Nintendo Switch Critic Reviews

New Frontier Days offers a very different experience from anything else in the early Switch lineup, and I think it’s a valuable one for people who enjoy this type of game. While the game can be overwhelming at times, it’s very rewarding to see your little settlement grow and thrive. Unlike some similar games, it always feels like you’re playing an integral role in what’s going on, but that also means you always have to give it your full attention.

New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers is a real surprise in the Switch's launch lineup: a focused town-building sim with an addictive gameplay loop that looks decent, sounds great and plays well. A lack of variety and an unambitious presentation are notable drawbacks, and will keep it from being a long-term investment for many, but what's here is enjoyable enough, and certainly worth a shot for sim buffs looking for something simple and fun.

New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers provides enough fun to justify itself during the Switch's current drought, but that won't last very long.

New Frontier Days brings a new genre into the Nintendo Switch and this conversion is promising in some aspects. The game boasts a very long lifespan and the controls are very competent and compelling. Unfortunately the game also stops short at fully captivating the player, as some actions become repetitive too quickly and some aspects of the game, such as its audiovisual component, deserve a better treatment.

The first simulation title for the Switch, New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers is a mixed effort with a barnyard full of blusters. It’s a decently priced romp at $9.99, but its lack of customization and odd control scheme may turn off those who want a quality farming game.

New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers doesn't venture into uncharted lands from the construction and simulation game territory, yet it's a pastoral, simple and efficient introduction to the genre, although such lack of ambition shows limitations sooner rather than later, whether because of the repetitiveness or the absence of multiplayer.

New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers features a gameplay loop that's quite entertaining, and it's definitely one of those pleasurable, time-consuming style titles. I cannot suggest it if you’re not fond of the town-building simulation genre though, as it is not as nice to see as it is to play.

There are not enough building options, it lacks content in general and it is not very pretty.

The gameplay loops that New Frontier Days offers are addictive and it's easy to get dragged into watching the town build over a period of hours, but the $13 or so that the game asks upfront is about $11 more than I've ever been suckered into paying for one of these games when they're free-to-play on mobile (I got a little too hooked and enthusiastic on Sim City BuildIt once, so sue me).

Like many others of its ilk, New Frontier Days - Founding Pioneers is full of the types of mechanics that make for very addictive gameplay - the type that have that "just one more minute" gameplay. Despite how it makes the hours fly by, though, this is ultimately a boring grind with no real depth, no heart, and nothing special here. With the superb Stardew Valley on the horizon for Nintendo Switch, fans of these types of games should try holding out until then and give this one a pass. Heck, you would even be better off with Farmville to tide you over…