SteamWorld Buildis a construction and management simulation game where steam-driven robots build their own city in a post-apocalyptic steampunk world. There aren’t any time restrictions to the game and players can expand their city at their own pace.
Choosing the perfect map is the first step in any city-builder game, and the same goes for SteamWorld Build. The player’s map choice will determine the space available for them tobuild their dream cityand capitalize on its resources. Each of the destinations inSteamWorld Buildhas a different theme, centered around the ‘Wild West’. This guide ranks all the available maps inSteamWorld Buildto help players decide which map they want to start out with.
All Maps in SteamWorld Build
There are five different maps players can choose from inSteamWorld Build; with some being very beginner-friendly, and others offering a more challenging experience.
Highroller Dunes
Highroller Dunes features the perfect blend of nightlife with the serene emptiness of the Wild West. The ghostly dusk feel of this map makes it intriguing. However, the area comes with its own challenges.
The ruined landscape is dotted with several decorative structures, like old neon signs that cannot be destroyed. These obstacles make it trickier for players to build on this map, as they’ll have to plan strategically and build paths around them. As a result, players end up losing out on valuable space for their city. Besides this, the map features an overall dark theme, which makes it quite difficult to see certain details, like Tumbleweeds. That said, Highroller Dunes is still a fun map for players who want a more challenging SteamWorld Build experience.
Fossil Park
SteamWorld Build’s Fossil Park is heavily influenced by the fan-favoriteJurassic Parkfilm series. The map brings the prehistoric fossil theme to life, featuring restrictive electric fences, a non-active volcano, and hidden fossils. The starting area for thismap is relatively largeand players can unlock two additional areas as they progress further in the game.
The Fossil Park landscape is littered with all kinds of unremovable decorations, such as old gates and broken fences that stretch across several areas of the map. Players will have to strategically design and build around these obstacles. The Fossil Park also lacks ample forest patches that are easily found on other maps, so players will need to carefullymanage their wood and other resourceswhile manufacturing.
Overall, the Fossil Park map is committed to its prehistoric vibes and makes players really feel like they’re building a new city in the remnants of a dinosaur park. It’s also brightly lit, so players can easily navigate through the tricky obstacles on the map.
Tumbleton
The Tumbleton map is another nighttime map that has an old-timey Hollywood feel to it. With its own Hollywood-inspired sign in the distance, Tumbleton is one of the most interesting locales to build a city inSteamWorld Build. The ruins of old drive-in movie theaters and scattered neon signs and cars add a nice touch to the overall vibe but also create obstacles to buildings. These decorations can not be removed and players will have tostrategically build around them.
Tumbleton features a smaller starting area and plenty of obstacles that make it a challenging map for new players. Like with Highroller Dunes, the nighttime darkness can make it tricky to view certain details in Tumbleton.
Grand Gully
Grand Gully seems to have been inspired by the breathtaking Grand Canyon. This picturesque map has an abandoned theme park feel to it. The smaller starting area is quite similar to Tumbleton, but the Grand Gully maps expand rapidly once players repair the Abandoned Mineshaft.
This world features plenty of obstacles, usually in the form of large rock formations that divide the map. Besides this, the wide-open terrain is sufficient for players to design a compact city with strategic pathways. Due to the level of planning needed, the Grand Gully map is probably a bit difficult for beginners, but it is still enjoyable.
Giddy-Up Gorge
Giddyup Gorge is the most beginner-friendly map inSteamWorld Build. It is also the one most connected to the canon as multiple cutscenes feature this map. The initial build area in Giddyup Gorge is relatively flat – comprising an open and widespread region covered by desert sand.
As players expand their city, they’ll run into hills and a few rock formations that give the map some variety. Giddyup Gorge has minimal obstructions and features one of the highest forest counts in the game, meaning players won’t run out of wood anytime soon. While there’s not much to look forward to in Giddyup Gorge, it is still recommended for new players to start here before moving onto more complicated maps.
