Kaiserpunk

 
Kaiserpunk is an ambitious genre hybrid that asks: “What if you had to physically build the tank factory before you could invade Poland?” Released on March 21, 2025, by Overseer Games (creators of Patron), it blends the granular supply chains of a city builder with the global conquest map of a grand strategy game. Set in an alternate 20th century where World War I never truly ended, you don’t just order divisions around; you have to ensure the workers making their boots are fed, happy, and not dying of dysentery.
Production, Diplomacy, and Conquest: Core Gameplay

The Dual Layer Loop: The game is split into two distinct views. On the City View, you manage production chains like in Anno or Tropico. You build farms, refine oil into diesel, and manufacture weapons. On the World Map, you use those resources to expand your territory, unlocking new trade routes and sectors.
Logistics is King: You cannot just “train” units. To field a tank division, you need a functioning heavy industry that produces steel, engines, and fuel. If your city’s logistics fail—say, a traffic jam prevents coal from reaching the power plant—your factories stop, your frontline troops run out of ammo, and you lose the war.
Modular Building: Instead of placing generic factories, you can upgrade and specialize them. A basic barracks can be expanded with training grounds or armories to produce elite specialized infantry, but each upgrade increases the strain on your local economy.
Narrative Choices: Your decisions matter. The game features hundreds of regional stories and events. Do you brutally suppress a strike to keep the shell factory running, or negotiate better wages at the cost of production speed? Your choices shape your ideology and how other factions view you.
Air and Sea Combat: It’s not just ground war. You must build airfields and shipyards to project power. Bombers can strike enemy infrastructure, crippling their economy before your tanks even arrive, mirroring the strategy you must defend against in your own city.

How It Stacks Up
Kaiserpunk attempts to bridge two massive genres, often staggering under the weight of its own ambition.



Game
Key Difference




Hearts of Iron IV
HOI4 is a grand strategy war simulator where production is abstract (clicking “build military factory”). Kaiserpunk makes production physical and granular; you see the truck carrying the steel. If you want deep combat tactics, HOI4 wins. If you want deep logistics, Kaiserpunk wins.


Anno 1800
Both games rely on complex production chains. However, Anno is about trade and economic optimization for its own sake. Kaiserpunk gives that economy a violent purpose: world domination. Your surplus steel isn’t for selling; it’s for ammo.


Tropico 6
Both feature city-building with a political layer. Tropico is satirical and focused on internal stability. Kaiserpunk is grittier and focuses on external projection of power, though it shares the “dictator simulator” vibe of managing unhappy citizens.



Key Details

Developer: Overseer Games.
Publisher: Overseer Games / Elda Entertainment.
Platforms: PC (Steam).
Release Date: March 21, 2025.
Genre: Grand Strategy / City Builder.
Vibe: Dieselpunk meets Risk.

Who It’s For

Must-play for logistics nerds. If you ever played Hearts of Iron and wished you could zoom in to fix the traffic jam slowing down your supply trucks, this was made for you.
Perfect for “turtlers.” The game rewards building a perfect, self-sustaining fortress city before lashing out at the world.
Skip if you want fast-paced RTS combat. The combat is strategic and slow, determined more by your economic preparation than your APM (actions per minute). If you want StarCraft micro, you will be bored.

Why It Works (And When It Doesn’t)
It works because it gives context to the war effort. In other strategy games, losing a tank is a statistic. In Kaiserpunk, losing a tank hurts because you know exactly how much effort went into mining the iron, refining the steel, and assembling the chassis. However, reviews note that the combat AI can be easily exploited and the late-game performance struggles when managing a massive global empire, typical issues for an ambitious indie hybrid.