for WW2 Rebuilder
Genre: construction simulation | Developer: Madnetic Games | Release: 13 January 2023 | Here’s the demo
Surely we are all guilty. We’ve all surely at one point or another shot wildly in some shooter until the level around us shattered and enjoyed the excellent damage model. And who’s cleaning it up now?!
Well, we too – in WW2 Rebuilder. Here we get a whole new perspective on the effects of the Second World War and do not play in the middle – but shortly afterwards. No shooting here, we use heavy machines to clear debris and build houses, decorations and plants to give people back their homes.
The building sim is published by PlayWay, where we usually issue a warning, because sometimes these games become corpses of Steam. However, the WW2 Rebuilder has already been released and has been able to collect very positive reviews. You can try the unusual concept for free indefinitely.
WW2 Rebuilder
In WW2 Rebuilder you build what you destroyed in many games
More exciting build demos:
- Islands & Trains: If you liked townscapers or need a break from stressful survival construction, you might find your construction Eldorado in Islands & Trains. We’ve already tested the new demo:
Islands & Trains
If you need a break from Anno, you should definitely try it now
- The Planet Crafter: Building on an alien planet from the first-person perspective already worked extremely well in Satisfactory – and The Planet Crafter also enjoys extremely positive ratings on Steam, but relies on even more survival.
- Shapez: This building game looks unimpressive, but it is a clever automation game à la Factorio and with thousands of extremely positive reviews it is a real Steam favorite.
- Factorio: Did someone here say Factorio? It’s also available as a free demo to try!
- Mr. Prepper: The mix of survival and base building went through the roof on Steam in 2021. You can find out completely free of charge whether the apocalypse simulator is something for you.
- Patron: Survival town building like in Banished and Co. is turned a little more difficult here – and that plays surprisingly satisfying.
- Grimgrad: This building game set in the Slavic Middle Ages takes on some of Pharaoh’s greatest strengths and has brought a brand new demo to the Building Festival.
Grimgrad
I haven’t played a building game like this in 22 years
These are our current recommendations for the most exciting free building game demos! But we have also put together our sale tips for you – with 6 special development games under 15 dollars.
Have you played any of these games yourself? How did you like them? Which demos or discounted games would you like to recommend to the community? Write it to us in the comments!
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