Look at that, a Dorfromantik clone with a fresh take on things. It follows the same basic formula: a puzzle game where you match tiles with other tiles to earn points. However, unlike Dorfromantik – which, aside from the tile limit, imposes zero pressure on the player – Land Above Sea Below (LASB) gradually increases the game’s difficulty by raising the sea level and sinking your tiles unless you’ve combo’d them correctly.
While I certainly praise Dorfromantik for its relaxed approach to gaming, leaving the amount of challenge up to the player (you can read the Dorfromantik review here), LASB – with its slightly elevated levels of what could be considered relaxing – is by no means a hardcore gamer’s game. I’d put it in the same category as Dorf, just perhaps with an asterisk next to it, signifying that you either get it or you don’t.
There will definitely be people who, while loving Dorf, will be put off by the need to be more involved in what you’re doing – as long as you want to, you know, get anywhere. You can, of course, ignore the score counter, but that also means overlooking the benefits that come with increasing your score – such as cards that give you bonuses, special types of tiles, and getting to climb on the leaderboards.
Granted, I guess one should mention, there is also a relaxed mode where there is no time limit to the game. Did I mention the time limit yet? Yes, there’s a time limit. You have a limited number of tile placements, referred to as days in the game. The amount of days can be increased through clever tile placements (like tile combos or finishing mini-quest). There are seven days in a season by default. In the normal game mode, you have a total of 10 seasons. Now, as for the relaxed mode (Eternal Autumn): The sea level still rises, and you still have to manage your tiles and think ahead a little, but unlike the game’s standard mode, you won’t lose unless you’re really trying (by letting your default tile, the Big Tree™, sink).
So, if you can handle a bit of pressure in your casual gaming and you liked Dorfromantik, or just have a thing for strategy games, give Land Above Sea Below a go. It’s fun, it has that same “just one more game” vibe, the soundtrack is chill as fudge, and it’s not a bad game to look at either – pretty colors, a relaxed vibe, kind of a soft aesthetic.
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