Timberborn Review

I seem to find myself drifting in an endless stream of requests for reviews of city builder games lately. The genre has seemingly become so saturated that it’s becoming hard to find many of them unique and enjoyable. Before We Leave is one of the few that still feels like its own thing. Timberborn is another.

Timberborn has definitely come up with a unique concept, moving away from the traditional human-based city builder and, instead, putting you in charge of the lives of a city of beavers.

Much like many modern city builders, Timberborn is set in a post-apocalyptic world, but this time, instead of humans trying to rebuild, intelligent beavers have picked up where humans left off. Mechanistry shipped it into Early Access on September 15, 2021, and the full 1.0 release landed on March 12, 2026.

Our VerdictGame Review

Timberborn

Getting fed up with building cities full of humans? Timberborn hands the ruins to beavers, then makes you dam the river before the next dry season.

Reviewed on

PC

Time played

16 Hours

Version / build

1.1

• Design8
• Audio8.5
• Gameplay8
• Replayability7.5

The Good

• Beavers instead of another human city. It still feels like its own game
• Dams and river control are the fun, not a side system
• Folktails and Iron Teeth actually play differently
• 1.0 finally has a late game: bots, transport, automation, badtides

The Bad (& Ugly)

• Iron Teeth stay locked until a Folktails run hits Well-Being 15
• The tutorial still dumps the fiddly stuff, like power over paths, on you

8/ 10

Unboxed Reviews Score

Reviewed byKegan Mooney

Timberborn’s Civilizations

One thing that does make Timberborn much more interesting is the inclusion of a second civilization, which is very different from the starting civilization.

There are two civilizations to choose from:

• Folktails
• Iron Teeth

The Folktails are focused on nature and farming, and follow the traditional beaver ways, whereas the Iron Teeth have abandoned their wooden traditions in favor of iron and technology. Folktails breed in lodges if you’ve left them housing and a decent life. Iron Teeth use Breeding Pods, and they want metal. If you need the population steps, we’ve already written up how to get more beavers.

You must play as the Folktails until you hit an average Well-Being of 15. Once you have that, the Iron Teeth unlock. Older builds gated them at comfort 8. That’s not the number anymore.

Thankfully, it isn’t too difficult and can be done fairly quickly if you keep the colony fed, watered, and not working every hour of the day.

Timberborn Gameplay

Timberborn’s main challenge is resource management, with food and water being the primary focus at the start of the game.

One thing that sets the game apart from others is the use of dams and other structures to control the flow of rivers in the game.

As there are frequent droughts, you have to be smart about how you keep your beavers alive during harsh weather, be that by stockpiling, or building well-placed dams to control the river’s flow. Doing it wrong could leave you without water during a drought, or even flood your settlement when there’s not a drought.

As the rivers dry up, so too do any of your crops as well as your supply of water, making droughts one of the game’s most brutal challenges.

1.0 didn’t stop there. Badtides dump contaminated water into the map through drains. If that reaches your drinking supply, you’ve got a second problem on top of the dry season. Easy settings still let you learn the dams without getting wiped. Custom drought length, and maps built around badwater do not turn into a breeze the moment you’ve stored a few tanks.

Power is the other quiet tax. Shafts don’t like paths, so you end up building over them. We’ve got a short walkthrough for power over paths if the tutorial shrugs at you.

The old “nothing to do at the end” complaint doesn’t hold on 1.0. Folktails get ziplines, Iron Teeth get tubeways, both sides get bots, and there’s an automation layer of sensors, relays, and timers. Map objects like Unstable Cores, aquifers, and Badtide Drains give late colonies a reason to keep engineering instead of just painting another district.

Timberborn Review Summary

If you are looking for a relaxed city-building game, Timberborn is definitely worth playing. If you want a challenge, you don’t have to wait on updates anymore. Turn the droughts up, play an Iron Teeth colony, or take a map that feeds you badwater. The full game is here.