Leikir Studio’s Synergy may at first glance look like another entry in the well-tread city-building genre, but spend a few hours with it and you’ll discover a game that both honors the genre’s traditions and thoughtfully redefines them. It’s a beautifully rendered, mechanically rich experience that goes beyond the standard loop of gathering resources and expanding territory. Instead, Synergy asks you to slow down, look closer, and learn — not just about your citizens and their needs, but about the very world they inhabit.
Great mechanics boosting an already great game
At its core, Synergy does follow the beats fans of city builders will recognize: construct buildings, balance food and housing, keep your people healthy and productive. But its most distinctive mechanic — studying — sets it apart in a significant way. This isn’t a game where you simply click through a tech tree and watch numbers go up. Instead, you’re building a city on a completely alien world, and that means nothing is known. Every plant, rock, and mineral has to be carefully researched. What does this purple shrub do? Why is this strange rock formation killing the vegetation around it? How can we harvest this plant without causing its population to collapse?
This approach to research brings an unexpected depth and sense of responsibility to your decisions. Harvesting too aggressively or ignorantly can lead to the extinction of a useful plant species, severely impacting your supply chains. Some plant species or minerals may hinder other species’ growth, meaning you might need to plan around — or even remove — certain invasive fauna to ensure your agricultural districts thrive. It’s a brilliant mechanic that not only reinforces the game’s themes of sustainability and adaptation but also creates a satisfying gameplay loop that constantly pushes you to explore and understand.
You’re not alone, in a good way
Studying doesn’t stop at your immediate surroundings either. To accompany your researchers in the city, you can also send out expeditions to investigate new regions. These trips are more than just fast travel events — they require careful planning. You must ensure the group has enough supplies to survive the trip, while still leaving enough capacity to carry back whatever they find — relics, resources, ancient tablets, as well as establishing trade routes with nearby settlements. These expeditions are an exciting way to break up the slower pace of city life and bring a sense of adventure to the game’s otherwise grounded rhythm.
Visually stunning
The visual presentation of Synergy deserves special mention. The hand-drawn art style is absolutely stunning — every building, every plant, every map element looks like it was lifted from a Moebius comic or a classic science fiction illustrated novel. The world feels organic and otherworldly, yet lived-in and thoughtful. There’s a peaceful serenity to it all, even when things start to get hectic. The UI is clean and non-intrusive, and the sound design — from the ambient environmental sounds to the tranquil soundtrack — ties the entire aesthetic together beautifully.
That said, this gorgeous visual direction does come with one minor compromise: you can’t rotate around your city. In most 3D city builders, the ability to rotate the camera is essential for planning and navigation. Here, due to the 2D nature of the art and how each element is drawn to fit a specific perspective, the camera is locked. While this decision is completely understandable given the style, it can sometimes be frustrating when you’re trying to place buildings just so, or when taller structures obscure smaller ones behind them. It’s a small price to pay, though, for the unique visual charm Synergy delivers.
My conclusion
All in all, Synergy is a breath of fresh air in the city-building genre. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel entirely, but the way it rethinks environmental interaction and research injects a surprising amount of life into the experience. It’s not just about expanding — it’s about learning, respecting, and coexisting with your environment. The sense of discovery and stewardship that comes from studying the land around you is unlike anything else in the genre right now. If you’re a fan of city builders and looking for something that challenges you to think differently about how you manage your resources and surroundings, Synergy is absolutely worth your time.
