Skyward Collapse
Skyward Collapse
Game
Game2014
1849
Developer SomaSim
1849 is a city management game set during the California Gold Rush. Your task is to build towns, populate them with workers, and make sure that they are housed, fed, and entertained. You’ll have to manage and coordinate extensive production and trade networks to make sure your towns thrive. From the Steam store page
211 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy) · newest Oct 29, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
69
Fresh
128 positive · 58 negative
95% range 62–75%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 128 | 58 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 1 | 0 | 23 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
190 of 267 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
69% recommend · 129 yes, 58 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 187 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (280 of 386 positive).
Some reviewers note the game becomes repetitive and lacks depth after several hours. [1][2][3] Several players recommend buying the game on sale due to its limited content. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [16]
I'm not in the mood to attack other civilizations after building my own city from scratch and I like a little more of a "story" when I build up my things, so I thought 1849 was going to be a nice panacea to my City Builder Sim illness. Not the cowbell I needed. 1849 is very slow and frankly easy to win each level. However, it is time consuming. The majority of the time you've built the required number of buildings …
- [12]
Decent minimalistic city builder/manager with few flaws. Pros: - easy and relaxing - polished tutorial - ok graphics and music. Feels very Wild Western-ish - quite unique scenarios: each map makes you to use different set of buildings - actually one of the few Wild West city builders Cons - manual trading (Imagine playing Anno, where you need to send each merchant ship individually every time) THIS ONE NEEDS TO BE …
- [1]
Not a big story and it feel often the same only some things change but most levels you have to get fast a good economy with the possible buildings and make the little targets, but this game has its charme like the most games. For some hours its really fine the time runs for your goal to come to the end of the game and you need to think what are you doing when to reach the timeline of your targets. Its not to hard …
- [17]
What can one say about 1849? It's an OK game. It's not perfect, but it's fun. It has it's flaws, but still makes you REALY plan ahead for your economy. Would I reccomend this game? If you like city-building games, like I do, and if you like the old western style that 1849 brings you, yes. It's cheap, yet enjoyable at certain areas. So yes. you should deffinetly try it out.
- [2]
1849 is a gold rush-themed city builder in the same vein as the classic Impressions series (Pharaoh, Caesar, Zeus, and Emperor). It's a little less complex than the aforementioned games, and the strategy is pretty much the same for each level, making it a little repetitive after a while. Still, it's a long game (20 hours in, and I still haven't finished it), and it's certainly worth picking up on sale. The UI has …
Summarised from 34 of the 211 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked 1849 talk about relaxing and accessible gameplay; those who didn't talk about repetitive gameplay after a few hours. Which matters more to you?
Reactions
60 of 211 · most liked firstDrawing Wario everyday until there's a new Wario Land game day 1849. Garlic Cookie
neutral · AI labelView post →Not a big story and it feel often the same only some things change but most levels you have to get fast a good economy with the possible buildings and make the little targets, but this game has its charme like the most games. For some hours its really fine the time runs for your goal to come to the end of the game and you need to think what are you doing when to reach the timeline of your targets. Its not to hard and not to easy so this game gets 7.5 of 10 Points for a playtime of 5-10 hours…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm not in the mood to attack other civilizations after building my own city from scratch and I like a little more of a "story" when I build up my things, so I thought 1849 was going to be a nice panacea to my City Builder Sim illness. Not the cowbell I needed. 1849 is very slow and frankly easy to win each level. However, it is time consuming. The majority of the time you've built the required number of buildings and you're waiting for them to accumulate the needed number of supplies to move…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was reviewed using a code sent by the developer. 1849 is city builder set in 1849 during the California Gold rush. I haven't played many city builders in the past apart from SimCiity2000, so my experience is very limited so far. The graphics on show here are pleasant, there is nothing special, it almost looks like the same style in Theme Hospital, sort of plump looking characters, and some nicely textured buildings. Each mission in the story modes offer roughly three objectives,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →On this day in 1849, James Alexander Devlin was born in Philadelphia, PA. Best remembered for his banishment from the game after the NL scandal of 1877, he remains one of the more tragic figures in baseball history. Here’s a color study of him with the Louisville Grays in 1876.
