Summary of "LIVE | FIRST LOOK at Whiskerwood! - NEW Mouse City Builder Like Timberborn - Early Access Gameplay"
Whiskerwood - Early Access Gameplay & First Look Summary
Game Overview & Storyline
Whiskerwood is a new colony city-builder game where players control mice (“whiskers”) trying to establish a settlement while paying taxes to their cat overlords. The game shares similarities with Timberborn—notably vertical building and resource management—but its main threat is tax payments to cats rather than natural elements like water.
Players gather resources, build infrastructure, and manage their colony’s approval and tax payments to survive. The game is currently in early access but mostly finished, with the developer seeking feedback and bug reports.
Gameplay Highlights
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Starting Scenarios:
- Far Frontier: Standard tax and smuggler dynamics.
- Pirate Seas: Pirates demand higher ransoms but offer better smuggled cargo prices.
- Monarch Loyalists: Loyalist whiskers dislike factories and rebellious remarks.
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Map Options: Large maps with extra islands and barren islands available.
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Colony Naming: Players choose a colony name.
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Whisker Crew Selection: Different guilds affect worker efficiency and preferences:
- Farmer’s Guild: Better farming and fishing, dislike raw food, faster on farm fields.
- Explorer’s Guild: Better woodcutting, logistics, natural cold resistance.
- Miner’s Guild: Higher carrying capacity and food efficiency.
- Engineer’s Guild: Machinery lasts longer.
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Whiskers have traits (e.g., pessimistic, optimistic, rebellious) and roles like teachers or apprentices that affect skill learning and productivity.
Key Gameplay Mechanics & Tips
Building
- The trade dock is the initial crucial building, serving as the spawn point and tax/shipment hub.
- Warehouses preserve the market value of tax goods; a central warehouse near the dock is recommended but not mandatory.
- Vertical building is possible, including stacking homes with platforms.
- Staircases and paths build instantly; other buildings take time.
- Buildings can be moved later if needed.
Resource Management
- Early focus on wood cutting and mining (copper, coal, tin, gold).
- Farms produce trees, berries, cotton, flax, etc., and are essential for sustainable resource gathering.
- Wild resources like berries do not respawn, making farming critical.
- Sawmills convert logs into planks (1 log = 5 planks).
Colony Management
- Each whisker requires a home; homelessness reduces approval.
- Approval is gained nightly based on whiskers’ mood and affects recruitment, policy enactment, and more.
- Taxes must be paid regularly with valuable goods (ores, logs, cotton).
- Players must balance resources between colony growth and tax payments.
Day/Night Cycle
- Players manually start each day; AFK play is not possible.
- Work hours are limited; whiskers rest and perform comfort activities after work.
- Pausing the game when idle is essential to avoid wasting time.
Education System
- Apprentices learn skills; teachers accelerate learning.
- Educated workers are needed for advanced buildings like research labs.
- Players can assign education targets (e.g., engineering, craftsmanship).
Winter & Survival
- Winter brings cold, stops crop growth, and causes food scarcity.
- Heating is necessary via campfires (temporary, consume logs, cause pollution).
- Cloaks and clothing help resist cold.
- Pollution from fires causes negative mood effects, requiring balance.
Pirates
- Pirate ransom demands occur; players can refuse but risk damage to buildings.
- Refusing pirates is often necessary to save valuable resources.
Trade & Supply Ships
- Supply ships offer free or paid shipments (machinery parts, logs, food, etc.).
- Choosing larger shipments increases tax debt.
- Trade goods and tax payments influence trust and gifts from the king.
Policies & Research
- Building a town hall unlocks policies that boost production, construction speed, or food output.
- Research labs produce science points and unlock new technologies.
- Research options include warehouses, machinery parts, and advanced buildings.
Logistics
- Logistics hubs facilitate resource movement between warehouses but may require carts to function fully.
Decorations & Comfort
- Decorative items and cafes improve whiskers’ happiness and approval.
- Bathing huts reduce negative effects from dirt but require water.
Storage
- Managing storage is critical; warehouses have limited capacity.
- Players can set storage to accept only certain resources to optimize space.
Strategies & Key Tips
- Prioritize woodcutting and mining early to maintain building and tax payments.
- Build farms quickly to ensure renewable resources.
- Construct enough homes to prevent homelessness and maintain approval.
- Pause the game frequently to manage limited work hours effectively.
- Balance heating needs in winter to avoid excessive pollution and negative mood.
- Refuse pirate demands strategically to conserve resources.
- Use supply ships wisely, balancing resource gain and tax debt.
- Educate workers to unlock advanced buildings and improve efficiency.
- Build and upgrade storage facilities to avoid resource overflow.
- Use policies from the town hall to boost productivity.
- Place buildings and staircases thoughtfully for efficient worker movement.
- Monitor approval to recruit more whiskers and maintain colony morale.
Additional Notes
- The game includes a photo mode.
- The transition between day and night is very sudden.
- Some UI features like building mirroring are missing.
- The game has a steep learning curve due to limited tutorials.
- The streamer found the game fun and engaging despite some frustrations with mechanics and UI.
- Price on Steam: approximately $30 CAD with a 20% early access discount (~$24 CAD).
- The streamer plans to continue playing and recommends wishlisting or purchasing if interested.
Featured Gamer / Source
- Streamer: [Name not explicitly mentioned; content from a livestream]
- Chat contributors: Petrus (knowledgeable about the game), Soul Steel, Brand, Foodie, David (subscriber), and others in chat.
Summary prepared based on the livestream “LIVE | FIRST LOOK at Whiskerwood! - NEW Mouse City Builder Like Timberborn - Early Access Gameplay.”
Category
Gaming
