Nova Lands: Building Fun With Robots

 *Note: I received a free game code for the Nintendo Switch for my honest review of the game. Thank you to Stride PR!

Nova Lands is a cute builder and exploration game. If you liked the game Forager you will like Nova Lands. It definitely gives off Forager vibes, but it also has its own unique style. Nova Lands has a minimal story, but it gives you the gist of what you're supposed to do. You're an explorer on a new planet island and you must expand your base, build machines and factories to craft, and unlock new resources and other islands. You're not alone however, as other capsules with people land who can help you upgrade your inventory space and various other items you use. 

Meeting Armando. 

Unlocking the islands isn't so simple. You have to build a machine that requires certain resources to unlock them. This is beneficial to you as each island has a variety of resources. You also can build robots to help you gather resources. This is an interesting way of integrating automation into your factories and building. You can designate a robot to collect a specific source and have them add it to storage areas. Other robots you can assign to constantly keep the factories running. Each robot has their own job and it definitely helps to make things a bit easier with gathering and building. 

Just keep building with the help of robots. 

The game itself is a bit of grinding, but I didn't really mind because there was always something to do and before I knew it my character had leveled up. With each level up you unlock skill points that you can use to improve abilities, upgrade the machines to work faster, or improve your robots. Some require multiple skill points so at times I found myself waiting until I had enough points to upgrade specific things.

Upgrading skills. 

You can also unlock more things in the research menu if you have the resources to unlock it. There's a ton of things to unlock ranging from better armor to solar panels to add more energy to your factories to having a farm for growing crops. This is where the automation with the robots really shines because it gives you a chance to explore and come back to all the resources you need. It's convenient and helps to get towards end game things a lot quicker. 

All the research things! 

There is also a museum where you can add the various items you find on each island to complete the collection. This is on the encampment island where you can get upgrades for your armor, new outfits, or upgrade your weapons. The museum is great and it also gives you a hint about what resources you might find on the other islands. There are also monster bosses you have to fight and if you're not prepared they can really hurt you. I died pretty badly to one that caught me by surprise, but once I had upgraded some things I was able to come back and take it out pretty quickly. Without giving too much away, you also meet some aliens and they help you on your journey. It adds a really cool twist to things that help move the story along. 

Checking out the museum. 

Nova Lands is a blast to play. I enjoyed puttering around in this bright colorful world with a relaxing music soundtrack. It's easy to lose track of time as you're just building, exploring, and having a good time seeing what each island holds. My only issue is the aiming system with the rifle and the extractor. Sometimes, I would be targeting one thing and then accidentally hit a wild animal and then I would have to run and avoid the other animals coming after me. It's a small thing, but it is definitely something that should be improved so that doesn't happen. Other than that, the game is a good time and having fun building with robots is great. I also love that the game itself leaves things open ended for more updates and additions which I am looking forward to. If you want a fun builder time sink, definitely check out Nova Lands. It's very much worth your time. 

Getting some upgrades. 

*Nova Lands is available on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC

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