Hometopia, the Steam Next Fest 2021 star, has a release date

Originally posted on Video Games on Sports Illustrated
By Marco Wutz | Last updated 8/9/23

If you’re the type of person that exclusively spends their time in The Sims by building and then decorating houses, then we’ve got some great news for you: Hometopia, a video game about basically just that, goes into Early Access on Steam on September 27, 2023.

Hometopia debuted during Steam Next Fest 2021 and was wishlisted by over 100,000 users since then – and the appeal is easy to see. It’s a relaxing game in which creativity trumps all other aspects. No matter if you’re down for a chill building session or just some very detailed interior design, you’re going to find what you need here. It’s not just a lone experience either: Players can team up to form design groups with a maximum of four people to work on shared projects – made all the more easy by the fact that Hometopia is going to be a free-to-play game.

You can either play in a career mode that sees you begin with small projects and work your way up the ladder to become a star designer, or go into sandbox mode by working on your personal dream property. One cool aspect is that aside from the top-down view, which is obviously useful for building and keeping track of the larger picture, you can go into first-person mode to put the fine touch on everything and see the results of your labor up close.

To begin with you’ll have a range of five biomes and neighborhoods to build in, but more content and features will be added over time, including terraforming and contests in which players have to compete against each other in design challenges.

"Hometopia is a step forward for co-op building simulation games. We’ve simplified the way that gamers can build homes and neighborhoods together," said Alex Åhlund, founder of Hometopia, in a statement accompanying the announcement of the game’s release date. "Our aim with Hometopia is to surpass expectations by combining the best of the interior design game genre and creative building into one best-in-class version."

“I have been wanting to create a game like Hometopia for over a decade, and I’ve built the right team and compiled all of my learnings into this new creative vision," he said.

This article first appeared on Video Games on Sports Illustrated and was syndicated with permission.

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