Skyward Collapse to get first expansion, Nihon no Mura

Skyward Collapse is a game of village building, civilian nurturing, and war quashing, as you attempt to keep aggressive factions alive by arming them just enough that they can't wipe each other out. Aiding you in this were mythological creatures; the two factions balanced by the protective (and occasionally murderous) nature of Greek and Norse beasties. Now developer Arcen Games want to not so much tip the scales, as knock them over completely - with a third, Japanese faction, to be introduced in the upcoming first expansion: Nihon no Mura.

"The Japanese of Luminith have a very strong military and a very strange pantheon of gods," explains the description. "Their gods are much more active and aggressive than their Greek and Norse counterparts, and each god has three unique creatures rather than three god tokens." The plan is to shake up the flow of the game, with a more direct faction that plays differently from the existing two - forcing them to alter style in response.

The expansion will also add hamlets. "These non-combative, non-factional villages can be built in the remains of the fallen towns of either faction. Ignore the hamlets and they will be taken over by slums. Tend to them and you can build up a mix of nobles and peasantry that will generate a new Culture resource for you. Culture allows you to activate some powerful new abilities, such as enlarging the radius of your factional towns." Culture is also a resource towards the Luminith Tower - a new game-winning structure.

If you get sick of the bickering, Nihon no Mura will also introduce 'Hamlet Idyll' - letting you cultivate hamlets without a military presence. You'll find the full feature list on Arcen's expansion page .

Nihon no Mura is in beta right now, and is due out later this month. It's available for $2.99.

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.

Latest in Strategy
Maximillian from Evil Genius 2
Rebellion CEO says Evil Genius 3 could happen but wonders 'what else could we do with it other than a base-building game?'
A city from 1800
One of the best city builders of the last decade is currently 90% off on Steam
Company of Heroes 3
Company of Heroes 3 is free to try and 50% off, so it's the best time to check out the beefy 2.0 overhaul
People swimming in a pool and lying on floats
Planet Coaster 2's spring roadmap splashes down, with 'round-bottomed flumes' coming in March and buildable restaurants arriving in April
A bird's eye view of a nuclear bomb detonating in Ara: History Untold.
Microsoft's Civilization 7 competitor escalates tensions with Firaxis' embattled 4X, announcing that nukes are coming with its impending diplomacy update
Civilization 7 victory guide
Firaxis says it's 'entering our Sukritact Age' as it hires popular modder to work on Civilization 7
Latest in News
Pedro Pascal as Joel in a coat in winter looking unhappy
'Don't you know what he did?': The truth comes out in The Last of Us Season 2 trailer
Aloy
'Creepy,' 'ghastly,' 'rancid': Viewers react to leaked video of Sony's AI-powered Aloy
Split Fiction trailer still - Zoe and Mio standing side by side, wearing glowing neon sci-fi jammies
Split Fiction sells 1 million copies over 2 days
A soldier looks out over the Verdansk map, as a single tear rolls down his cheek.
The original Verdansk map is returning to Call of Duty: Warzone, to celebrate which we get a soldier crying to Nat King Cole
More than 5 years after launch, Control gets a surprise patch that lets everyone play the Hideo Kojima mission
Swen Vincke
Swen Vincke stamps seal of approval on Stardew Valley mod that yoinks the Baldur's Gate 3 cast out of D&D and into a cosy pastoral life