If you're a fan of Manor Lords and its gridless, freeform city building, you should check out Foundation, a game which is coming out of early access and getting its full 1.0 launch January 31, 2025.
I played a lot of Manor Lords when it first came out, but as an early access indie game being worked on mainly by one person, updates aren't very frequent. That's fine. The game sold well, continues to do well, and the developer seems happy to spend time working on a new map and features. However, as much as I love Manor Lords, I am looking for my next city building fix, and I think Foundation is it.
It's also a medieval city building that lets you construct without the guardrails of a grid system, but unlike Manor Lords the art style isn't as realistic and there seems to be more of a focus on building up intricate castles and structures rather than just roads and gardens.
Foundation has been in early access for over five years now, and its fans seem very happy it's finally getting a full release. "I haven't thought of this game in a while! The last time I played it (Steam says 2022) it still needed quite a bit of work. I'll have to check this out and reinstall on release, I remember it being a pretty chill experience and enjoyed it quite a bit as a game to play with few expectations on my part," writes a player on Reddit.
"I'm a big city builder player and really loved playing Foundation. Its free gridless building was a lot of fun and allowed you to be really creative. It's not a super challenging game but still gives you things to work towards. I felt the biggest hindrances were the upgrade system and trading, it looks like they've updated the upgrade system into a tech tree which is great. Keen to get back into it," writes another.
The most glowing comment is: "I absolutely love the gridless way to build and it has kind of ruined other builders for me where you have to place roads."
I'll have to give it a go on January 31 while I wait for the next big Manor Lords update. If you want to give it a try yourself, there's a free Steam demo you can play.
While you're here, check out some of the other upcoming indie games that you'll be able to get your hands on in 2025.
Solo developer behind The Falconeer and Bulwark explains why Game Pass is so great for indies: "If you get in it's generally a very positive thing for a dev."
After 2.5 million sales, Manor Lords publisher says it "would almost be arrogant" to not be surprised by the city builder's success - but "you cannot count on it to repeat"
