Crytivo, a studio with a pedigree of management sim games (Goblins of Elderstone, Cefore, Prehistoric Kingdom), is set to release their next opus – The Universim.
The Kickstarter-funded game is a galactic-scale god simulator, enabling you to shape and manipulate a civilization from the beginnings of mankind all the way through the space age.
The core gameplay loop is all about managing a space-age civilization. The player is tasked with sheparding and otherwise unremarkable and weak species toward galactic dominance. As your influence expands, you can use divine powers and martial might to conquer new planets and to spread belief to new species.
The choice of whether to use benevolence or tyranny to chart the course of those you control is entirely up to you. All the species under your sphere of influence have their own unique needs and wants, so you’ll need to expend some effort on keeping your empire happy.
Overall, the process of The Universim is a curious way of innovating on the typical tropes of the space-based 4X genre. There’s a lot of emergent challenge and gameplay that comes out as a result of your choices as well. For example, if you overuse certain resources or allow too much pollution on your planets, that could have a knock-on effect to the rest of your empire. Like galactic dominoes, one misstep could easily undo all of your work up to that point. Other challenges include managing things like the day-night cycle, this is because negative events can happen more often on your planets at night. So you need to make sure your civilizations have adequate social and economic infrastructure to deal with the various issues they’ll encounter.
An initial release for the game is planned via Steam Early Access on August 28th, for Windows PC, Mac, and Linux.
Check out the trailer below, as well as an official blurb about the game.
WANNA BE A GOD?
If so, then look no further. We’ve got you covered! The Universim has been designed from the ground up to offer a very different take on your typical God Game. At its core, it offers all of the juicy features that long-time fans of the genre have come to know and love. But, this isn’t just a simple genre revival, it’s a reinvention! Take control of a dynamic, evolving gameplay experience as you advance your civilization from stone to the stars above. The fates of entire planets rest in your hands. With an AI that makes dynamic decisions, and a world that is forever changing, the possibilities are endless. So, what will it be? Will you guide your people towards prosperity, or merely watch as they descend into ruin? This is your power. This is the power of a god!
Your time is coming. Guide a fledgling civilization through the obstacles of life. From humble beginnings, watch as they evolve and advance throughout the ages under your wing. Influence their decisions and punish the unfaithful with a wide range of godly abilities. Interact with objects, create disasters, and launch clueless creatures into orbit. This is your world, and nothing can stop you from having fun.
Our goal is to bring back the features you know and love from classic god games and spice them up with fresh ideas, a modern physics engine, and stylized visuals developed by a few of our very own industry heroes.
