You'll get so engrossed building castles and barricades that you'll almost forget about the monsters in survival RTS Cataclismo, out next week in early access

GamesStrategyCataclismoYou’ll get so engrossed building castles and barricades that you’ll almost forget about the monsters in survival RTS Cataclismo, out next week in early accessWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Digital Sun)

A wizard and her soldiers standing in front of a castle in Cataclismo.

As we’vepreviously discovered, Cataclismo—out July 22 in early Access form—is a game about building settlements, and then defending them from waves of ghoul-like Horrors. The campaign follows Lady Iris of the Last City as she embarks on an expedition to learn the secrets of her magical powers, and the apocalyptic mist the Horrors spawn from, every night.

(Image credit: Digital Sun)

Horrors attacking a fortification in Cataclismo.

Using your stockpiles of harvested wood and stone, you’ll build walls to protect your citadel, and for your units to stand on to attack the Horrors. Stone is costly but strong, becoming Toughened if you build it four blocks high, while wood is great for placeholder or more decorative elements. You’ll end up combining both, as you construct things like scaffolding so your units can reach their perches, and stone merlons at the top of walls to improve their range. But whatever makeshift or magnificent structures you end up with, their structural integrity—and their position on the battlefield—is all that matters when a horde of Horrors emerges from the mist.

Make a wall too thin and they’ll practically burst through it. Too tall and your units might be out of range. Make your defences too centralised and they’ll find an avenue you hadn’t thought of and (crucially) haven’t defended against. There’s a lovely tension between knowing what you need to build and what youcanbuild, with the resources you have, and that’s where the creative solutions—AKA the bodges—come into play.

The Horror

(Image credit: Digital Sun)

Horrors swarming around the walls in Cataclismo.

I forgot that Horrors could climb slopes. (It’s notentirelymy fault, as the background scenery can be difficult to read). And because of that, my quarry was torn to shreds. I don’t have nearly enough stone to build a new wall on its sorely exposed slope, so I just sort of extended my current wall round the hill a bit. You can do that in Cataclismo: make your walls look a bit odd, for tactical reasons, just as long as they obey the laws of physics. With granular building mechanics come more granular decisions (bodges), and any number of routes that your defences (and indeed the Horrors that are attacking them) can be taken down.

That’s where the tower defence tag feels appropriate: the big-brain realisation that you can venture out from your stronghold to make outlier walls that will delay or divert the Horrors. The swarm seems to prefer a direct route, and who can blame them when collapsing structures will often take out not just your units but any Horrors standing underneath them. There are even fully fledged tower defence side missions that focus purely on this puzzle-like aspect, although with the sophisticated building mechanics, you’re doing more than simply plonking some turrets down.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

(Image credit: Digital Sun)

Horrors attacking the walls in Cataclismo.

It’s easy to forget that Cataclismo is only in Early Access when the interface for building is so slick and user-friendly. Not only can you build defences when paused, and undo recent blocks with Ctrl+Z, but recycling them will give you all your materials back, instantly—all refreshing acknowledgements of the fact that mis-clicks happen often in building games.

There’s an unfinished but enjoyable campaign mode that tells a minimalist story fairly well, not beating you over the head with backstory, but with voice-acting that feels oddly placeholder (though perhaps it is?). Of course, the campaign’s main job is to teach you the mechanics, and in that way Cataclismo’s is a success, with every mission introducing some new element, or focusing on a different ingredient in its genre stew. One mission you might be exploring a map, with just a few units and navigational obstacles to overcome, the next you’re managing and expanding an existing outpost. It’s all building towards the endgame, of this version at least: endless mode and skirmish maps, which should be enough to keep you occupied for quite some time.

Endless space

(Image credit: Digital Sun)

The centre of a settlement in Cataclismo.

There are only a couple in the game currently, but you can tell they’ve been made with a designer’s hand—and it’s these maps that will give Cataclismo its longevity. I’ve played around with the intuitive level editor, and I can’t wait to see what people will make with it, and how (hopefully) populous the Steam Workshop will become.

Is there enough here right now, tomake Cataclismo a good buy in early access? Probably not if you want a satisfying campaign, as currently it’s a journey that’s varied and exciting but without an ending. There’s no proper sandbox mode yet, either, although that’s planned, along with the rest of the story, and additional biomes for skirmish maps and endless mode. But the building feels so good, and is so rich with possibilities, that I can’t see it wearing thin any time soon.

More about strategyAlan Emrich, the game designer and writer who coined the term ‘4X,’ has diedCivilization 7 senior historian prays it’ll be a ‘gateway drug’ into textbooks: ‘I teach undergraduates in my other life, and my God, man, they don’t read’LatestWormhole is an impeccable arcade revival of Snake that plays like it fell off the back of Derek Yu’s vanSee more latest►

More about strategy

Alan Emrich, the game designer and writer who coined the term ‘4X,’ has diedCivilization 7 senior historian prays it’ll be a ‘gateway drug’ into textbooks: ‘I teach undergraduates in my other life, and my God, man, they don’t read’

Alan Emrich holding a Nemo’s War tabletop game box at a 2018 gaming convention

Alan Emrich, the game designer and writer who coined the term ‘4X,’ has died

Cropped Civilization 7 concept art featuring Amina, Queen of Zazzau, pointing a sword menacingly.

Civilization 7 senior historian prays it’ll be a ‘gateway drug’ into textbooks: ‘I teach undergraduates in my other life, and my God, man, they don’t read’

LatestWormhole is an impeccable arcade revival of Snake that plays like it fell off the back of Derek Yu’s vanSee more latest►

Latest

Wormhole is an impeccable arcade revival of Snake that plays like it fell off the back of Derek Yu’s van

Wormhole

Wormhole is an impeccable arcade revival of Snake that plays like it fell off the back of Derek Yu’s van

See more latest►

Most Popular

18 games the PC Gamer team can’t wait to play in 2025

The Witcher 3’s now 2-year-old bonus quest is our first taste of the ‘vibe’ CD Projekt is going for in The Witcher 4

2024 was the year updates for old games beat out all the new ones for me

Train like you game with this adventure-inspired workout

‘It’s simply impossible to make a difficulty level that’s just right for all players’: How Final Fantasy 14’s lead battle designer has been playing a precarious balancing game for Dawntrail’s dungeons and raids

Please join me in getting super excited for all the cool looking survival games coming in 2025 (and beyond)

Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: ‘sweaty’ teamplay vs. casual fun

Call of Duty’s $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it’s doing

These are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre

Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 6, 2025)

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The Horror#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

Endless space#

The Horror

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Endless space