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jp's Niche: A Genetics Survival Game (PC)

[May 2, 2023 12:13:32 PM]

This game was a bit of a wildcard when I picked it for the Fall23 critical game design seminar. It seemed turn-based but it was not a "typical" game in the provenance, style, etc. It seemed like a "we ma de a serious game" game made by educators and scientists...

It's a weird wonky game in a good way. And, I'm not sure my ~6 hours of gameplay here is enough to get a good sense. That was a single (largely successful) run - I only ended up losing because I started to play much less conservatively halfway through because I wanted to see what else the game had to offer. This resulted in my getting to a point where none of my creatures had the basic "gather" ability (I'm blanking on the name - but it's one that I think everyone starts with) and so everyone starved and that was the end... it was a relatively easy thing to prevent from happening, but I stopped paying too much attention. To be fair, it never occurred to me that I'd lose THAT ability - though I was enjoying learning about all the other different abilities in the game. Things that surprised me/I enjoyed include:

a. I was really surprised when a random wild creature appeared and just "raped" some of my creatures (got them pregnant too!). I mean, it's totally a thing that happens in the wild - I'm not even sure it would be called rape - not idea about the consent thing and so on. It's in contrast to what happens within your group of creatures - here you decide when procreation happens. AND, it's an important part of the game's core loop since you're selectively breeding them for certain traits and so on. So, when a random "wild" creature shows up and copulates with many of the female creatures in the group I was controlling...it was a surprise and definitely mixes things up! (yay for increased genetic diversity, but uh oh another mouth to feed?)

b. There's an ability that lets you attack birds! I'd seen birds flying around and I assumed they were just "decorative" - but then I noticed one of my creatures suddenly had an action to attack bird (and that quickly disappeared as the birds flew around)

c. I randomly got a really derpy looking creature - I laughed out loud when I saw it. The trait is "ugly" I think. AND it has a game effect! (harder to find a mate but also less likely to get attacked)

d. My creatures dying of old age always surprised me - like they'd be fine and then "where it go?" and there would be a pile of bones! I sort of wish the game telegraphed that better? (this creature will die at the end of this turn)

I think that exploring all the different genetic possibilities the game's system offers for your creatures is probably the most fun aspect of the game. New traits appearing and you're always wondering what else there is on offer. However the game suffers a bit from not having a clear goal to aim for - e.g. survive X amount of time or visit Y number of islands. So, after a while it started to feel a bit tedious because I was essentially always doing the same "loop" - scout an island, scavenge for as much food as possible, have a few new critters, scarper off to the next island. I was able to make it work for quite a while until I decided to just play carelessly...Also, as far as I can tell, the game generally requires that you leave from one island to the next (food sources run out on your island eventually - I think?) which is (I think) not usually how things work in nature... the local population will adjust to the resources available..

Still, it's an interesting game and I'm glad I played it!