Steam Next Fest has delivered a stunning post-apocalyptic city builder that might be the prettiest I've ever played

I don't think I've ever seen a city builder look like this. Synergy, which currently has a chunky Steam Next Fest demo, popped up in my recommendations as a chronic city builder devourer, and its Sable-esque pastel hues immediately had me smashing the download button. 

Thankfully, the game itself immediately lives up to the pretty allures of its art style, delivering a city builder with a post-apocalyptic twist that seems to be more and more in style in recent years - just take a look at Floodland for another example. You start with a dwindling stockpile of resources in an unknown alien land, having fled from a land with no water left at all. 

This place isn't much better either, with lurid green lakes that must become your first priority. The toxic liquid must be processed and cleansed in order to quench your citizens, and then you can turn your attention to building houses and exploring what other resources the land can offer. 

This is where things get interesting though, as before you can start plucking berries from the nearby bushes you must investigate whether they're deadly or delicious. Research lets you understand what's valuable to you on this alien landscape, and you'll quickly discover that most flora gives you multiple resources depending on how you interact with them. There's twigs to be gathered, berries and veggies to be plucked, and healing elements to be harvested if you interact with the plants in the right way. But other essentials like bark need you to chop down the trees, which not only provide your people shade from the heat, but also are very slow to regrow so must be culled sparingly. 

It's a glorious balancing act between being able to grow your settlement and expand, but also have enough in reserve to keep your people fed, healthy, and happy. I learn it's better to have one team of pickers gathering the edible crops and delivering them to the kitchens, and another trimming back the bushes to gather sticks that can be used to make tools. That way the plants have space to regrow to give us more food down the line, without sacrificing the entire plant. Things will get trickier when I run out of bark, though that's a problem I plan to leave for later. 

Unfortunately, it comes around sooner than expected when the trees start dying. Every 40 days a new season comes, bringing with it different weather conditions that will impact everything you try to do in Synergy. Your water might dry up, your plants wilt, or other effects that are going to constantly keep you on your toes. Thankfully there are means to prep, like wells and other water reserving options, all discovered using research and scientific discoveries. 

I guess that's where the expeditions will come in handy too, as I discover when unlocking an explorer's tent. An illustrated map unfurls to show me where I can venture out too, promising potentially clean water sources and other discoveries, but initially I'm tasked with investigating a chaotic blinking light instead. My party makes it, but doesn't make it back with their findings, leaving me bereft and absolutely hungry for more. But the demo has ended and although I can carry on building if I so want, I instead hastily add Synergy to my wishlist and wait for the full release. 

The Synergy demo is available as part of Steam Next Fest, which ends on February 12. The game currently has a loose release window of Q2 2024, so that's definitely going in our list of upcoming PC games to look out for.