Planet Earth, April 22, 2024. The Earth Appreciation Festival sale begins on Steam today at 10 AM PDT and will be live until April 29, 2024. Co-organized by the developers of Timberborn, The Wandering Village, and Empires of the Undergrowth, the event features 130+ discounted and upcoming games centered around two themes: nature (including Eco, Ranch Simulator, and Pioneers of Pagonia) and eco-dystopian (DayZ, RimWorld, Dying Light 2, and more). Celebrating Earth Day (April 22), Steam will feature the event on the front page starting April 25.
Coming to Steam for the third year in a row, the Earth Appreciation Festival highlights the issues of today’s world. Be it climate change (Frostpunk 1&2), lack of sustainability (RimWorld), diseases (Dying Light 2), nuclear threat (The Descendant), rapid industrialization (Workers & Resources), expansion of AI (Talos Principle 2), and social inequalities (Cyberpunk 2077), the games in the event ask the question of “what if we don’t act” and present startling visions of the future.
The nature-focused games contrast that by reminding the players of Earth’s beauty - both present (Ranch Simulator), past (Anno 1800), or even ancient (Prehistoric Kingdom). The included titles celebrate the variety of life as we see it (Eco) and as we imagine it (Universe Sandbox), offering a different perspective (Wolfquest) and inspiring the player to protect the environment, often turning that into the game’s objective (Terra Nil).
On top of the discounted games, the event features a selection of upcoming titles.
It’s World Earth Day today, and yet we’re as likely as ever to hear news about natural disasters or man-made harm to the environment. As fun as they are to play, the post-apocalyptic games we gathered for this year’s sale are a vision of what’s coming. Fortunately, the other half of the event offers a more peaceful look at the world, inspiring us all to join the preservation efforts this day is all about.
- Michal Amielanczyk, communication manager at Mechanistry
About Mechanistry
Scattered across Poland, Mechanistry is an independent studio developing its debut title, a beaver city-building game Timberborn. The game had a successful Early Access launch on September 15, 2021, selling over 1,000,000 copies in two years, and maintaining an overwhelmingly positive rating on Steam.
Contact person: Michal Amielanczyk, miami@mechanistry.com
About Stray Fawn
Stray Fawn Studio is a ten person indie game studio based in Zurich, Switzerland. The company focuses on developing their own projects which are often situated in the simulation game genre. Procedural content generation and the simulation of living worlds form the core of the studio’s creations.
Contact person: Philomena Schwab, philo@strayfawnstudio.com
About Slug Disco
Slug Disco Studios is an indie game developer and publisher based in the UK with a soft spot for nature-themed projects. The company was founded to develop a strategy game based upon the world of ants. Since then, they have expanded to help provide publishing and marketing support to other indie developers.
Contact person: Liam Comerford, liam@slugdisco.com
