It’s a beautiful day in Florence. The sun is shining on our little artists’ pavillion and the apprentices are eager to ply their developing skills. Pixelated Italians clad in their blocky finery have amassed outside, patiently waiting to purchase a piece that strikes their fancy. It’s time to set the Painter’s Guild into motion.
Painter’s Guild is perhaps the most unassumingly pleasant simulation game in recent memory. The developing product’s free alpha, available here, is a vignette about a young Leonardo da Vinci learning from and surpassing his master. Their humble abode hold space for a practice desk, canvases of various dimensions, and a chair in which to rest. Patrons queue to supply requests of differing sizes and difficulties, each precipitating a portrait or few-bit recreation of a classic work as the completion progress bar is pushed by one of or both of the artists. Your duo needs you to shuffle them between the stations to maintain energy levels and cash flow efficiently enough to survive until Leonardo’s inevitable arrest on charges of sodomy.
That last bit isn’t so amiable, but Painter’s Guild’s full release looks to retain the gentle sense of fostering and expression of the rest as it greatly expands the scope. Recognizeable Renaissance figures will join the randomized cadre of artists, relationships will flourish, artistic styles will differ, and your guild hall will expand. Sim fans and patrons of the arts will want to keep an eye on it.
