Just last week, on April 16, Leikir Studio finally released its environmental city-building game Synergy into 1.0 after roughly a year spent in Early Access. Thanks to what can best be described as an eye-catching, dreamlike hand-drawn art style and a vibrant color palette, Synergy caught a lot of players’ attention, helping it to land at the top of Steam’s “New and Trending” list on the day of its full launch. After getting the opportunity to play Synergy for review, it became readily apparent how much passion the game’s creators had put into the project, as well as how unique a game it was within the long-running city-builder genre. After a recent interview with Leikir Studio about Synergy, I’m only more convinced that it’s a special project that fans of city-builders, cozy-games, and thoughtful, environmentally conscious narratives shouldn’t miss.
Following going hands-on with Synergy, but before completing my 15 or so hours with the game, I sent over some questions to the team at Leikir Studio. Answering them were the game’s director, Sébastien Perouffe, Synergy‘s creative director, Aurélien Loos, and art director Vito Salamone. Our discussion covered topics from Synergy‘s journey through Early Access to how the title stands out when stacked against other city builders, with special attention paid to the game’s Moebius-inspired visuals and stripped-down, accessible gameplay that leans heavily into the aspect of living in harmony with the planet over endless expansion. The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Synergy’s Origins & Journey Through Early Access
©Synergy gameplay screenshot – Original
Q: How did the idea for Synergy come about?
Aurélien Loos: The original idea came from a desire to convey a message of hope. We must not give up in the face of the brutal changes taking place on the planet. The aim of Synergy was to remind us that if humans are catalysts of change, they can do good with this ability. We can choose to transform the world for the common good and survival. We need to remember that humanity is not just a destructive force; it’s a creative force too. It was the desire to convey this message that created the idea for the game.
Q: What have been some of the bigger challenges over the last year as Synergy has gone through its Early Access period into its full 1.0 release?
Sébastien Perouffe: One of the biggest challenges was managing the development rhythm between major and minor updates. We wanted to keep players engaged with regular patches, but that meant working on two versions in parallel, one focused on quick fixes and quality-of-life improvements, and another focused on deeper systems and content expansions. It required a lot of coordination and anticipation, especially for a small team, but it allowed us to stay reactive while steadily moving forward.
Q: How important has player feedback been in helping to shape the full 1.0 version of Synergy?
Perouffe: Player feedback was invaluable throughout Early Access. It helped us understand what systems needed clarification, as well as where the pacing could be improved. We’ve found many design friction points we hadn’t anticipated. We’re incredibly grateful to the community for their involvement and support. It really helped us refine the experience.
Diving Into Synergy’s Gameplay Inspirations
©Synergy gameplay screenshot – Original
Q: When playing Synergy, it’s hard not to feel like it blends some of the best aspects of two genres that don’t get combined nearly enough – city builders and cozy sim/management games. What were some of the major gameplay inspirations for Synergy?
Perouffe: When we first started working on Synergy, our main inspirations were Pharaoh and Frostpunk, and their influence is still very present, whether it’s in the way systems interconnect or how the environment plays a central role in survival. As the game took shape, we realized that it also had a surprisingly cozy feel. That feeling comes both from the influence of more recent titles such as Terra Nil, which showed us that regeneration can be just as compelling as expansion, and from our art direction with its soft, dreamlike sci-fi aesthetic.
Q: There’s a strong undercurrent of cooperation throughout nearly every facet of Synergy’s gameplay – cooperation with other settlements and with the planet itself, which makes sense given the game’s title. Was it always the intention for Synergy to embody these themes diegetically in both its gameplay and narrative?
Loos: Yes, that’s what the game is all about. But it’s just a reminder of reality. All the best survival strategies are based on cooperation — a game studio, a company, a country — each is an ecosystem that only works if all the elements work together and if the system is good for all the elements that make it up. And to cope with today’s world, humanity needs to see the planet as an ecosystem of which it is a part. We have to stop believing that we are outside this system if we are to have any chance of surviving.
How Synergy’s Distinctive Art Style and Narrative Shape the Experience
©Synergy gameplay screenshot – Original
Q: Synergy’s art style immediately calls to mind the iconic French artist Jean Giraud/Moebius. Was he an inspiration for Synergy’s visuals and art direction? What were the biggest influences on Synergy‘s distinctive visuals?
Vito Salamone: Yes, the influence of Jean Giraud, better known as Moebius, is undeniable in Synergy‘s visual style. His iconic work, blending dreamlike science fiction with clean lines, greatly inspired the game’s artistic direction. The team drew on this graphic universe to create environments that are at once vast, mysterious, and subtly futuristic.
In addition to Moebius, Synergy‘s artists also drew inspiration from the aesthetics of Franco-Belgian comics, some classic science fiction films from the 70s and 80s, as well as a desire to depict nature as both beautiful and disturbing, almost post-apocalyptic. These influences combine to deliver a visually unique and instantly recognizable world.
A Strong Narrative Completes Synergy’s Pull
Q: The mystery at the heart of Synergy’s story scenarios does a great job of incentivizing the player to push through natural progression bottlenecks. Was this an intentional design decision?
Loos: Ephraim, our narrative designer, did a great job on these texts. From the point of view of the universe — yes, it was intentional. The original intention was always to keep some kind of mystery about the very nature of this planet and to encourage the player to hunt down the answers to these mysteries.
Q: In the team’s words, what separates Synergy from some of the other city-builder games available on Steam?
Perouffe: Synergy stands out by putting adaptation and environmental understanding at the heart of the experience. You’re learning how a strange world works, and building in harmony with it. The survival aspect comes from observation, research, and planning, not combat or pressure. That, along with the strong narrative layer and a distinctive art style, gives Synergy a tone that stands apart from traditional city-builders.
What’s Next for Synergy and Leikir Studio
©Synergy gameplay screenshot – Original
Q: How does the team plan to support Synergy in the coming months post-launch?
Loos: For the moment, we’re concentrating on the release of the game and listening to feedback.
Q: Synergy is already making waves with players on Steam, sitting at the top of the “New and Trending” chart on the storefront home page on the day of its 1.0 launch and currently boasting a strong 84% “Very Positive” user score. How does it feel to see players resonate so strongly with what the team has created?
Loos: It’s hard to realize. The project was conceived and initiated a long time ago, in 2018. It’s always an obstacle course for a small studio like us to give birth to such a project. Personally, it hasn’t really hit me yet. Ask me again in a few weeks [laughs].
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The image featured at the top of this post is ©Synergy key art.