Airborne Empire Demo Review: A Sky-High Strategy Adventure

Well, good morning! I hope you’re doing well.

In a recent livestream, I intended to play through three or four demos for games mentioned in Steam’s Summer Showcase. I had an idea of the ones I was going to play and a bit of a plan.

However, that all went out the window when I started playing the first demo. It was a mixture of strategy and city building, with a bit of RPG thrown in for good measure. It had a fun art style, quirky characters, and interesting mechanics.

By the time the stream was over, I was sold on the game and wondering exactly when in Q3 2024 the game would be released into Early Access.

That game is Airborne Empire.

The sequel to Airborne Kingdom, by The Wandering Band LLC, Airborne Empire expands on the original concept with the inclusion of combat, raising the stakes for you and your tiny floating city.

I began with a core piece—the town center—floating above the land, accompanied by the narrator’s musings on reviving the airborne kingdoms of old. During the 2-ish hours I played, I gathered materials, built houses for my residents, assisted ground towns with repairs, and set up defenses against surprise pirate attacks.

I initially struggled, finding the tutorial somewhat lacking. It took some tinkering and rereading to figure things out. While players of the original game might not face this issue, new players like myself could find it frustrating. So in that aspect, it would be nice to see the tutorial expanded upon.

Once I grasped the mechanics, I was hooked on creating my unique floating city. I built houses for my little residents. I learned to beware of tilt, lest my city become unstable and make the residents unhappy enough to leave. I figured out how to gather materials, found food and water, and how to move my city.

The first town I came across was friendly towards me, a bit in awe of the little flying city and desperate for help. They’d recently been attacked by pirates and needed materials to repair. So, off I went to gather what they needed, grateful that these materials were close by and easy to gather and bring back. After all, we were small and didn’t have a lot of weight we could carry.

By the end of the demo, I found myself amazed that over two hours had passed. It hadn’t felt that way, and I was sad to end my stream. I wanted to continue, learn more about this avian-type society and their obsession with the flying cities. I wanted to find out who these pirates were and why they kept attacking.

I wanted to build more city!

On the Steam page, the description of the game reads:

“Build your sky city while exploring a vast landscape in this Open World RPG City Builder. Combining the methodical construction and management of a city builder; the unique lift, balance, and propulsion needed for a flying city; and the compelling characters, dangers, and adventures of an RPG!” — Description of Airborne Empire from the Steam page.

My guess is the game will come out at around $30, as Airborne Kingdom is on Steam for $24.99. Though, if you head over to Steam before June 17th, 2024, it’s on sale for $9.99.

From what I can tell, the biggest differences between the two games are the graphics and the combat. The first game is pretty, though I prefer the looks of the sequel, and there isn’t any combat in the first one. The second game, with its combat, adds an extra layer of challenge and the need to strategize not only your inhabitants’ happiness but their safety too.

A little extra challenge sounds fantastic!

After playing the demo, I would definitely recommend this game to people who enjoy a little story, strategic gameplay without micromanagement, and the challenge of defending your hard-earned empire from enemies.

Check it out on Steam while the demo is live and look forward to seeing it on my channel when I can pick up a copy after release.

Happy flying!

Until next time, bye for now!