Building a city from the ground up is no small feat — and in video games, it’s a task that usually requires a giant screen and a few readers to see all that tiny text. But with Foreigners 2 — the city builder/life simulation developed by Pomelo Games, available exclusively on Apple Arcade — I can build a thriving city while commuting to work on the subway or waiting for my laundry at the laundromat.
A sequel to the popular PC game, Foreigners 2 retains the aesthetics and atmosphere of the original: the muted color palette, the low-poly characters, the thematic focus on nature, the pleasant acoustic guitar music. That means some players will probably be disappointed that they can’t play Foreigners 2 on their PC, but this game successfully translates the typically large-screen city builder and all its intricate statistics to mobile – and in portrait mode, no less.
Foreigners 2 is also available in landscape mode for Mac and portrait mode for iPad , but regardless of which Apple device you use, you’ll need an Apple Arcade subscription. As a frequent mobile gamer (and someone with small hands), I appreciate not having to awkwardly hold my iPhone in landscape mode or sit at my desk to play a game like this. Additionally, other mobile city builders I’ve played are riddled with other mobile game ads and unaffordable in-app purchases.
Regardless of my personal fascination with the existence of a large game that I can play while on the go, Foreigners 2 is simply fun. Like the original, the campaigns (called stories in the game) are where this game really sets itself apart from other games like it. First, you go through Pablo’s Quest, where veteran outlander Pablo teaches a group of new settlers (and the player) how to survive in the Outlands. The second story, Miranda’s Chance, focuses on an outlander with perhaps too much ambition trying to survive himself through a harsh winter.
Each successive story and its three parts become increasingly difficult, allowing you to learn new gameplay mechanics in each part of the campaign, such as how to use a campfire or how to maintain a sense of community among your settlers. Foreigners 2 is not punishing, but it is challenging at times. Achieving the final goals in each level becomes more difficult as you progress.
The stats interface is simplistic, relying on bold icons and numbers to make it easier to read on a small screen while still containing everything you need to see: how many resources you have, how happy the foreigners are, and how far you are toward that level’s goals. The eye icon lets you toggle a mode that shows how many settlers you have assigned to each building, which is handy to be able to see at a glance. Placing buildings is easy, with a touchscreen-friendly grid mode (though it’s a little fiddly when placing roads), and the locked camera angle lets you zoom in and out without getting lost in space.
Pomelo Games has also released three new challenges, which are mini-sandboxes with specific conditions and goals, every two weeks since the game launched on July 3. All archived challenges are available to play indefinitely.
These purposefully designed, story-focused campaigns and challenges are the best parts of the game, and perhaps the only parts worth playing. The sandbox mode – available from the jump a few updates ago – simply isn’t good enough. For one thing, the maps are criminally small, with even less room to place structures, and they don’t expand as you play. There’s no terraforming, which is fine, but it means that if there’s a valley on your map, you’ll never be able to put your farm there. In fact, in my sandbox playthrough, there was only one usable area for a farm, which is one of the largest structures you can place.
The sandbox also suffers from a lack of variability. The seasons don’t change (although there is some weather variation) and there’s no way to upgrade buildings – instead you recycle them and add better ones, but there aren’t many to choose from.
It’s clear why Pomelo Games decided to create a sandbox mode for this game; it’s something players expect from city builders, and it’s a great way for players to be creative in ways the developers hadn’t thought of. But I found myself wishing Foreigners 2 had committed to a smaller, more story-driven game. I also wish the game forced me to unlock buildings and features through the campaign; the sandbox mode has everything unlocked, which takes away the fun of working your way to the next level.
Foreigners 2 It’s probably not enough to justify the $6.99 a month Apple Arcade subscription, but if you already have one, it’s a must-play title. Plus, if you initially balked at the idea of playing Foreigners 2 Since it’s a mobile version, I’d like to ask you to give it another chance, if only to play those silly, heartwarming stories in the campaign mode.
Foreigners 2 was released on July 3 on iOS and Mac. The game was reviewed on an iPhone 15 using a download code provided by Apple. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You may additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.