A popular request is churches. You may have already read some of our thoughts (and prayers) on this one, but ultimately the initial implementation of spiritual buildings has come down to development time. If we do spiritual buildings, we think they should come with some sort of mechanic, and not just be a barebones entertainment or desirability option.
There is also a question of what form these buildings should take. For some, the answer is obviously a church. Maybe some sort of quaint, wooden church as seen in most of the small New England towns. But wait, is the game set in the Colonial period, should it be a big medieval cathedral instead? What about a Norse temple? Maybe it’s not set in a real time period at all?
Where the game is set is something we’ve largely left for the player to decide. Players should have the freedom, while crafting their own charming town out of the wilderness and watching their people get mauled by bears, to imagine the details of the setting as they see fit.
So when it comes to religion, we’re not sure that a church is necessarily the obvious answer. It could be interesting and allow for more creative player agency, to explore a system where you get to choose deities who could confer different favors upon your town. Or who knows, maybe when the friendly traveling merchant, Scorv Egdenor the Butcher was in town, he’s secretly whispered to those willing to listen about the glorious return of RAVAGER!
Whatever we do for this category of buildings though, we’ll want to make sure it’s another fun and engaging mechanic that adds a meaningful layer to the gameplay, rather than rushing something in just to say we have it in the game.