neutral · AI labelView post →Fostering a rough-and-tumble western town sounds like a good time to me, but alternatives to the traditional city-builder don't always go as planned. The balance between expansion and resources is a delicate one, and straying too far from the middle can be disastrous. 1849 has the right look of a builder and starts off well enough, but you'll soon find it doesn't go much further than that. As the name and the stylings might imply, 1849 is set around the time of the gold rush in the western…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's like I used to tell my social science students (high school level): the French knows how riot. I mean wearched up to the king in 1849 and said "no more power for you, sign this constitution and we can go home in time for wheel of fortune"... The French litt the streets on fire and killed their oppressors. I need to find that clip of French firefighters protesting. The police tried to disperse the firefighters with tear gas and batons. But the firefighters had respirators, protective…
neutral · AI labelView post →This is the worst simulation I have ever played. It is literally more profitable to leave your citizens unemployed than to put them to work producing goods to sell. The only reasons to employ them at all are because too much unemployment causes crime and because you have to meet the completely arbitrary goals of the scenario. For example, there is a scenario where you're supposed to make and sell pickaxes, but according to my calculations, you actually take a net loss of over $8 per pickaxe! Is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"The Bezique Game" 1880 Gustave Caillebotte (1849-1894) French Oil on Canvas 121 x 161 cm Private Collection #art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
neutral · AI labelView post →I spent a snowy weekend playing this game and I doubt I'll play it much more (if ever again.) In general, I am a huge fan of city builders and after reading the mostly positve reviews I was psyched to give this a try. It is probably one of the most limited and frustrating games I've ever played. The type of resources you can create/gather/mine/farm are pre-selected from the beginning and sometimes make no sense. I hda one game where I needed to export stone bricks, but couldn't build a stone…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hello friends. I found another game i did not choose to review because i either forgot and moved on, or i never beat it. This is a city simulator game, but not a major one. This is actually more like a mobile port of a game, or feels like that. The basics of the game is that you make a town "profitiable" enough to be substainable and move on to more challenging levels. This takes place during the gold rush in the United States during the 1800's. Don't expect it to be historically correct. Just…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Score = 8/10 (Pretty Good) 1849 is a modern, casual take on the classic Sierra City Building games of yesteryear. I like the fact that it's casual and accessible since it's a perfect complement to more intense games that I tend to play in my library - a perfect game to wind down to. If you're a fan of the old Sierra City Building games like Zeus, Cleopatra, Caesar etc. and a purist (i.e. you like a bit of a challenge) you'll probably be disappointed with 1849 - it's also not a game for those…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What can one say about 1849? It's an OK game. It's not perfect, but it's fun. It has it's flaws, but still makes you REALY plan ahead for your economy. Would I reccomend this game? If you like city-building games, like I do, and if you like the old western style that 1849 brings you, yes. It's cheap, yet enjoyable at certain areas. So yes. you should deffinetly try it out.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →onsidering this is a gaming genre that most studios seem to think is obsolete, I'm happy it's there. If you enjoy tweaking a microeconomy (production versus housing, trade, etc.) to the point that you're structurally swimming in dollars, this game is for you. It's not as complex as others, and can be limiting and shallow. But for the price it is highly enjoyable and I found nothing to cause a negative rating imo.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you are looking for amazing graphics and in depth city building and management, then this is not the game for you. If you are looking for an easy building game that can pass some time then look no further. I personally enjoy this game, even though some things can be quite annoying like; not being able to move buildings once placed or rotate them, buildings that are half in and half out of fire department lines still burn down, being robbed even with a sherrif building with the zone, building…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overview: 1849 is a settlement management sim set in... Well? In the time of the California Gold Rush. 1849 can be played in both sandbox and campaign modes, with the latter involving building towns all around California to exploit natural resourses of the immediate area, and sell these resourses to other cities in California via trade routes. Once scenario objectives are complete, it's time to move onto the founding of the next city. Trade routes are both ways, so if one city buys…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoyed this game. It was quick to beat though, and I am already wishing there were more campaign missions available because I really enjoyed the different challenges of each one. I played through both the base game and the DLC since purchasing a couple of days ago. It has a nice balance of puzzle management elements, and city building for each scenario. It was super fun trying to figure out the best balance of things and also which starting opportunity to pick for each. Again, my…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really enjoyed this game and completed it and the Nevada Silver DLC with all achievements in 30 hours. Got it on sale for 60% off which was the deciding factor in buying it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Two Thumbs Up! What a great idea! A city management game, based on the California gold rush. I'm not a heavy gamer, and therefore rely on in-game tutorials and hints whenever I try something new. 1849 handles this very well, clearly explaining how everything works. The artwork is fantastic, the music is a perfect fit, and so far I've had no problems playing. My little town has huge potential (if I ever get rid of the freeloaders with their tents :). Add this game to your library!…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Quick Summary: This is a very enjoyable game! I love the different starting bonuses. It gives a range of how you want to play each scenario. Whenever I went into the red I knew why, and I was able to restart the scenario without being mad that I wasted a bunch effort. Very fun, engaging, and not stressful. 1849 has one of the worst soundtracks I have EVER heard. I sincerely endorse this game! [Played with all DLC]
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Decent minimalistic city builder/manager with few flaws. Pros: - easy and relaxing - polished tutorial - ok graphics and music. Feels very Wild Western-ish - quite unique scenarios: each map makes you to use different set of buildings - actually one of the few Wild West city builders Cons - manual trading (Imagine playing Anno, where you need to send each merchant ship individually every time) THIS ONE NEEDS TO BE FIXED - despite scenarios having different goals and different sets of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd give a positive review to this game if we could at least SAVE the bloody game!! How can they don't have this option?! 4/10
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Okay, so I have 3 hours in game at this point and this is all I have to say. - I am just here for the achievements. - This game at todays time and age does not hold a candle to the flame that is games like Civ, Banished and the likes. This is a dated game with not much content. The campaign is what it is most games like it. You are given a objective, if not three. Buildings are restricted to a few then. You can upgrade the buildings for output on resources to meet the requirements of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Would be worth trying, but defenetly not for this money. Too boring and easy for 15 euros. Better try Banished, or Cities Skylines (14 euro at christmas).
