It’s funny to see how often we use games to reaffirm our perception of where we are in life, especially a game such as Sapiens. Our existence is often tied directly to one place, one community, and one area. It is often the center of their lives. It can be a simple, easy life or one that is hectic and full of challenges. Others may be more interested in wanderlust, or simply wondering where to go next.
SapiensMajic Jungle’s newest game, ‘The Game That Changed Everything’, puts this perception in sharp focus. Although it is an indie survival game, it is not tied down. It is all about connecting players to the world around them and showing how small and insignificant you are in the grand scheme for survival.
The objective of Sapiens Your goal is to transform your tribe from a small group of hunter-gatherers into an earth-like, stable civilization. The goal of survival-sim is to slowly build your civilization by gathering resources and growing food. Your small tribe will likely grow into a small settlement if you are more successful.
The star of Sapiens Its use and expansion of its scope. The world is huge, procedurally created, and full of diverse ecosystems. Sapiens’ main draw is the infinite possibilities that are out there. The game starts with you choosing which tribe you want to start with. There is a good chance you will never reach the other end. This makes the game both exciting and terrifying.
The world serves as a primary motivation. Sapiens This survival sim is all about exploration and world-building. You can build a stable settlement for your chosen tribe and connect with other tribes. You can also go on major expeditions and set up trading and hunting routes between settlements. This is a long-term goal but a viable mechanism that allows for endless replayability.
Much of the gameplay revolves around this exploration. While the ultimate goal is to build a settlement and have plenty of resources, the location of your settlement can often affect the resources available. If you live near a forest, you will have plenty of lumber. A water source can provide access to branches and fish. It is important that you choose your tribe carefully as they will be tied to a location which can make the difference in survival or death.
This also helps you improve your investigation skills. Your tribe members learn almost in real-time by combining their knowledge and investigating an item. This fills up a meter which unlocks a new crafting material. You can imagine a thatched shelter if you look at a bale hay for long enough. There is a standard progression tree that you can follow, but your tribemates will be able to quickly increase their skills and unlock investigations on items.
The scope of Sapiens The scope and quality of the game is amazing, but it has some issues with gameplay. The controls are not as intuitive and clear as they should be. To perform tasks such as building or preparing tiles, you will need to navigate through multiple radial menus. Although the radial menu offers many options, it is not well-designed.
The iconography is also difficult to explain, even with tooltips. Most actions will become easier to recognize once you get used to the icons. However, at first there is no explanation of what the images mean. Access to the game’s controls is the problem. Accessing the game’s controls can be difficult because of the number of actions that require a particular keystroke or clicking a specific icon. Sometimes the icon is hidden behind another action or is too large to be found in the radial list. To bulk move or collect branches you will need to click a smaller double plus sign on the radial Menu. Next, select the size space where you want to store the items, and then return to the normal actions menu.
The problem with the UI seems a matter of design. Majic Jungle may have wanted a simple, elegant UI to complement the game’s minimalist tone. However, it often comes across as confusing and unintuitive. It feels like a UI designed for a controller, especially when you consider the radial menu options. The problem is the additional (and perhaps unnecessary) complexity of commands to perform various tasks impedes any meaningful progress. It is not easy to navigate, even with tutorial help.
Control issues can be a problem for enjoyment. This is a shame as there are many things that can be done to improve your enjoyment. Sapiens It does offer a solid overall experience. The game is visually impressive. Although there are no full-blown textures, it gives everything a late 1990’s polygon feel. This is due to the game’s size. In high definition, lighting and bloom effects enhance the simple aesthetics to create a game that looks stunning in the right settings.
You can also find this scale in the ideas you discover. One of my favorite bits in is Sapiens If you are able to survive, this is how you can eventually make roads and create mapped trade routes. Your tribes will become civilizations by establishing trade routes and generating new ideas. It is a long-term goal for Sapiens that is very rewarding, but it can feel a bit hamstrung when you have to wrestle with your control plan.
It is evident Sapiens There is much to be done if you are patient enough. The presentation is simple, but it is impressive in its scope, and the gameplay works well and follows a logical path. It is a shame that the game’s controls are currently holding it back from being as good as it could be. There are still many areas for improvement, so Majic Jungle will continue working to improve Sapiens. It is a worthy endeavor.
TechRaptor preview Sapiens on a PC with a copy from the developer.