Comedian John Finnemore once sketched that describing a person with the phrase "nonviolent" seems worryingly specific and negative. But that is the primary adjective chosen by Balancing Monkey Games for its city-building game, Before We Leave. In this game, you are tasked with rebuilding civilization after an ecological apocalypse that occurred generations ago, but unlike most games of this type, no human conflicts or wars with other settlements appear. Aside from the occasional invasion of hungry space whales, it is a truly peaceful and optimistic game.

Released in May, Before We Leave has been receiving regular patches ever since, and yesterday's Paving the Way update was the third in a laundry list of the usual small tweaks and fixes, plus a large amount of new content. One of the new features that is sure to be popular is the ability to customize the names of not only your ship, but also your peeps (the residents of the charming apocalyptic settlements). By naming them freely, you can make the place your own.

The update also adds two new resources (chemicals and cement), two new buildings (a cliff warehouse and a road construction depot), and expands and improves road upgrades and power generation. For more information on how it will work, you can read the full patch notes.

As the title suggests, the ultimate goal of Before We Leave is to expand the rebuilt civilization to other planets, but never lose sight of the fact that there is always more that can be done to improve an already existing civilization.

Before We Leave is available at the Epic Games Store for £16/$20. To learn more, read our review of Before We Leave.