Build sweet island castles in Falconeer spinoff Bulwark

Very pretty bird flying action game The Falconeer has a follow-up on the way, also by developer Tomas Sala, but in an entirely new genre: City-building strategy. Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles will put players in the shoes of someone in charge of those incredible island fortresses that litter the Falconeer world. 

A trailer was shown off today at GamesCom, at the Future Games Show.

You'll be able to build your Bulwark by bashing together many different building options in what looks like a very dynamic, adaptive interface based on hubs and spokes that move up and down the sheer cliffsides and between parallel heights by making bridges or stairs as needed.

Sala says the new game is about "love for creating and kitbashing fortresses and settlements and it aims to bring that joy back to gamers." It's also for people who played The Falconeer and wished they could be in charge of those cool ironclad steamships or flying dreadnoughts instead.

"The core gameplay is squarely focused on wildly building across the rocky cliffs and crags of the world," say the developers. "Light resource management, combat, and story elements bring your creation to life, while giving a voice to its inhabitants and allowing you to expand it with exotic new build options."

For my part, Bulwark kinda looks like it has the vibes of something like Townscaper while simultaneously bringing in a simple gameplay layer built around resources and defense. It'll also offer options for recruiting characters, "commanders and specialists," that give life to your town with new units and draw in their own stories. That's a strong combo!

You can find Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles on Steam. It doesn't  yet have a release date.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.