In short, it appears to be SimCity in space, but to claim that's all it is would be something of an injustice. There are some clever ideas here that help to do away with some of the duller tasks that you'd find in other city building titles, for example.

Control scheme is well thought out; Engine allows for rapid city building

Political simulation is barebones; Unimaginative missions in campaign that aren't challenging; Performance issues

As a seasoned city-builder, Aven Colony is a solid game that has translated remarkably well to the PlayStation 4.It's incredibly fun and challenging and optimising your colony to no end will keep you entertained.

Note: This review is based on the PS4 Pro version and might not look, sound, and perform the same on other consoles and PC.

Aven Colony is simply a treat to play; Beautiful graphics; Top notch sound design

Tutorial is very well needed to master controls and colony construction

Aven Colony is an addictive city-building game set on a planet called Aven Prime, with a science-fiction twist. Growing a small colony into a massively sprawling cityscape is a very fulfilling experience, with plenty of hazards and obstacles along the way.

When I heard the premise of Aven Colony, I'll admit that I was skeptical. I mean, sure, the idea of SimCity on an alien planet sounds tempting, but there are a thousand ways this could go all kinds of wrong.

I spent the equivalent of a working week playing Aven Colony and it was hard labor. This is a game of relentless concentration and chore-work, with only the briefest flashes of magic and relief, offering almost nothing new to the city building, or resource management genres.

When I don't want to hack and slash or go on a gun rampage, I pop this in and play this building game. I don't get stressed and it can be a fun way to kill a lazy afternoon.

Being in charge of everything is a pretty natural fantasy to want to play out via a video game. The strange thing about it though, is that those few games that do allow you that power rarely cast you in the role of rampaging warlord, but more often a faceless civil engineer. That probabl

Accessible, logical control system with helpful tutorials and an interesting campaign structure; Far less busywork and fiddly construction than other similar games

Adds very little that is genuinely new to the genre; and the sci-fi setting often seems like little more than window dressing

The first few hours of Aven Colony are bliss. Even for someone more drawn to the science fiction element than the city building, there are enough interesting elements at work to pull you in and keep you enthralled.

Great idea however not very involved story or overall city interaction with policy's and trade etc. Graphics are not bad but so limited with building types and game play quickly get board after the very few missions