This is not cities skylines. This is better. If you want a chill and relaxing game then this probably isn't for you. If you like planning everything from roads - rail. Water & sewers and spying on your citizens then this might be for you.

I will say this has a MASSIVE learning curve, even the tutorial isn't the greatest. My recommendation is watch someone on YouTube first, get a feel if you want to have a go. If you like it and get it you'll love it. This is one of my favourite city management games.

I think there is an audience that will really enjoy Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic, but it is just not for me. And though it may seem somewhat unfair to give it a negative review for something that is clearly good to a lot of people, I am giving it a negative review, but on my Steam curator page, I will be making the review informational. But I feel like giving it a negative review and bringing up some criticisms that I think are valid is fair.

So, the biggest issue I have with the game is with the gameplay. It is very cool that you have a really high level of control, the ability to not only build the city but to effectively manage trade, the number of citizens, what citizens you are getting, the vehicles that are used, the resources people even have available to them, and more is all astounding and adds a lot of depth to the game. However, I was surprised and annoyed with how quickly it became tedious. I also found that the way things are built is not very tidy and for someone like me who demands straight lines, well-organized grids, and clean buildings in those grids, I found it quite annoying. It is notably a personal preference, And I think some people will like the organic nature of the cities they will create, as for me, the fact that it is not just a grid system for placing buildings and roads just kind of gave me a headache and ate up a ton of my time as I tried to adjust buildings to be perfectly placed alongside each other. I also found that electricity and water were an absolute headache to manage. Once again it is cool that the detail they put into making a grid includes power transformers and substations and you have to even consider the total amount of power your power lines will have, which is a lot closer to real life than many other games get, but it just feels messy to play with and looks messy too, and the same goes for water by the way. Trains were an absolute pain too and it took me way too long to problem-solve some track issues. I also just found the interface to be a bit unpolished as well, though, for complex games like these, it can be an uphill battle to get all of the info you need while making it clean and clear, so it is what it is and is common in the genre. The critical issue was though with the power of autism I can sit and play games like these for hours straight I found that during my playtime I really didn’t start to feel like I was having fun until about around the 7-hour mark that I was kind of having fun. Sadly, I think that most players who would be in my shoes would likely give up in the first hour or two. That is enough of the negativity though, what I do like is the industry system it is unique and I had the most fun playing with that once I started distributing resources and fully figured that out. I also think it is cool that the vehicles are very accurately designed and the specs they provide have some fluff, but it has fluff that is representative of the real vehicles. So, it was fine and I am sure some people will like it, but it just isn’t for me.

There is kind of a story about freeing your nation from capitalism and creating a new communist state, but it is pretty minor. The game themes are clear though, you are playing a city builder (perhaps the most Utopian genre of games available) and yet you have this kind of gritty city builder where you have to do things like manage your people’s alcoholism. It is well crafted and the dialogue available from advisors does feel a bit like stereotypical satire of Soviet Russia, but the tongue-in-cheek humor to it all is pretty fun.

The sound design in this game is quite subpar. I found that the sound effects were decent, but nothing to write home about; however, the music wore on me. I enjoy soviet era music (the Red Army Choir has some bangers and I love a good accordion), but it has this fake feel which is extremely present when the music tries to emulate a choir. I think that those who have some nostalgia related to similar music from their babushka (or maybe even from their own lives) may find something charming about it, but I think I will pass.

Graphically I think that the style works well, the vehicles are crafted wonderfully, and my buddy from Eastern Europe even noted that they knew that it was a game about the region because the buildings stuck out to them immediately as very accurate. I can’t say that I have ever seen a game quite styled like this and I like it. Some may think that it is drab, but come on, the 60s-80s soviet cities just looked like this. I like it, and the game ran pretty well at the highest graphics also so I really don’t have any artistic complaints.

Overall, yeah it is not for me, but if you think that getting into the weeds of managing, food, transportation, industrial lines, walking paths, the exact alignment of buildings, workers, and complex and in-depth services and also don’t mind the messiness it can all create I think that you will have a blast. As for me, I have a glorious cat revolution to bring about and will be spending my free time on games closer to my interests when I must recharge from helping the purrletariat rise up.

First off, It's not a bad game. I was expecting something similar to city skylines but it's definitely not that. It is an extremely deep and complex economic spread sheet game and was just not for me.