Patron Critic Reviews

Patron is effectively a more difficult version of Banished. But there are enough subtle differences to differentiate them and the game's overall polish is fantastic. Some outlying issues need addressing but the developers have shown themselves to be passionate and willing to take feedback. It's already a very good city builder, but given time I think that Patron could become a staple of just about anybody's Steam library. For just $20, this is a steal.

Patron is an ambitious game, working hard to stand out in a genre that is saturated with countless clones of each other. The social system is intricate, although I think it still has some work to be done to make it feel as massive as Overseer Games would like it to be. Still, there is a lot to like about Patron, and it is a perfectly enjoyable city builder.

Patron convinces with rock-solid core gameplay in terms of city-building and economy. However, everything beyond that could be improved.

Despite any aforementioned hiccups, Patron is an addicting medieval city-builder that can hold its head up high amongst the others in this well-established genre. With absolutely gorgeous visuals and a soothing, ambient soundtrack to match, Patron looks and sounds good — and for players who loved similar titles like Banished, it’ll feel good as well. If this is one of your first medieval city-builders, you may need an attempt or two before you really understand the ins and outs of running such a settlement, but diehard fans of the genre are bound to discover that Patron is their pewter goblet of mead.

In a genre that’s grown crowded in recent years, Patron finds a way to stand out with deep, intricate social systems that build cleverly on city builder foundations. The limited information tools and lack of any sort of scenario mode make it feel a little rudimentary, but the quirks of the social system and the way it interacts with everything else make this worth a look.

A lovely survival city builder heavily inspired by Banished, as well as other major games in the genre such as Foundation or Anno series. While it succeeded in connecting all the elements skillfully, it also failed to deliver its own ideas and narratives, resulting in occasional boredom and repetitive gameplay after a while.