Beavers are ready to replace humanity, and Timberborn proves it

Beavers are having a moment. Not content with hitting the big screen in Disney Pixar's Hoppers, the Timberborn 1.0 launch drops you into a beaver society where the lovable, tree-gnawing rodents rule. The world was torn apart by humanity, who met their own demise as widespread droughts and the spread of toxic waste claimed the land. In their absence, it's up to your squad of 'lumberpunk' experts to rebuild society. Combining the terraforming of Terraria, the automation systems of Factorio and Satisfactory, and a satisfying building loop that lands somewhere between Cities Skylines and Rimworld, Timberborn has overwhelmingly won the support of its audience so far, and now is the time to start playing.

Timberborn actually offers two games in one, because its pair of beaver factions have distinctly different approaches to construction and lifestyle. The Folktails are nature lovers that get more efficient starter food supplies, and make use of the likes of beehives and irrigation towers. The Iron Teeth are slightly more advanced, defecting away from their beloved wood in favor of employing metal, science, and more advanced technology.

There's a tremendous amount of verticality at play here, and the ability to really pack a dense amount into a small space through terraforming, careful placement, and supply networks makes Timberborn one of the most visually pleasing city-building games on PC. You'll face a constant threat from both periodic droughts and, perhaps worse, seasons of toxic water called 'badtides,' meaning you'll need to establish food stockpiles and employ a combination of natural water sources and artificial irrigation systems to ensure your crops stay alive as long as possible.

Beavers, of course, are nature's engineers, and that's displayed in full force. From dams and floodgates to aqueducts and canals, nothing is off the table. Use water wheels to generate energy and power your engines and pumps. The Folktails can connect up distant parts of their settlements with ziplines, while the Iron Teeth use networks of tubes to transport resources around at speed. Both factions also have the ability to build powered, mechanized beavers that can automate laborious or dangerous tasks.

While Timberborn has always quietly been a post-apocalyptic game, with the old human ruins acting as a key spot to scavenge for rarer resources such as metal, developer Mechanistry has leaned more firmly in this direction in 1.0. You'll now be able to earn science bonuses by uncovering ancient human relics, but can also come across dangerous 'unstable cores' that threaten to explode if not handled correctly.

You'll also need to deal with 'badtide drains,' old pipes left by humanity that you'll want to handle with care, as they're prone to spitting out badwater on regular occasions. The Folktails can block them off using protective domes, while the Iron Teeth opt for irrigation barriers instead. If you have enough clean supplies, however, you can just make use of badwater in a contained space as it is to power your water wheels, or process it to extract helpful resources, like grease for your robots.

Mechanistry has ramped up the number of other interactive world objects in 1.0, too, though I'll leave some for you to discover. The team has also introduced some more unconventional maps, along with over 20 new automation-focused buildings like sensors, relays, and timers. The tutorial has been redesigned, the modding pipeline has been upgraded to support even easier mod creation, and there are now Steam achievements. "We hope beavering away in Timberborn 1.0 will give you as much joy as we had working on it," the developer writes. "Just remember to stay hydrated."

Timberborn 1.0 is out now on Steam, with a 20% launch discount available through Thursday March 26. That means you'll pay just $27.99 / £23.60 for your copy. Grab it here if you're ready to get beavering away at that long to-do list.

Throughout its time in Early Access, Timberborn has racked up an 'overwhelmingly positive' Steam review average, with 95% of players giving it the thumbs up. One user calls it "the ultimate colony survival sim," noting that "the whimsical nature of creating a society of beavers masks a brutal environment with serious stakes." Another, with 181 hours on record, writes that they had to step away from its 'one more thing' temptations. "I just uninstalled it. I'm in my fifties. I'm too old to stay up until the middle of the night playing games. Timberborn is a dangerous game."