Preserve Review (Switch)

 

One of the most surprising genres to have sprung up on the Switch is the digital board game. To begin with, we simply had digital versions of games such as Talisman, but now we have started to get games specifically designed from the ground up for consoles. Preserve kind of merges the idea of boardgames and deck building to create a surprisingly deep diversion.

Coming from nowhere, we happened upon a trailer for the game and thinking it looked interesting decided to take a closer look. And we are really glad we did as this is a really lovely game with a sizable amount of content. The basic idea is that you need to build a habitat out of hexagonal shapes. You start with one landmass then as you place upgrades and animals it hits score barriers that then release more cards and more land masses that you can place as you head towards the overall goal of hitting a certain score to complete the level

Scoring works by putting different habitats down and trying to get them to twelve tiles. This then means they can contain three animals. Three of a kind gets you a decent bonus, but three different animals are far better. Of course, you don’t get all the animals you need released to you straight away so if you are going for the really big points you’ll need to be clever and keep things unlocking by scoring points in a different way. There is also a host of special cards and other elements to keep things interesting, but the basic game remains the game.

There are four different biomes to play around in. Continental is the starting point with the basic rule set with the Savanna biome working around rivers and the marine biome working around the ability to raise and lower the sea level. Wisely, a Dinosaur biome has also been included. All four are different enough to need to be played in different ways and add genuine variety.

There ‘s also a puzzle mode for each of the biomes which sets you up with specific land masses and cards. Here you need to try and create placements to hit a certain score and there is normally only a single solution. These start out simple but will soon require a real mastery of the game to understand as you will need to see ahead with near prescience to work out where to place each individual upgrade.

Initially, the controls seemed a bit tricky but after a while the interface became much more natural. We still struggled at times with the marine biome as the changes in elevation on the land can make it tricky to see what is where at times. But there are a host of zooms and swivels you can do to give yourself a decent view.

Overall, Preserve proves to be a charming game that acts as both a relaxing way to pass the time and something deep enough to spend hours ringing the last high score out of. It really draws you in and time will be flashing by before you know it. It comes highly recommended for anyone interested in deck games or those looking for something a little bit different.

Overall 8/10