All who wonder aren’t always lost, The Wondering Village Review. | The Gamerheads Podcast

Platform reviewed: Steam

Also on: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X & Series S

Price: $29.99

The world has been covered in a mysterious plant spreading poisonous gases, a group of survivors looking for safety discover a giant wandering creature called a “Onbu” who just happens to have space on his back for these lucky survivors.

Right away, I know I want to like this game. The idea, combined with the art style of The Wandering Village, feels like the studio, Stray Fawn, was inspired by Studio Ghibli, the creators behind the magical animated films such as Castle in the Sky or Princess Mononoke. 

Wander Village is a city builder that puts me in as the role of the village leader. It's my job to lead these once nomads into creating a successful village that won’t just survive but be a beacon of hope for other survivors trying to make it in this poisonous wasteland. The game follows the basic formula of focusing on establishing your few starting villagers, having them craft their tents, and getting the usual gatherer jobs established from lumber to berries. The game does a wonderful job of letting me control the growth of my village; no one gets to join unless I feel like we have the resources to handle them. 

Being on the back of a giant wandering creature is where this game stands out among other city builders. While the game gave me some ways eventually to suggest what my onbu do, they still do their own thing for the most part, even if that means annoyingly going to sleep on an island covered in a poisonous fog, while my villagers scramble to stay healthy and sick free. See Wandering Village is as much a city builder as it is a pet simulator. At least that’s how I decided to play. In the game’s research tree, I was presented with two paths. One a more symbiosis type, the one I picked, that allowed me to assign a doctor for my onbu and a little kitchen to make sure they’re fed. This, in return, increased their trust in me, letting me suggest when they can sleep or what way to go at the many forks. The other path at least presented itself to be a much more parasitic role, creating a “discipline” machine to punish the onbu into listening to me, or exploit my onbu for resources but in return they lose trust in me. 

Wandering Village has been in early access for a couple of years now, and just released the full version on July 17th, 2025. With it came the game's story mode, much like the rest of the game, there is no pressure to even start the story until I felt like my village was past the point of survival and ready to assist those around me. My onbu will occasionally come across an eccentric personality, be it an old sailor looking for signs of his crew or someone worried about their pet bird lost in a storm. The inclusion of these characters makes the world feel much bigger. 

Final Grade: A

The Wandering Village is the perfect game to add to your city sim collection, with its random biomes and sizable research tree, it offers its own twist to the genre. The added story was well told and never felt forced on my villagers or me. If you like city builders, then this is a must play.