Nantucket vs Ylands
Nantucket
Nantucket is a strategic whaling game with an emphasis on ship and crew management that is based off on the famous classic literature, Moby Dick. In this game, you’ll get to dive right into the life of a captain of a whaling ship in the mid-nineteenth century. Aside from hunting whales, sharks, and other massive sea creatures, upgrading both your crew and your ship, as well as raking in tons of coins from selling your whaling goods, the game will let you set off on your personal quest to finally hunt down the infamous Moby Dick. Will you finally be able to avenge Captain Ahab and put that monstrous beast to rest?In short, Nantucket is a truly impressive strategy/management game that puts you behind the wheel of your very own whaling ship. The game seems to not only has a storyline that continues where the classic literature Moby Dick left off, and also an engaging gameplay with a unique, turn-based combat system. Granted that there are a few minor aspects the game can improve on, such as adding in more player portraits, Nantucket is one of those rare indie gems that will be making waves in the gaming community and industry.
Ylands
Ylands is a sandbox adventure game that has a gameplay that's a lot like a massively expanded version of Minecraft with a lot more resources for you to gather, items to craft, and amazing things to build. Instead of being "just a game", Ylands is more like a platform, much like Roblox is, where players are given the tools to create whatever worlds or games they like, be it a fun go-kart racing game that's inspired from Lega Racers or even a watery world where epic pirate-themed naval battles can take place. The worlds are completely interactive as well and every action you do will modify, no matter how slightly, the game environment of that segment of the world you happen to be in. In fact, if you change a terrain and populate it with an entirely different diversity of flora and fauna, you can basically change the climate system there.Unlike Minecraft though, Ylands has opted for a more polygonal appearance which gave it the extra leverage it needed to overcome the painful dismissal and degratory label of being simply a "Minecraft clone" - which admittedly, Ylands is most definitely not. The game has so much going for it and players truly have all the freedom within the game's pretty wide parameters to literally create anything they like. Of course, the game also supports sharing, so you can let other players in Yland enjoy that (for example) crazy maze-running game you've just made!
Ylands is most certainly impressive to say the least. However, due to its indie origins, not many players know about the game, let alone buy it on Steam. So, if you really like Minecraft-like sandbox games, you simply must give this game a try, and if you've had a great time there, be sure to recommend it to your friends or even buy it for them as their Christmas/ birthday gift!