Steam Gaming: Clanfolk – Scottish Highlands Colony Builder

Posted on November 24, 2025 by Aywren

Clanfolk. It’s like Rimworld but based in the Scottish Highlands. At least, that’s what I tell people when I try to explain this game to them. Though, if you’ve never played Rimworld, that’s not much help, I know.

Every time I go to write a post about this game, I find it hard to do. Games like this are so intricate that it’s difficult to break them down in a meaningful way. All I can say is, I enjoyed Rimworld, and I really enjoy Clanfolk because Scottish/Irish settings always call to me.

Let’s see how to approach this.

You start by making a family clan. Each member in the family has a personality with pros and cons, skills and weaknesses. They can learn new skills as they go along, and their personality traits directly affect everything about how they work, live, and interact with others.

The game starts you out in spring and drops you into the world with nothing but the clothes on your back. Or in the case of Hewe here, merely his skivvies. Have no idea about that one. It’s your job to ensure your clan survives because death is very easy to come by in this game.

As you forage the land and find raw materials, you begin to unlock technology that you can build from those materials – the game calls these “Ideas.” Here, you fill out a technology tree where you build upon the simplest Ideas – merely gathering – to slowly figuring out how to build tools, storage, buildings and beyond.

It’s up to you to instruct your clan on how to use these tools and materials. Assign tasks to individuals based on their skills. Set up zones and stockpile areas for materials to be stored. Construct a home for them with all the basic needs such as bedding, warmth, and entertainment sources. Also find a way to put all of the many, many, many crafting stations in their house because crafting from resources is a huge part of this game.

The seasons change as time passes, and one of the biggest hurtles to overcome is the first winter. If you’re not prepared for cold weather and the stockpile of food you need, your clan probably won’t survive. Since I’ve been through winter death in Rimworld, I had an idea of what I’d be facing in this game, so my first winter – while tough – was not a killer for me.

Systems can get very, very deep in games like this, and Clanfolk is no exception. I know that I’ve hardly scratched the surface of the game in my short 10 hours of playing. For example, look at how intricate the Beekeeping system is based on the official post by the devs on Steam. For people who love deep gaming, this game may look simplistic in the art style, but do not let it fool you!

Members of the clan age over time and pass away from old age (if they live to see old age), so you have to keep an eye on the clock and be thinking a generation or two ahead. You can recruit workers and people from outside the clan to bring in, so there’s usually a way to replenish your folks over time. But, as I said before, there is absolutely a fail state and losing your clan is a real danger. Don’t ever get too comfortable!

Clanfolk is one of those games that you learn from experimentation. I highly recommend playing it blind – at least until you find yourself hitting a point where you really need to research something to get past a difficulty hurdle. Just know that failing is part of learning and you’ll be fine.

So far, my clan has stuck it out with a few close calls during the winter. My original elder clan leaders passed away peacefully from old age and clan leadership has been passed to the adults now. The children are growing up, and I’ve brought in a wandering clanfolk as a worker – and possible potential to marry into the clan in the future.

I don’t have anything in particular planned for my folks. I’m mostly still learning the ropes, despite being used to the type of gameplay presented here. But I can say that when I’m in the mood to play a game of this type, hours can slip away without me noticing it – I find myself really engrossed in all the task management and daily life coaching I need to do for the clan.

This is an early access game, but I’ve really not run up against anything too out of ordinary while playing it. The devs are obviously developing it with a lot of thought and love. Can’t wait to see where it’ll go in the future!

And there! I finally wrote this post. I had more to say than I realized, though I don’t feel like I’ve done it justice. Clanfolk is just a game you have to experience for yourself. But if you enjoy the Rimworld type builders, you’ll probably enjoy this too!

Comments