Industries of Titan – PAX East 2020 Preview

Industries of Titan is a brand new city building sim from developer Brace Yourselves Games. Placing you on Saturn’s largest moon and pitting you against other corporations and city builders, this is one that is poised to make a splash in the strategy and sim genre. We had a chance to take a look at an early build of the game on the show floor of PAX East 2020.

Industries of Titan matches players against other ‘Houses of Titan’ to construct the most bustling and advanced metropolis possible. You will be competing against these other Houses for resources, structures, land, and citizens in order to dominate the landscape. Players can choose how to rise to the top of the industrial food chain – whether that be through combat, monopolization of resources, influence, or some combinations of factors.

Our show floor demo had us start out with just enough to get moving on building a city. A Headquarters was central to our small operation and was pivotal into every action we took. This central base of operations is unique in Industries of Titan because you can actually zoom in and enter the building. Inside the Headquarters you can place a number of smaller structures such as power generators, storage containers, and habitat pods – all key to storing resources, power, and workers.

This interior resource mapping extends to other facilities as well. In our demo we were also able to enter shipping depots and storage facilities to customize their layout. This mechanic will also be present in battleships. While we did not test this out in our demo, the final product promises players the ability to place both defensive and offensive assets strategically within armed vehicles.

The mysterious land outside of the Headquarters is mostly populated with barren ruins from a forgotten time. Despite their apparent age, these ruins hold the games precious resources that will be used to build the rest of your city. Farming these items from ruins isn’t as simple as sending a worker to hack a way at them. Instead, you must first survey these ruins to see exactly what they hold. Once a ruin is surveyed, you’ll be given a vague idea of what their yield will be. Some ruins contain a set of common items while others possess a more precious set of riches such as artifacts. Ruins must then be claimed and the resources can be collected.

Further resource collection takes place when you uncover mining fields. These fields generally contain raw minerals, isotopes, or waste – all of which can be added to your pool of building materials. Collecting these items is a bit more simple as it only requires sending a designated worked to that zone to collect until the field has gone dry.

Another major commodity in Industries of Titan is influence. This is spent on almost everything you do in the game – from claiming land to constructing buildings and attracting new citizens. Influence is seemingly gained by slowly pushing the boundaries of your city and increasing pressure on competing Houses.

As your city grows, so do the needs of both your citizens and infrastructure. Players will need to balance competition against other Houses with addressing the needs of their city. The developers explained that the city will need to be nurtured in a sense. Growth has to be manageable so as to ensure your city doesn’t crumble underneath the weight of its own ambitions.

Industries of Titan is shaping up to be a complex and satisfying entry into the strategy-sim genre. We loved its varied approach to conquering the land and resource collection as well as added depth of customizing building interiors. Fans of older Sim City games or the Civilization series will undoubtedly want to check this one out when it releases next year on PC.