Terra Nilis a new city-building game by indie developer Free Lives, but its premise is seemingly opposite to many games within the genre. Dubbing itself a ‘reverse city-builder’,Terra Nilinstead tasks players with restoring barren ecosystems and returning them to a thriving ecological paradise through the use of terraforming.
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Inspired by the rewilding movement in the face of the climate crisis,Terra Nilpresents a healing and meditative gaming experience that allows players to help natural life flourish. The ultimate goals of the game are to restore biomes, attract wildlife, and leave no trace of human influence. However, these tasks aren’t as easy as they first appear andthere are many mistakes players will want to avoid.
1Overusing Resources
One mistake that many players make early on in the game is overusingtheir main resourceof leaves. Represented by the leaf icon in the top left of the screen, this resource acts as a currency and is what placing new machines will draw from. So, it is important for players to conserve their leaf count and use it wisely.
The only way to earn leaves is to restore the greenery levels on the map. In the game’s earliest stages, players will need to place Toxin Scrubbers to clean their soil and then Irrigators in order to grow greenery upon it. Placing too many of these, however, will use up this leaf resource and make it more difficult in the long run. Players wanting to get the most out of the game should, therefore, try to strike a careful balance early on.
2Ignoring Strategic Placement
Many players will be tempted to just place machines and buildings wherever they see fit, without paying much attention to their surroundings. However,Terra Nilshould be understood almostas a puzzle game, as these machines all have unique areas of influence that fit on the map like puzzle pieces.
Certain machines will require overlapping areas of influence, such as Turbines and Toxin Scrubbers for example. For these overlapping machines, players should attempt to place them on the farthest edge of the area possible so that they are able to maximize the machine’s coverage. Other pieces, like the Irrigator, have differently shaped areas of influence. Given this machine’s unique L-shape, using two Irrigators to fit together into a square is a great way to get the most out of them.
3Neglecting Local Wildlife
It may seem obvious, but it’s easy for newer players to forget about wildlife requirements when they’re focusing solely on increasing their greenery levels early on.Terra Nilrequires at least three different types of animals on the map before completion. Players wanting to achieve this should take a close look at each animal’s unique requirements and decide which three they want to attract.
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Deer are by far the easiest, requiring only grassland to thrive. Wolves can be attracted by placing a forest next to a grassland full of deer so that they have a food source. Geese require large areas of water, so they may require the purchase of additional Excavators. Frogs are trickier, requiring both wetland and fynbo areas. In addition to these, there are also 20 other animal types each with their own unique environment requirements. Thus, players should pick out those that are the most achievable for their map.
4Opting Out Of Optional Goals
Some gamers often dislike the addition of optional goals within games, as it can clutter up their gameplay andmake things overly complicated. However, inTerra Nilthese optional goals are quite important. Though the game can be completed without them, often the goals give players much needed structure and can help them in achieving the right temperatures and humidity levels needed for their ecosystems to thrive.
Optional goals can be accessed from the drop-down menu and will appear in a certain order there. Sticking to this order is often preferable as one goal will likely flow into another. However, some goals may require a different order, so it is best to read the descriptions closely. When it comes to optional goals that require specific temperature levels, it’s a good idea for players to start low and go high instead of trying to jump back and forth.
5Protecting The Environment Too Much
Yes, it sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes nature requires a little destruction.Powerful weather eventsand fires may feel like they are destroying players’ hard work, but they can often be good ways of cleaning tiles and prepping the land for new types of biomes. In fact, destructive events like these can indeed be good for nature in real life, too. Controlled fires have beenused by Indigenous peoplesto look after the land for centuries.
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In the case of fires, Solar Amplifiers are necessary to create them. The way that players can access these machines is a little complicated. Solar Amplifiers require the fynbo biome in order to be activated. In turn, fynbos require beehives. Beehives can only be placed where old trees are, so players will need to keep all of this in mind when wanting to perform controlled burns.
6Letting The Fire Rage On
As good as fires arefor the environment inTerra Nil, they are also dangerous natural forces that require a lot of care and control. Once activated, Solar Amplifiers will create a fire that players will have next to no control over. It will burn everything in its path and will spread wherever it has unrestricted access. Preparing the areas that need to be burned is essential.
Only certain environmental features will act as a stopper for these fires. These features are cliffs, waterways, rocks, and wetlands. Any combination of these environmental features can be used to contain fires, so players should cordon off the area that needs to be burned with them.
7Going Roadless
The third and final stage ofeach terraforming projectis to recycle all the buildings and machines that players have used. This is to achieve one ofTerra Nil’smost central goals of leaving no trace. Recycling can be a difficult and rather annoying process, so players should plan ahead for this with a system of ‘roads’.
In early maps, recycling is done by drone and the remains of the buildings are moved via waterways. Creating efficient river systems will help players achieve this in a quick and easy manner. In later maps Monorails are used to recycle instead. Players will need to place Monorail Nodes which can only be placed on rocks or cliffs. Players will also need to use this train network carefully in reverse, so that the Monorail doesn’t destroy itself.
Terra Nilis available now on PC, iOS, and Android.
