- Prairies introduces a Steppe biome with Soil Stress and fires that transform fire into a key tool for progress.
- More than 65 new biotas, complex food chains and the giant Jangwa change the focus towards dynamic management of mobile resources.
- Four new leaders and three alternative eras redefine goals, starting pace, and cultural evolution of humanity.
- The DLC expands the strategic and narrative depth of Reus 2 without sacrificing its relaxed tone or excellent technical performance.
If you've ever thought that strategy games are all about Build without destroying anythingThe Grasslands DLC for Reus 2 is here to give you a good wake-up call. Here, fire ceases to be a punishment and becomes your most powerful tool to make nature rise again stronger than ever.
This additional content for Reus 2 It doesn't just add four new biomes and call it a day; it reinterprets the "god game" concept already established in the original. You're still a divine entity guiding humanity through elemental giants, but now the game invites you to... Embrace chaos, accept controlled destruction and playing with cycles of life and death in a steppe ecosystem that, on paper, seems friendly and fertile... until you start to interfere.
What is Reus 2: the base before entering Praderas
Before diving into the expansion, it's worth remembering what the base game offers: in Reus 2 you embody a superior entity which controls several giants, each linked to an element and a type of biome, with which you shape procedurally generated planets.
These titans do not command armies or units in the style StarCraft, Age of Empires or CivilizationInstead, they shape the terrain by placing plants, animals, and minerals that form biomes such as forests, tundras, deserts, or oceans. On this foundation, humans organize themselves, build villages, and prosper or fail depending on the circumstances. how you combine resources and synergies among them.
The beauty of the system lies in the fact that each element has positive and negative effects depending on its surroundings: one plant can enhance another, a mineral can boost food production, or an animal can unleash an environmental disaster if introduced where it doesn't belong. All of this makes each planet a systemic puzzle full of synergieswhere your role is more that of a cosmic gardener than a battle general.
Furthermore, as you replay games, the game unlocks new biomes, biotas, and divine abilities, so that each subsequent world is more complex, demanding and rich in possibilitiesThat replayability, based on trial and error, is at the heart of the experience: each civilization can travel from a primitive tribe to a hyper-advanced, spiritual, industrial, or scientific society, depending on how you have configured its world.
Grasslands: a biome that turns fire into an ally
The Prairies DLC, also known as GrasslandsIt adds a new steppe biome that, on the surface, seems like a peaceful place to plant crops and forget about them. In practice, it's the a more unstable and risky scenario of all Reus 2, because it introduces the core mechanics of Soil Stress and Fires.
In this new environment, every time you place a biota (animals, plants, or minerals from the steppe), the terrain accumulates stress progressivelyIf that bar reaches its maximum, sparks will fly and a fire will break out that can spread to neighboring plots, sweeping away everything you had so carefully built in that area.
The interesting twist is that this fire is not presented as a simple punishment, but as a ecological renewal mechanismThe scorched earth is transformed into Ashland, a much more fertile type of soil in which improved versions of flora and fauna, often called survival mutations, can emerge, capable of providing twice the production of food, science, or other key resources.
Thus, playing in Praderas becomes a constant risk-reward gamble: you can try to keep stress under control to maintain a stable ecosystem, or force fires at the opportune moment to make a brutal evolutionary leap at the cost of a few minutes of controlled chaos.
This design breaks with the "safe" mentality that many Reus 2 veterans had perfected, forcing you to think not only about optimizing synergies, but also about manage cycles of destruction and rebirth as a natural part of the progress of your civilizations.
The Steppe, its biotas and the new ecological synergies
The steppe biome of Prairies, which you can place with the Savannah Giant Jangwa by activating Prairie mode instead of Savannah at the start of the planet, brings with it more than 65 new biotas among animals, plants and minerals suited to that dry and wide environment.
Among these new species you find creatures like the Bison, Prairie Dog or birds of preyAlongside grasses and flowers typical of the steppe, such as lavender and hardy cereals, these are not mere cosmetic additions: each one comes loaded with synergies and constraints that fit the logic of an ecosystem of grasses and predators.
For example, some predators like wolves or pumas can control the herbivore populationThis reduces the stress caused by an excessive density of animals feeding simultaneously. Certain plants, on the other hand, absorb nutrients accumulated after fires, cleaning the soil and accelerating the ecosystem's recovery.
There are also birds that expand the area of influence of nearby cities or that provide added benefits of vigilance and curiosity, with direct effects on how your civilizations expand or investigateAll this means that it's no longer enough to just plant "what produces the most": you have to configure complete food chains where each level (producers, herbivores, predators and scavengers) has a clear role.
The result is that the map stops feeling like a static board where you're just trying to place the optimal pieces, and becomes a living, cyclical and fragile systemwhich can collapse due to excessive ambition or flourish if you understand when to slow down, when to set fire, and when to let the land breathe.
