This week, Netflix (alongside publisher Devolver and developer Free Lives) has released the impressive, interesting, reverse city builder Terra Nil on both iOS and Android platforms. The game is available on PC, too – and that’s where I’ve been playing it for the past two or so weeks – but the mobile version of the title is by no means a cheap trade-off; it works just as well as its PC sibling.
Your aim in Terra Nil is simple: you are reviving a planet that has been ruined and reaped of all its resources, left to fester and rot in its own putrid filth. To that end, you need to detoxify the soil, increase biodiversity by reintroducing plants, rainforests, and marine vegetation, and finally pack up and leave without a trace. It’s the first proper solarpunk gaming title I’ve seen out in the wild that’s worth giving a damn about, and it does what it does perfectly.