Dawnfolk is a retro city builder coming soon to iOS and Android

• Dawnfolk sees a new take on retro city-building strategy come to mobile
• It'll be published by Short Circuit studios and was developed by solo dev Darenn Keller
• Already a big hit on PC, it offers a grab-bag of tried-and-true mechanics

There's always a new strategy release on the horizon for mobile. It's not surprising, given how well our humble platform works with the genre. But one that recently caught our eye for how familiar, but also different, it feels. And that's the retro, pixellated city builder Dawnfolk!

The features for Dawnfolk read like a list of 'what's what' that are similar to those seen in other games. You have a grid-based building system that seemingly synergises with neighbouring tiles and their resources, a gradual expansion based on bringing light to surrounding areas and, of course, that chunky retro pixel look.

But at least one of those inspirations has taken notice, as Short Circuit Studios is set to publish Dawnfolk for iOS and Android. And while it bears many similarities to existing releases there are just as many distinct features that make Dawnfolk stand out from its predecessors, even on mobile.

Light it up

For one, there's a greater focus on short, sweet sessions and narrative decision-making. You're not competing with different factions like in Townfolk, or building a centralised hub as in Dawnmaker. Instead, you're focusing on expanding and revealing more of the map, creating a bona fide haven where each new discovery fuels your growing refuge.

I admit, on seeing Dawnfolk I was initially sceptical. But there's nothing wrong with having a game be a grab-bag of similar ideas. After all one of today's big releases, Tomb Busters, does a similar thing with the inspiration from Lethal Company. So when Dawnfolk drops in early August it'll be well worth seeing whether it delivers that similar sort of new spin on a given formula.

In the meantime if you want to hone your skills ahead of the launch of Dawnfolk why not check out our list of the best strategy games on Android?