Crytivo Games’ inaugural title, The Universim, is a god game of pan-galactic scale. It’s an ambitious Kickstarter project that has captured the attention of some of the largest outlets in the industry. Typically, this is a feat accompanied by a lackadaisical breeze ferrying a campaign far beyond its initial target to the realm of three or four times its asking price. Yet The Universim has only managed to cross the success threshhold in the final hours of its effort.
Why the difficulty? The Universim sounds interesting enough. Your tribe of stone age humans will, with the guidance of your godly hand, develop their way to the space age. Environments will be simulated – clouds form over bodies of water, trees produce a defined quantity of oxygen, and so on. The developers liken it to an ant farm.
If I may wax speculative for a moment, I’d suggest the game is inspiring skepticism due to its similarity to the notoriously disappointing title Spore. Each promised planet hopping between unique worlds as an endgame, letting players carve a unique path through the ages to reach it. But there’s no reason Crytivo needs to be bound by the plights of others. Here’s hoping The Universim meets its potential.
