Fabledom Full Release Review – Cozy, Charming and Chilled

Fabledom is a charming and cozy city-builder developed by Grenaa Game and published by Dear Villagers and launched v1.0 on May 13, 2024. It was also announced today that the game will launch on consoles in Q3 2024. This delightful game invites you to become the architect of your own fairytale, constructing a kingdom brimming with happy subjects, fantastical creatures, and perhaps even a touch of royal romance. My 7-year-old daughter was able to understand the tutorials and we worked together to build a thriving kingdom that was a lot of fun.

Fabledom’s visuals are vibrant and easy on the eyes, bursting with colour and personality. From the quaint charm of your initial cottages to the quirky gnomes tending to their gardens and the little chickens in the chook pen, every element is meticulously crafted to evoke a storybook atmosphere. The whimsical soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment, adding a light-hearted touch that highlights the game’s fairytale themes, and the voice acting for characters is excellent.

Fabledom offers a refreshing departure from the typical city-building formula. You’ll go beyond simply laying bricks and managing resources to forging diplomatic ties with neighbouring kingdoms. There is political intrigue and vanquishing mischievous pixies, to wooing a charming prince or princess. A lot of these things went over my daughter’s head, but she was more enthralled with building up resources to create more cute little animals. There are some twists to the game, such as farms not producing food during winter, and you not being able to grow population if you don’t continue to build houses, which kept us on our toes.

Having spent a fruitful period in early access, Fabledom v1.0 feels polished and brimming with content. The developers have listened to player feedback and implemented many features like the recently added grand castles and the ability to pursue romantic endeavours. This wealth of content ensures there’s something to discover around every corner, keeping you captivated for hours on end.

While Fabledom excels in its charming presentation and unique blend of city-building with light-hearted quests, the game can feel on the simplistic side of things, lacking the tactical depth some players might crave from similar titles. However, for my daughter and I who played this casually, this was a perfect pace, fair difficulty curve and had some great humour throughout. The combination of vibrant aesthetic and pleasing music made this a joy to play at our own pace.

Overall, Fabledom has something to offer most city-builder fans with its enchanting visuals, engaging quests, and rewarding gameplay loop. My daughter was able to learn the building mechanics easily and took joy in watching little animals go about their business, and the hustle and bustle of workers gathering materials. It may be too simplistic for some, but we had a blast playing in small burst and enjoying the chilled vibe.

This review utilised a key provided by JF Games PR and Fabledom is out now on Steam and is coming to PS5, Nintendo Switch & Xbox Series X|S in Q3 2024.

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