City in the Fog

Editorial Meh

City in the Fog is a sandbox exploration game built on a corruption-tracking system, but the execution frustrates its audience. The central mechanic—accumulating and spending corruption points to unlock content—is undermined by a poorly explained reset system: players report that sleeping in certain locations causes corruption to drop dramatically (sometimes from 12 to 3), making progression feel arbitrary and punishing. Combined with opaque terminology ("Units" instead of "money"), unclear quest logic, and a UI that makes navigation and objective-tracking difficult, the game feels unfinished despite active development. The AI-generated art is a polarizing choice. Those who engage with the sandbox concept and tolerate the friction report finding something worthwhile; others abandon it between updates, waiting for clearer design and better polish. The build is playable but rough: it launches, but saves don't carry between versions, quest logic can softlock, and core systems lack basic explanation. The developer is responsive to feedback, but the game needs fundamental UX work—proper tutorials, consistent terminology, and a corruption system that actually respects player investment—before it feels ready.