Turmoil vs Ylands
Turmoil
Turmoil , developed by Gamious, is a tycoon-like simulation game where you play as one of four oil miners, all of which are hoping to get rich on what is supposedly "black gold". This game offers a charming yet humorous take on the 19th century oil rush in North American in addition to letting players participate in this momentous period of time. Bid against other entrepreneurs for land that potentially contain enough oil for you to strike it rich, dowse for oil deposits and build oil rigs to mine them. There are also two companies you can sell all the oil to, and depending on the prices they offer, it's best to choose the most profitable time to sell.Of course, as you drill for and sell oil, the money you spend in town will help it develop and grow. In return, you can grab a ton of beneficial upgrades for a price, which, in turn, will help you earn even more money. Eventually, you can even buy town stocks and try your luck at becoming the mayor!
In addition to being incredibly addictive to play, Turmoil is a game that perfectly embodies the crazed mentality of the oil rush back then (and perhaps even now). Granted at not all game mechanics are realistic - it is a game after all, but if you love tycoon-like simulation games, you'll definitely enjoy playing this one.
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!