ARCWATT: Power Empire
Arcwatt is a city-builder about the wires behind the lights. Place producers, route power to where it's needed, and keep a growing city alive through storms, heat waves, and the simple problem that the sun isn't always up.
Every building runs on the grid you build. Every grid is a puzzle.
Features
- Energy as the core mechanic. Producers have a coverage radius; consumers need to be inside one. Solar panels stop at night. Wind drops in the morning. Thermal generators are steady but dirty.
- A living day/night cycle. Demand shifts hour by hour: residential blocks spike in the evening, factories at midday, shops at sunset. You're not just building - you're scheduling.
- Building synergies. Residential next to commercial? Bonus income. Factory next to housing? Penalty. Hold Alt to see every link.
- Random events. Heat waves, storms, subsidies, shady fuel contracts. Some you ride out - some you decide.
- Research tree with branching upgrades: renewables, automation, grid overload protection, emergency mode for destroyed buildings.
- Surge protection. Cover one building with two producers and it fries. Until you research the fix. Then it just costs you income.
- Win condition: unlock the Megastructure (or one of two other endgame techs) and you win. Run out of credits with no income left and you lose.
How to play
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| WASD / Arrows / screen edge | Pan camera |
| Q / E | Rotate camera |
| Right-mouse drag | Free look |
| Mouse wheel | Zoom |
| B | Open build menu |
| R | Open research (or rotate building while placing) |
| Alt (hold) | Show power grid + synergies overlay |
| Esc | Pause |
The basic loop
- Place a producer (Solar or Generator to start).
- Place a consumer (Residential or Factory) inside its coverage ring.
- Income ticks every few seconds. Spend it on more buildings or research.
- Watch the clock - solar dies at night, so plan a thermal backup.
- Don't double-cover buildings (surge breaks them) until you research it.
- Repair Stations heal nearby buildings — keep one near your old grid.
Tips
- Hold Alt constantly while learning. The overlay tells you who's powered, who's offline, who's about to fry from surge.
- Click any building for a status tooltip with a hint on what's wrong.
- Mixed power (solar + thermal) survives nights better than pure renewables.
- Events can be brutal early - keep a credit buffer.
Status
Feedback during this demo period directly shapes the full release — leave a comment, break the economy, tell me what's confusing.
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