Soil Stress, Fires and Ash Land
Soil Stress mechanics are the key difference between the Steppe and other biomes. Every time you place high-performance biotics—like bison, wild wheat, or certain highly productive grasses— the ground tension rises and the stress bar approaches 100%.
When this bar fills up, a combustion state is activated: the fire begins to spread to adjacent plots, temporarily burning the biota present. This process may seem like a disaster, but if you keep your cool, it becomes your most powerful eco-design tool.
The plots that have burned are transformed into Land of AshesThis type of terrain allows for the planting of more resilient and advanced versions of plants and animals. These survival mutations provide resilience bonuses, increased resource production, and generally better long-term synergies.
The key is deciding When does it pay to start or allow a fire?If you do it too soon, you lose an ecosystem you haven't yet exploited; if you delay too long, the spread of fire can devastate areas critical to a city or a key food chain.
Praderas thus forces you to abandon the fantasy of “eternal stability” and embrace a crisis management model, where Fires are natural stages in the life of the planet And not just punishments for playing "badly." In the end, your role is more like that of a pyromaniac but responsible god, who uses the flames to open the door to eras of abundance.
Jangwa: the giant shepherd and the management of resource flow
The expansion also introduces Jangwa in a new light, a giant associated with the Savannah/Prairie who, in this DLC, receives a revamped visual appearance and a key ability: the capacity to swirl and displace entire herds of animals from one point on the planet to another without destroying them.
This ability to "herd" radically changes the flow of the game. Until now, many decisions in Reus 2 were quite static: you placed a biota in a specific spot, accepted its effects, and tried to compensate with others around it. With Jangwa, you can turning animals into mobile resourcesrepositioning them according to the current needs of each city.
Imagine a civilization needs a food boost to advance to the next era or unlock a major project. You can move your bison from a distant plain to the edge of that city, take advantage of the production boost, and when it's no longer needed, move them to less saturated areas to avoid overexploiting the soil.
However, this tool doesn't come without a cost: on large planets, keeping track of herds, optimal routes, and spatial synergies can require considerable attention. It's not an "automatic" power that can be spammed without thinking, but rather an additional layer of planning that It adds micromanagement but also strategic depth.
Combined with the fire mechanics, Jangwa becomes crucial: you can relocate animals away from areas about to burn, preserve specific species, or bring certain biotas to the newly created Ash Land to fully exploit the new mutations.
Four new leaders: classes with personality and starting styles
Another central element of Prairie is its four additional human leaders, who function as if they were playable classes with their own identityEach one changes the priorities, intermediate goals, and pace of the game, affecting how you interpret the mechanics of the Steppe biome.
The Farmer is the closest to a classic and relatively safe style of play. It focuses on the stable growth, food production and the gradual expansion, making the most of the renewed fertility of the Ash Land without taking too many risks on extreme decisions.
The Cultist, on the other hand, relies on sacrifices and offerings to obtain immediate benefits. His approach flirts with a tone of dark fantasy and religious fanaticism: can burn specific resources, populations or biota to feed its Dark Gods and generate wealth or improvements for the Giants in the blink of an eye.
The Architect proposes more cerebral strategies, as he focuses on placement patterns and megaprojectsIt asks you to arrange biotas in specific geometric shapes — rings, lines, symmetrical structures — to unlock advanced buildings and technologies mainly linked to the Celestial Era.
Finally, the Astronaut accelerates the technological leap and propels humanity beyond the planet. His play style encourages you to race towards higher eras with less Eon, making better use of advanced biotas and guiding your civilizations towards a spacefaring future that questions even the relationship between humans and Giants.
What's interesting is that these leaders don't function as simple numerical modifiers, but rather they reshape the way you think about your planets: they change which goals you consider priorities, what risks you accept, and How do you approach the use of fire and the Grassland biome? from minute one.
Three new eras: fables, faith, and biotechnology
The DLC doesn't just add a playable biome; it also expands the lore and the ultimate fate of humanity with three new alternative eras that act as epilogues, but also as long-term strategic goals.
The City of Fable presents a humanity that lives surrounded by myths and stories inspired by the fauna Local. The legendary animals of the Steppe fuel stories that, in turn, accelerate inventions, cultural projects, and forms of social organization linked to the collective imagination.
The Celestial Planet focuses on a spiritual evolution where faith in the Giants is institutionalized. Cities are built facing the sky, purity and harmony are the core of the culture, and a foundation is established. a peaceful religion centered on these divine entitieswho see fire as part of a sacred cycle of purification.
