New city-builder Wild West Pioneers announced

EmpireCraft Studios, a Polish development team, in collaboration with German publisher Toplitz Productions, has announced Wild West Pioneers, a city-building game that blends classic gameplay mechanics with modern visuals and conveniences.

Set in the American frontier, players take on the role of a pioneer tasked with establishing and expanding a settlement. Starting with a modest encampment, they must manage resources, fulfill residents’ needs such as food, water, and security, and develop the town into a thriving city. Players can appoint sheriffs, build defenses, and protect their settlement from outlaws and wildlife. The game also includes strategic elements like scouting and colonization to secure new territories, managing multiple settlements, and overcoming various challenges in diverse environments.

Toplitz Productions’ CEO, Matthias Wünsche, praised EmpireCraft Studios for aligning with their philosophy of creating “Games with Heart and Soul,” emphasizing the game’s balance between modern design and traditional city-building appeal.

Wild West Pioneers is set for an Early Access release on PC in 2025. Players can find more details and wishlist the game on its Steam product page.

What We Can Expect

• It Is Your Choice: You decide what the West will look like. Choose from a wide variety of buildings both commercial as well as residential and upgrade them over time to accommodate the ever-changing needs of the settlers. Pick mayors and sheriffs, but be careful who you appoint – their perks will affect the cities’ growth.
• The West Is More Than One City: One settlement is only the beginning. While you discover new resource streams and production chains the urge to expand will become unstoppable. Send your settlers into uncharted territory and build new villages. Then set up trade routes, so resources can be exchanged. Don’t leave anybody behind or it will cost you dearly.
• Every Settler Is A Person: Your villages are filled with characters. Everybody has needs and demands that you have to fulfill, if you want your reputation to precede you. Only with a sufficient happiness level influenced by job availability, health standards etc. will you be able to attract new settlers and become one of the driving forces in the expansion of the United States.
• The Circle Of Life: Day and night cycle have an impact on the game world. Watch the city life change from dusk till dawn and show true leadership skills when you take on the challenges of efficient production chains and trade routes.
• Strategize Your Expansion Of The West: The strategic map will help you to plan your progress. Send expeditions, establish trading outposts and dispatch wagons with daring explorers eager to found new settlements. With the sandbox character of Wild West Pioneers, no game will ever be the same.
• Take a seat: Sit back, chill and watch your plans come to fruition. Observe the hustle and bustle of city life, where every job is executed by a person and not a backend value. Watching your settlement grow in its detailed glory is half the fun.

My Thoughts

Zack’s love of the old west must be rubbing off, because if I’m going to try another city builder, this will be at the top of my list. Wild West Pioneers captures all of the fun but adds the adventure and uncertainty that comes with being a settler in the 1800s. Check out the trailer below! We hope you also are going to come along for the ride.