Whiskerwood is a mouse-led city-builder now in Steam Early Access

Kotaku reports Whiskerwood is out now on Steam via early access; the top-down real-time city builder puts you in charge of Whiskers — lowly mouse peasants and workers — as they settle new lands in the 1700s under the rule of the Claws, a group of royal cats.

The game blends elements of Timberborn, Factorio, and Sid Meier’s Colonization. Players build docks and warehouses, harvest fish, berries, logs and rock, and must earn enough resources to pay recurring taxes claimed by a royal fleet. Early narrative beats show the Claws providing only basic supplies while leaving mice to build and survive largely on their own, which increases the pressure to expand production and infrastructure.

The reviewer found Whiskerwood’s interface and city-building mechanics especially strong — tasks rarely take more than two clicks, alerts point directly to problems, and menus clearly show where mice are going and what’s missing. A proposed system to let a colony become self-sufficient or even revolt is described as the least developed element and currently sits mostly in the background; after about five hours of play the reviewer said they’re eager to see those features grow, and noted enthusiastic reactions from city-builder voices like Luke Plunkett at Aftermath.

Key Topics

Culture, Whiskerwood, Minakata Dynamics, Steam Early Access, Timberborn, Factorio