The Biokinetic Dream is the most futuristic and transhumanist aspect of the whole. Here, humanity blends technology and nature to the point of... blurring the boundary between organism and machinecreating a dreamlike utopia where fires, mutations, and biomes are integrated into a sophisticated biotechnological fabric.
These eras segment human evolution into three narrative stages—a fabulous past, a spiritual present, and a biokinetic future—and give the feeling that each game is a an epic about resilience and adaptationAs a player, you choose what kind of ending you want to bring humanity closer to, and your decisions in the Prairies shape that journey from the very beginning.
Emergent narrative: from the myth of fire to human emancipation
One of the most peculiar things about Reus 2 is that its narrative doesn't rely on cutscenes or lengthy dialogues, but on how human cultures evolve according to the conditions you impose on them. Each planet is almost an anthropological experiment.
With Prairie, this approach is enriched by the “myth of rebirth by fire.” Steppe societies do not see the Fire Giant as a monster, but as a kind of aggressive gardener who clears to allow for regrowthThis is reflected in era missions, descriptions, and the game's own logic.
The Cultist embodies the dark side of that relationship, showing how some human groups interpret Giants as deities hungry for offeringsMeanwhile, the Astronaut opens the can of emancipation: what happens when humanity has the technical capacity to leave the planet and wonders if it still needs its elemental creators?
All of this is complemented by the Cataclysm update, which allows leaders form bonds with each other and with the GiantsThey may ally with you, trade with you, or go to war with you. They may even rise up against your titans by sending Giant Hunters to try to bring them down, something you can respond to with devastating new powers.
Without the need for explicit dialogue, the game ends up building a kind of galactic mythology where each planet is recorded as a legacy in the stars, an independent story about how a particular humanity learned (or not) to live with fire, natural cycles and the power of their gods.
Gameplay, complexity, and learning curve
From a purely gameplay perspective, Reus 2 remains a highly systematic ecosystem puzzle game. You control up to six elemental giants, each with distinct abilities, and unlock them as you progress. new powers as you gain inspiration during gameplay, which expands your terraforming and management options.
Prairies adds several layers on top of that: stress, fires, the Ashlands, complex food chains, four new leaders, and their unique mechanics. All of this elevates the game beyond a simple experience. relatively static placement puzzle to a chaos management simulator, where you often have to react to chained events rather than execute a meticulously planned strategy.
The interface remains dense and cluttered with icons, synergy numbers, requirements, and cross-effects. For newcomers, this can be somewhat overwhelming at first, but if you enjoy delving into complex systems, that density becomes part of its charm. The game is not "click and play"It requires reading, patience, and a little care when experimenting.
The good thing is that the overall pace of Reus 2 is quite relaxed. Although there are tasks tied to specific time or conditions, the general tone is... a calm strategy without a sense of urgencyFar removed from the constant pressure of other titles in the genre, here you can afford to try new mechanics, make mistakes, burn half the planet, and try again in the next world.
That mix of in-depth systems, trial and error, and the freedom to start over makes the learning curve, although steep, very rewarding. When you finally understand how to fit everything together... fire, biomes, leaders, and erasThe feeling of orchestrating a galaxy of coherent worlds is spectacular.
Visuals, sound and performance
In terms of technical aspects and art, Reus 2 maintains the picture book aesthetic of the original, with a colorful, clean, and very easy-to-read style. The Meadows DLC integrates very well with this visual style, contributing... ochre tones, dry greens and wide skies which reinforce the feeling of fragility of the steppe.
The fire animations are particularly well done: the flames convey danger and urgency, but don't break the game's relaxed tone. Watching Jangwa cross the horizon, with the grasslands burning in the distance and then regenerating, creates some truly memorable scenes. very eye-catching without requiring a high-end PC.
In terms of sound, the soundtrack opts for a minimalist approach, with ambient melodies that adapt to the state of the planet and subtle sound effects that reinforce the feeling of interacting with a living world. The sounds of wildlife, human whispers, and the effects of elemental powers... They add a playful and almost whimsical layer to the experience.
In terms of performance, Reus 2 and its DLC are highly optimized. Even when the planet is teeming with interacting biota, chain-reaction fires, and advanced cities deploying their capabilities, the game remains smooth. Stable on PC and modern consoles, something that is greatly appreciated in a title where readability is key.
That balance between attractive visuals, good optimization, and clarity of information means that, despite the number of systems in operation, everything should be manageable and pleasing to the eyeeven in moments of maximum controlled chaos.
In the end, Grasslands establishes itself as an expansion that not only adds content, but also reinvents the rhythm and philosophy of Reus 2Turning fire into an engine of progress, introducing complex food chains, and offering new narrative paths through leaders and alternate eras makes each planet a distinct story of destruction, rebirth, and human ambition, perfect for those who enjoy slow-paced, dense, and highly replayable strategy.