‘Overthrown’ Is the Casual Cozy Co-Op City Builder I’ve Always Dreamed of (Hands-On Impressions)

Sometimes, when you look at a game, it just speaks to you. Overthrown was that game for me, something that stood out against the never-ending crowd of cozy building games. Beneath the surface, I found a game with plenty of potential and room to grow. But, it’s one that easily snatched my heart and left me eager for more.

Swing Your Partner Round and Round in ‘overthrown’

My wife and I are big fans of games that let you be little freaks. And that’s what Overthrown is all about. Essentially playing a Superhero game under the guise of a cozy life simulator, both my wife and I were able to sprint around the map and jump over buildings in a single bound. Need to cut down some trees? Take the whole lumber mill and start cutting down anything in your path.

For a title in Early Access, the online co-op features of Overthrown are great. Since our setups are in the same room, we could easily communicate about what we should be doing next. Helping my wife figure out some of the more complicated matters Overthrown threw our way was simple enough. While she was out ramming into trees, I was taking care of bandits from a million miles away.

On the surface, Overthrown is a beautiful game with a unique style. It ran fantastically regardless of the hardware we were using, too. While my PC had no issues running Overthrown on maximum settings, her less powerful PC still chugged along without a care in the world. Even when she was running through the woods, cackling like a madwoman with a lumber mill in hand, there were no crashes or issues that plagued our session.

Some players on the Steam Reviews section mentioned that the game struggled when it came to having more NPCs in the town, but I did not personally experience this issue. It is something to keep in mind, especially if you’re a multiplayer-focused player. But for the time we played and continuously built our new little city, our session was relatively clean and crisp.

You Spin My Head Right Round, Right Round

Since Overthrown is still in Early Access, there are some features I would love to see implemented in the future. The biggest thing right now is the lack of things to do. Without any sort of basic tutorial to guide you in the right direction, it’s a lot of running around and just doing… things. There’s not much substance here right now, but the development team is working on implementing more features in the future.

It would also be great to have some sort of notification on our compass for where the Bandits may be. While I quickly discovered I could easily spot them on the map by zooming in on locations that looked a little suspicious, I can guarantee someone who isn’t as well-versed may run into some issues.

The UI can also be slightly cumbersome to navigate, especially if you’re playing on a controller. It feels more like a placeholder until the finished UI is available to be brought over into the game. But I do not doubt that after a few additional updates, it will be in a much better place.

Even with these complaints, it was hard for me and my wife to put down Overthrown. I think that stands as a testament to just how goofy and silly this little cozy simulator is. As more content is added throughout its Early Access phase, I feel like there isn’t going to be any other game we’ll want to play together.

‘Overthrown’ Has the Potential to Be Something Great

Overthrown has a lot of potential, even in its current state. The movement feels phenomenal, and it’s a beautiful game to look at. Right now, it does feel like Overthrown is more of a tech demo than a full release, but its Early Access period is bound to improve upon the already solid ground it’s sprinting across at the speed of light.

There are no other cozy games available that are like Overthrown. So, if you’ve grown tired of needing to rest and relax during the night time and always want the option to sprint around the map like Sonic hopped up on far too many energy drinks, this is exactly where you should be looking.

Right now, Overthrown is on the cusp of greatness. It just needs a bit more time in the oven to fully cook and get things in their respective spots. If you have Xbox Game Pass and want to try it out, it’s available on Xbox Game Preview.

Verdict: Recommended

---

Overthrown is available now in Early Access on Steam and Xbox Series X|S. It will also be available on PlayStation 5 at an undisclosed date in the future. A code was provided for the sake of impressions. Played on PC.