When I first played Timberborn, I thought it would be a cute version of Cities: Skylines. Instead, I found a city-building game that’s both simpler and more inventive. Four years after its early access launch, developer Mechanistry has polished this beaver society simulator into one of the most refreshing strategy games around.
With its latest updates adding 3D terrain shaping and creative transit systems, Timberborn in 2025 proves that smart design and regular updates can keep a game feeling fresh.
This review reflects our independent and honest opinion. We were not compensated for this review, and we covered all the costs to try the product or service ourselves.
A streamlined city-builder with teeth
What makes Timberborn stand out is how it simplifies the basics of city-building. While games like Cities: Skylines overwhelm you with traffic management and tax rates, here the priorities are clear: water, food, and vertical space. My first colony failed because I didn’t store enough water before a drought—a harsh lesson that beavers live by nature’s rules, not spreadsheets.
The 2025 updates enhance this focus. The new terrain tools let you carve hills into solar farms or dig tunnels for underground crops without complicating the core gameplay. It’s all about solving practical problems: How do you keep water flowing during dry seasons? How do you build upward when land is scarce? The answer usually involves creative dam systems and multi-level treehouses.
Beavers: More than a gimmick
At first glance, the beaver theme seems quirky. But these rodents aren’t just cute—they’re central to the gameplay. Watching them build intricate dams or ride ziplines between treetops adds personality to every project. The two factions (nature-loving Folktails and factory-focused Iron Teeth) keep things interesting. Folktails use renewable energy and tree-based transport, while Iron Teeth rely on steam power and robot workers.
The art style, which I’d describe as “charming and clean,” makes every structure feel part of a cohesive world. Folktail villages look like eco-friendly treehouse complexes, while Iron Teeth colonies resemble steampunk factories. Even the day/night cycle, which initially annoyed me by halting construction, grew on me. Nighttime shows off glowing buildings and tired beavers yawning—a small touch that adds life to the world.
Water physics: The real star
Early gameplay revolves around surviving droughts. You’ll build reservoirs, redirect rivers, and panic when your water supply runs low. The game’s 3D water system (added in 2024’s Update 6) turns this into a puzzle. Water flows realistically—if you dam a river too high, it might drain completely; too low, and toxic “badwater” can poison your supply.
My proudest moment was creating a spiral aqueduct that pumped water uphill during droughts. Update 7’s experimental 3D terraforming lets you shape landscapes like clay, enabling projects like underground farms or cliffside villages. One misstep flooded my colony (beavers hate soggy bedrooms), but that’s part of the fun.
From survival to mega-projects
The game progresses naturally. Early hours focus on basics like storing food and building levees. Once you’ve mastered droughts, the real creativity begins. Late-game goals include constructing massive dams, solar arrays, and even floating districts. The Iron Teeth’s vacuum tube transport system (Update 7) turns resource distribution into a satisfying chain reaction, while Folktail ziplines make commuting look like a theme park ride.
Researching new tech starts slow but avoids overwhelming players. You’ll unlock essentials like water pumps before tackling advanced projects. My current colony has a geothermal plant inside a volcano and a suspended reservoir held up by hydraulic lifts—proof that the game rewards bold ideas.
Sound and atmosphere
The soundtrack adapts to your situation. Peaceful banjo tunes play during prosperous times, switching to tense strings when droughts hit. Sound effects sell the world: water splashes through canals, sawmills hum, and beavers chatter while working. My only gripe is the night cycle interrupting big projects, but the starry skies and firefly effects make up for it.
Updates and mods keep it fresh
Mechanistry’s commitment to updates sets Timberborn apart. Major additions like badwater mechanics (2024) and 3D terraforming (2025) expanded gameplay without clutter. Steam Workshop support unleashed mods ranging from practical tools to silly additions like beaver amusement parks. My favorite mod adds automated filters that clean toxic water—no more antidote factories!
Hardware hurdles? More like pebbles!
Four years post-launch, Timberborn remains impressively accessible. The minimum specs—a GTX 1050 or Radeon R9 380 with 4GB RAM—could run on a toaster if that toaster had USB ports. My 2019 laptop (the kind that sounds like a jet engine) handles small colonies smoothly, though late-game megaprojects demand the recommended RTX 2700/RX 5700 or better. The real bottleneck? CPU power for simulating 500 beavers hauling logs like furry ants. Pro tip: disable shadows before constructing your 40th waterfall generator.
Time investment – from lunch break to log empire
This isn’t Civilization’s “one more turn” trap. Sessions flex to your schedule—pause indefinitely while designing that perfect spiral dam, or speed through drought cycles during laundry breaks. The tutorial’s rough edges vanish after two hours, leaving you free to focus on important decisions like “Should the berry farm have rooftop housing or an attached waterslide?” A satisfying playthrough takes 20-30 hours, but creative types (read: dam obsessives) easily triple that.
Pricing? Worth every acorn
Following a 2024 price hike to $34.99 USD, Timberborn sits at the premium end of indie pricing. Yet frequent 20-30% sales soften the blow, and the content justifies the cost—I’ve spent more on coffee during a single playthrough. Console players might wince, but PC builders appreciate the lack of DRM and tiny 5GB install. Bonus: purchasing supports a dev team that actually listens to feedback, unlike certain AAA studios we could name.
The verdict: Still a 5-star game in 2025
Timberborn succeeds by blending challenge with charm. It’s easier to learn than Frostpunk but deeper than most city-builders, offering hundreds of hours of creative problem-solving. While the research system could be less grindy and multiplayer remains absent, these are minor flaws in an otherwise brilliant package.
For strategy fans, creative builders, or anyone tired of grim post-apocalyptic games, Timberborn delivers a hopeful, inventive take on survival. Five stars—this is the rare game that makes managing water levels feel heroic.
