If you’ve ever wanted to build and manage a series of island nations, Paragon Pioneers has everything you need. It is a casual island management game with detailed explanations and no inherent time limit. You can spend as much time as you want developing your island. Searching for other islands to conquer and develop is also part of the experience.
For casual players who don’t have much time, this is a great game to pass the time. Most resource gathering and building will take place outside of the game while you perform other tasks. You can set up the infrastructure for resource gathering or island search and come back whenever you want. It’s easy to get used to the gameplay and you can always remind yourself what your next goal is.
The informal island management is a double-edged sword when it comes to the PC. While there are many casual management games out there, having to constantly pause the game can work against the game’s merits. For mobile devices, you probably won’t be playing these games very often. For a laptop or PC, it’s hard to imagine having to wait an hour for something to happen.
Paragon Pioneers is currently available on PC, Android and iOS for USD 3,99.99.
Story – Conquer all islands
Paragon Pioneers is a management game at heart, and there is no big story. Your goal is to colonize and develop as many islands as possible. There is no real motivation, other than island development is the whole point of the game. You can discover new lands, harvest resources, defeat enemies and name the ships you create. Your “story flow” is monitored by your helpful advisor, who tells you what your next goal is.
The story you create will depend on how much you want to play. Developing the first island and staying there could be your biggest goal. Complete island domination is possible as you sail the oceans in search of new lands to plunder. After the first battle tutorial, you deny violence and team up with enemies to build a mutually beneficial island. The story possibilities are endless, as long as it involves islands and buildings.
Take as much time as you need to develop.
Because it is a management game in the same spirit as The Sims 4, Paragon Pioneers isn’t heavy on the story. Fortunately, the game makes no pretensions about an exciting story. It develops islands, makes everyone happy and sails to new lands to repeat the process. You have tutorials telling you how to play the game, but in the end you are on your own. There doesn’t have to be a story and you decide how much you want (or don’t) want to discover. The real meat of Paragon Pioneers lies in the gameplay; you are in control when it comes to creating your own story.
Gameplay – Colonize Islands for Land and Resources
You start your adventure on a medium-sized island, and you learn how to build your island. Pioneers come for land development, loggers harvest wood and potatoes become schnapps. You know what to do with a helpful advisor who guides you through the process. The first start can be overwhelming because you don’t know what everything means.
Fortunately, the advisor ensures that you never get lost or confused about your next objective. There are helpful tooltips to inform you about your next action and what to select. If you’re lost, you can always click the advisor icon in the top right corner for a reminder. The only unfortunate thing is that there is no way to easily retrieve information from the past. If you didn’t play the game because life got in your way, you might come back and not know what to do.
Not sure what to do? Your advisor is always there.
That can hurt a casual player who wants to try out other games, or fall in love with something else. The mechanics become more complex, with new types of villagers, trade routes between islands and equipping your army well. Coming back to a big island with no way to catch up is daunting. You feel that you have to play often to avoid losing your knowledge.
The good news is that Paragon Pioneers is not a game meant to be played all the time. It’s so casual that you can play for a few minutes at a time and then let the processes run in the background.
Casual management – your ally and enemy
You don’t become an island manager overnight. Gathering resources, training soldiers, and building ships happens after everything comes together. Having laid the foundation for development, you are waiting for the fruits of your labor. If you are not used to games continuing after you close the game, it will feel like you are making a mistake.
That is not the case for Paragon Pioneers. Tasks take time and you can’t always control the game. Fortunately, time passes even when the game is closed. You can come back to see that your crops have grown and your soldiers have been trained. Some tasks can take hours and you can take care of other urgent needs in real life.
It takes 4 hours for your ship to find anything.
For casual players, this is a fantastic feature. Equivalent to Dragon Forge, you play a small part of the game during the day. You’ll come back later to use your new resources, which you’ve collected while you were away. This game was not meant to be played for long periods of time. You can play other games, take a break with Paragon Pioneers, then do something else. It’s a great way to relax yourself in the game, or take a break if you’re bored.
The game’s casual attitude sometimes clashes with those looking for more intense management games. Games like frostpunk or It’s billions have more complex mechanics and are more engaging because you don’t have to wait. Paragon Pioneers can have long waits before anything happens. That’s fine if you don’t use your mobile device all the time, but waiting for hours on a desktop/laptop isn’t fun.
Audio & Visuals – Casual music with cute visuals
The casual atmosphere comes into its own in Paragon Pioneers, because there is no intense music or background noise. Calm music is always played and the battle sounds sound like pots thumping instead of actual bloodshed. It helps you realize that this isn’t a game where you panic or get stressed. You are in control 100% of the time and nothing will bother you.
The visuals are also cute to look at. You never actually see people walking around, but you do see the images of what they would look like. Even the orcs fighting for your land don’t look fierce. They aren’t the prettiest sight, but you wouldn’t be afraid to spot them in the wilderness. Everything comes together perfectly to create a casual atmosphere, and you never feel stressed while playing. Even if you get lost or confused, you are not stressed. The music calms you down and the cute visuals never make you panic.
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