Timberborn ▶ Trailer
Timberborn screenshot 1Timberborn screenshot 2
IndieSimulationStrategyCity BuilderColony SimVoxelSandboxAutomation

2,760 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 4,759

Peak in the last 7 days: 6,200

Timberborn Steam store

Game description

Humans are long gone. In a world struck by droughts and toxic waste, will your lumberpunk beavers do any better? A sandbox city-building game featuring ingenious animals, vertical architecture, water physics, and terraforming. Contains high amounts of wood.

Basic info

DeveloperMechanistry
PublisherMechanistry
PlatformsWindows · macOS
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateMar 12, 2026
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 10 or newer
Processor4-core 1.7 GHz or better
Memory8 GB
GraphicsGeForce GTX 950, Radeon R9 380 or similar
Storage3 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 446 reviews from the past 1 year

89.9/ 100
Top 20%

Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (96%)

Metacritic: 85 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 22, 2026)

Beavers, dams and droughts drive this water-focused city builder, which players rate 89.9, top 20% of games we analyzed.

👍 Strengths

158 reviews find it addictive and fun, and some lose whole nights to it. 51 praise the freedom of its sandbox building, and some single out vertical construction and the dam and water mechanics. 39 value the depth of its logistics, and some describe water management that rewards careful planning. Gameplay ranks 155th of 1396, Content Volume ranks 290th of 1351, and Tech & Support ranks 41st of 1399.

👎 Where it falls short

36 reviews say the challenge fades, and some feel there is little tension once the water supply is secure, while others find the late game heavy on micromanagement. 31 say it explains too little, and some call the tutorial thin and turn to videos to learn the mechanics. 19 find it repetitive over time, and some want more factions or a campaign to vary each playthrough. Story & World ranks 540th of 1096, and Visuals & Sound ranks 488th of 1249.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“1500 hours played indicates strong enjoyment and engagement” · 158 reviews
“vertical building system unmatched; supply chain management outstanding” · 51 reviews
“brilliant visual charm and audio design delivering cosy atmosphere” · 39 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 71% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Freedom +3.43 · Room to explore, build, and play your own way
Positive “vertical building system unmatched; supply chain management outstanding” · 51 reviews
Negative “removed Sluice, forced complexity, removed player choice and freedom” · 9 reviews

Progression 17% · Difficulty 26% · Onboarding 18% · Strategy 33% · Controls & feel 6%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 28% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.21 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Negative “cyberpunk tech additions break immersion and contradict the original setting” · 3 reviews

Story 5% · Characters 5%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 32% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +2.89 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “over 100 hours played, engaging water management gameplay” · 17 reviews
Negative “game ends after 1-2 hours, becomes passive observation simulator” · 16 reviews

Variety 16% · Replayability 11%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 18% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.49 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “brilliant visual charm and audio design delivering cosy atmosphere” · 39 reviews

Audio 5%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 4% of reviews mention this.

Community +3.91 · Who you play with — how many, and how friendly

Playing together 2% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 6% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Balance +0.07 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Positive “masterfully well balanced with perfect challenge and resource management” · 1 review
Negative “sluices removed and dams redesigned as resource dump downgrade” · 1 review

Anti-cheat 0% · Pricing 4% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 28% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support +0.57 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Positive “developers responsive to feedback, clean runs, 400+ hours no crashes” · 23 reviews
Negative “recent update removed automated sluice and replaced it with confusing logic gates” · 6 reviews

Stability 4% · Performance 8%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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