Hello there!
It’s been a little while since our very first content update (featuring the new Ice Altars!), and guess what? We’re getting close to releasing the second one!
This content update will introduce a brand new game mode: Sandbox!
Sandbox Mode
This game mode differs from the existing ones in two major ways:
- There are no specific objectives guiding your actions - you're free to choose how to develop your cities!
- You’re not building an isolated town on a single mountain; instead, you’ll establish multiple settlements on different mountains within the same playthrough!
Let’s zoom in and see how this works.
After starting a new sandbox game at your desired difficulty level, you’ll be presented with a World Map:
Here, you can see the mountains currently available to you and select one as the starting point for your kingdom. New mountains are then unlocked by conquering the mountain peaks and raising Summit Temples, so that will be your main focus.
Here’s what your kingdom could look like after raising a few of them:
Important note: You’re not obligated to "complete" a map fully before starting building on another one. You can enter the World Map at any time and visit one of your already available mountains to either start a new town or continue developing an existing one!
Now, let’s talk about the next missing piece of the puzzle that makes developing multiple towns on different mountains at the same time worthwhile.
Trading between cities
This feature has been in our plans for ages, and we’re excited to finally have it in the game!
In Sandbox mode, you can only import surplus resources that you’ve previously set to export via Trading Posts on other mountains. Once you start selling resources, they’ll be listed as ‘Available to Import’ on the World Map:
Only then can you start importing them from a Trading Post on any mountain!
As you can see, this mechanic essentially means you’ll be building an entire network of cities connected by trade. There’s no need to produce every single resource on each mountain - simply set up a large production district, export the goods, and use them on other maps! And while doing so, don’t forget about Ice Altars, which truly show their production-boosting potential in this game mode.
New mountains
The last big chunk of this update is new mountains, which will be available in both Sandbox and Free Build game modes.
To ensure Sandbox offers a fresh experience, we’ve added not one, not two, but six brand-new maps!
As always, each of them has unique characteristics, such as zone layout, resource deposits and water availability, and avalanche danger level. These differences become crucial, as you can import what’s hard or impossible to obtain on any given mountain, and export goods that you can produce in abundance.
That summarizes what you can expect from the next update! While we’re finalizing working on it…
We need you again!
Soon, we’ll be asking you to test the update before it goes public - interested in getting early access? Head over to our Discord and claim the EA Tester role! We’ll notify you when the update is available for testing :)
Have a great day, everyone!
Quite OK Team