SubaraCity from Flyhigh Works is a fun and minimalist puzzle game where you build your city, one set of blocks at at time. Learn more about it in our SubaraCity review!

 

As you get started you’ll be able to select between playing in Normal mode where there are four colors of blocks, and Mayor Marks are obtained every 100 years of from high level buildings, or you can go at it in Casual mode which is a bit easier and better for shorter gaming sessions since you only have to deal with three colors, but you can’t gain Mayor Marks for your efforts. Every time you make a move a year will pass in-game, so if you make 100 moves it will equal 100 years in-game.

The gameplay is simple. You need to select connected blocks to combine them into a single block. By doing this, all combined blocks will help the new block level up, turning into a bigger and higher level building. If you find a single block getting in your way and blocking you from achieving a big combo, you can spend one Mayor Mark to delete it. You can do this with the left analog stick or the D-Pad and the A button while in Docked mode, or you can use the Nintendo Switch’s touchscreen when in Undocked or Tabletop mode.

Once you have no Mayor Marks left to delete single to clear some space, and there are no connected block groups you can click or tap on to combine them into a single block, it is game over and you’ll need to start a new run. To keep this from happening, you should always plan ahead so that you can extend your run. For example, when a building reaches level 10 it will turn into a white block, and it can only be combined with another level 10 block, so you’ll need to work towards that by making sure that the block on which you click/tap to combine all blocks is close to that first level 10 block.

 

Once you’ve made that happen, click on either one of the two Level 10 buildings to “collect” them, and this will allow you to get a new level 11 building. Two Level 10 buildings make one Level 11 building, three will make one Level 12 building, and four will make one Level 13 building. You can’t collect Level 11 buildings, so you should keep that in mind since otherwise you might paint yourself into a corner and not be able to make any more moves.

It’s a simple gameplay mechanic, but it works and gets you into a great “just one more game” cycle, especially when you try to go at it again to beat your previous high score, which you can check in the rankings option in the main menu. As you reach certain milestones you will start to get new characters for the game. These milestones include reaching populations of 20,000, 50,000, 100,000 and more, having two Level 12 buildings, two Level 13 buildings, two Level 14 Buildings or, say, reaching the year 2800.

SubaraCity is a colorfully minimalist puzzle game on that is a fun and simple release to enjoy on Nintendo Switch. The gameplay is easy to understand, and trying to beat your high score will keep you coming back to play some more. The game could have benefitted from having an online leaderboard, but this is not a deal-breaker.

Disclaimer
This SubaraCity review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Flyhigh Works.