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll be the first to admit this game isn't worth it's price tag, but it's still a fun game; definitely worth getting if it's on sale. It's great for a lunch time game as each map takes around 30-60 minutes to complete if you're doing it casually and enjoying it and some maps are so much fun you still hang around after completing the mission. I'm on the second last mission and will then play the sandbox for a bit and then I'll wait for the expansion to go on sale or close my eyes and pay full…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →California is my favorite US state. this game reflects all aspects of the Wild West, the gold rush and California in 1849. I like the sound. As a city-building games, I recommend this game to discover cities in the Wild West. Don't forget to distribute booze to your citizens and saloons.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I cannot recommend this game in it's current form. It is more of a chore, than an enjoyable experience. The problem is the profit margins are far too low, and you're constantly having to balance population, food, and other resources in order to break even. You rarely feel like you're doing well, and that's just no fun. City builders are fun when you can just sit back and enjoy your work, then set off to the next city. This game never achieves that. As such, it cannot be recommended.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is more or less a shot-for-shot remake of the old Impressions City-Building Series (Caesar, Pharaoh, etc.), but set in the Wild West. Which is good in theory, but there are a lot of good reasons that gaming's evolved past this since the last of those games came out in the early aughts. Resource management is a nightmare, houses will downgrade all the way from big mansions to little shacks because you had a temporary timber or alcohol shortage, non-renewable resources run out…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →1849 is a gold rush-themed city builder in the same vein as the classic Impressions series (Pharaoh, Caesar, Zeus, and Emperor). It's a little less complex than the aforementioned games, and the strategy is pretty much the same for each level, making it a little repetitive after a while. Still, it's a long game (20 hours in, and I still haven't finished it), and it's certainly worth picking up on sale. The UI has some flaws; first of all, it covers up too much of the playing field. There are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm about a year late on this review, but here it is: It is an ok city-builder set in the Far West during the Gold Rush time period. The campaign isn't anything new in this genre, but it does have it's own art style and mechanics that make it sligthly different from other games. Sadly enough, once you've understood the game basics, every level will be easy to complete, making it rather boring. I do recommend the game, yeah, but wait for a sale. All the achievements work fine.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's hard to say YES or NO on this game. It's not worth paying full price, but on a good sale, sure.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good city building game. Light version of [url=http://steamcommunity.com/id/emoKittenCZ/recommended/57690]Tropico and [url=http://steamcommunity.com/id/emoKittenCZ/recommended/242920]Banished style games. Buy this on sale as 15 € is quite a lot for this game compared to 19 € for Banished or 7-23 € for different versions of Tropico which offer more. Anyway good game, nice graphic and nice western music. You need to satisfy residents so they want to live in your city. More residents will pay…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Going through some board game bits. I have cube4me token sets for 1848 and 1849, but not the stickers. Why didn't past me put the stickers on the bits or at least keep them together.
neutral · AI labelView post →Calais Campbell was bound to dominate this game, as he's the only player that was actually alive during the San Francisco gold rush of 1849 #Cardinals #AZvsSF
neutral · AI labelView post →1849 9/22/73 BAL (99-55) @ MIL (69-85) Orioles take a 3rd try at winning game #100 as the Brewers try to get to a more humble number (70). Today, Orioles try to help the Cy Young case for Mike Cuellar (21-10, 2.49 in 35 starts). Brewers try to get #20 for Jim Slaton (19-10, 3.91 in 36 starts).
