OK, I'll play this open world settlement builder that's got sky whales, ridable mice, and Link's glider

There's a lot going on in the announcement trailer for Towers of Aghasba. Like, a lot. A tribe has returned to their homeland to find it a wasteland, which is a huge bummer, but for a ruined world it sure looks like an interesting one.

There are so many different things happening in the trailer it's hard to put Towers of Aghasba into a single category. There's open world exploration, including using a glider to soar through the sky to swimming deep underwater to riding what looks like a giant mouse. There's settlement building. Combat. Farming. Crafting. And there's even co-op play, based on the description from the official site:

"Towers of Aghasba is an open world fantasy experience where players must balance between constructing bustling villages for their growing tribe and nurturing beautiful ecosystems of otherworldly plant life," the site reads. "Visit your friends’ unique islands to get ideas for how to develop your own. Or invite everyone to your island to explore, harvest, or just hang out together!"

The world definitely looks unique. There are giant walking hands that aren't quite as terrifying as Elden Ring's, but they're still pretty creepy... and they can talk. There are sky whales you can glide to and land on, and then collect some sort of organisms from their backs, perhaps to use in crafting or faming. There's a massive talking turtle, too, and all sorts of bizarre plants and animals. Seems like a fun place to explore.

And the settlement building looks neat, even though not much of it is shown. We see the ruins of a castle, and then a new settlement being built on its remains. It's not just to make the place look nice, but to provide a home for your people: "Plan sprawling villages, customize your buildings and watch your settlements come to life as they’re inhabited by members of the Shimu tribe."

Towers of Aghasba looks really cool, and it's coming to Steam sometime in 2024. The Steam page isn't active as of this moment, but in the meantime you can visit the official site.

Christopher Livingston
Senior Editor

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.