Mountain city builder Laysara: Summit Kingdom surprise launches on Steam

Laysara: Summit Kingdom, the promising mountain-themed city builder from developer Quite OK Games and publisher Future Friends Games, has surprise launched on Steam, where it's expected to remain in early access for between six and 12 months.

Laysara — which sets itself apart from other city builders with its focus on mountainous verticality and theme-appropriate hazards, including avalanches — has been popping up here and there for a while now (it landed on Eurogamer's radar in June 2022), and was initially expected to launch in 2023. Late last year, though, Quite OK made the decision to push its release into «early 2024», saying it wanted «some extra time to deliver a polished and complete experience».

And here we finally are! As announced during today's indie-focused Triple-i showcase, Laysara: Summit Kingdom arrives on Steam today, with its initial early access release including the ability to build multiple towns on different mountains, as well as «all the most important game mechanics». These include a «complex transportation system, avalanches and weather breakdowns, and raising the Summit Temples.»

Laysara: Summit Kingdom — Early Access Launch Trailer Laysara: Summit Kingdom early acces launch trailer.Watch on YouTube

«We want Laysara to be a great game and during alpha playtests we learned that getting feedback from players is absolutely essential for achieving that,» Quite OK explains of its decision to opt for an early access release. «Internal testing can only get you so far, only by interacting with real players can we fully understand what areas of our game need improvement.»

Laysara: Summit Kingdom is expected to remain in early access for between six and 12 months, with the full version 1.0 release set to include a campaign mode, more maps, improvements and quality of life changes, plus «a few additional end-game features».

Version 1.0 will likely also bring a 'slight' price increase, but, for now, Laysara: Summit Kingdom costs £16.75, with a 20