neutral · AI labelView post →A solid little city builder with all the usual bells and whistles. I thoroughly enjoy this game for what it is. A relaxed wild west/gold rush era city builder. Your objectives can vary depending on your location, and each adds a nice challenge. This is not going to be on the size level as say, Anno. However, that is just what I wanted/expected. The game can be repetitive, like ANY game. I however, was never bored. There was enough flavor to keep me hooked. If you enjoy little city builders,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simple looks and small maps are the first impression, but they are eclipsed by the game strategy. Almost every map has a unique aspect of gameplay in order to win. It took me 26 hours to clear the main game, DLC and acheivements.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →got my money back...game is worse then a free game on facebook,and the sounds will hurt your ears...worst i ever heard.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Had great time with it, however... the game is simple (had to restart a city during the whole game maybe twice). the trading system is more time comsuming than the actual gameplay and broken. -Vanilla: you will pop the trade open every 10 sec (unless you play on slow) and spend a minute in there (why no sell all button per line? why no auto-buy (amount) if storage has less then (amount) option.. -DLC the train :) was very happy to see an automated system in place (unless you forget to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ridiculous TRASH... Like a flash browser game
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →(I originally bought and played the game on iPad, which is why my hours-played-on-Steam is low). Charming, streamlined city builder. Lots of personality, and it really takes advantage of its (unique to videogames) setting.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →if wnba games were a content mine, this indiana fever/chicago sky game is the 1849 california gold rush
neutral · AI labelView post →1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball Sometimes you need to read a simple sentence many times before the analysis hits you. A classified ad in the ‘Moreton Bay Courier’ of Brisbane 20 Jan 1849. The young men of Brisbane challenged others to a ‘Foot Ball’ Game. The context is very interesting.
neutral · AI labelView post →Amusing side note: I ran a World/Chronicles of Darkness Mage game set in 1849 where the PCs rescued a succubus from a bunch of cultists and she swore fealty to them. They had to get REAL specific with their instructions to her. 💜🤣🖤
neutral · AI labelView post →Police Gazette made mention of baseball on June 9, 1849, covering a game played by the Knickerbockers at Hoboken.
neutral · AI labelView post →Town management game. Entertaining enough, provided you aren't looking for a serious challenge.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very simple yet challenging town builder game. I enjoy this purchase for the price I paid for it. I find the trading system very interesting and think it is similar to games like industry inc. Overall, a rather good game for a cheap price.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Enjoyable for the price if you catch it on sale. The economy is broken in terms of trying to trade for profit - you only make money by having at least half your population unemployed. The chapter goals are easy to meet without real struggle, but meeting the commissions poses a little challenge that's fun. Otherwise, a fairly relaxing play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's an ok town maker. Would do well with more variance in resources and what not but for a smaller game it's good. I wouldn't say it has anything unique but it also has no bugs.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a city building game set in the 1800's California gold rush. This is kind of like the old Impressions city builder games (Zeus, Pharaoh, etc). This was fun and played through all the scenarios. Fun game. You may want to buy this on sale though because once you have played a few games, it can get repetitive. 8/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has a solid core. I like that they've added a light story mode on top of conventional city building mechanics. The sound is nice. It lacks polish in the controls and UI though: * There should be keyboard shortcuts for many actions. * The depot needs an option to auto-sell particular supplies over a given threshold. * The fires need a pronounced sound effect because they can be quite easy to miss. * The upper right notification area should show which buildings were lost to fires.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a great, casual game. The levels are rather short, but it's nice that if you step away you don't have to remember everything you've done, where they are, and what you need to do. I've beaten the main game and the DLC a couple times already with only 49 hours.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice relaxing building and management game. Not too difficult but entertaining.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played this game through 6 years ago when it was released, and I'm playing through again now. There are multiple campaigns with campaigns inside campaigns... So the game is much larger than you think! It's all about building a town, trading etc. Think along the lines of all the Egyptian city builders like Cleopatra etc and you're on the right track, on a slightly smaller scale. Very enjoyable, and something fun to come back to years later :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great immersive city-builder with a little history too. Great soundtrack
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A bit light on contect buy on sale
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The design is lacking, even if the subject (Gold Rush era California) is at least something different. But there is an immediate and critical failure in the design of this game. There is no way to automaticaly set trading import/export amounts, so that, even at the very earliest stages, the player must micromanage simple importing of logs -- the item which is the bare minimum of housing for the workforce. Presumably, not every stage is going to have a forest nearby which the player isn't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are much better city builder games than this. Interface is clunky and the economics are completely stupid.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For $15, there are so many other much better games you can get. I saw this game in the "similar games" from Turmoil (which is a great game), but 1849 is not good.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game was fun and refreshing for the first few hours (if you're into city builder games), then it gets repetitive real quick. Not sure how much more I can write about this game other than I do find it fun and enjoyable at first, then after awhile it becomes almost a chore to play. I don't think I finished the game. I stopped playing because I lost interest in it after doing pretty much the same thing over and over and over again for each new scenarios. Basically I bought this game because…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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