Evolution for Windows

1/5

Evolve is a creature-creating, physics-based simulator game developed by Keiwan Donyagard, an artist who previously worked on the popular Windows game called Super Mario Galaxy. Unlike many others in the similarly-styled genre, however, Evolution offers no shooting or role-playing elements. Instead, the player will have to put together a rag-tag group of animals that can survive the environments they're placed in. More of an experimental physics-based simulator rather than a shooting game, this game will have you constructing simple creatures - from simple crabs and butterflies to more evolved snails and turtles - and then surviving through their environment using tools such as their legs, claws, mouths, and antennae. The emphasis is more on survival, although players are encouraged to collect as many creatures as possible and use them in attacks and puzzles.

In addition to being an experimental simulator, however, Evolution also boasts some impressive visuals, with a beautifully illustrated interface drawing gameplay out on top of it. The simplicity of the controls - which is perhaps why the iPhone version is so unsuccessful - but it also makes the whole thing seem a bit lighter and more playful than its PC or console counterparts. One early example of this is the "egg production" section of the tutorial, which gives you a crash-course in how to collect, hatch and evolve your chosen creatures. It's not just the eggs themselves that do all the work here, but a few other features as well. For example, the player can build up a colony of squid using their "Nest" tool, which also serves as the platform on which the player character will leap from.

Although there's nothing explicitly stated as to how the progression of the game works, the developers have gone out of their way to make sure that you actually feel like you're accomplishing something through your interaction with the simulator. As you earn further levels, for example, you'll start to develop traits such as intelligence, strength and creativity. The creatures themselves will grow in strength and attack behaviour, as well as being able to produce more eggs. This is all combined with a beautiful and engaging interface, in other words, allowing Evolution to be much more than an experimental simulator. It allows you to immerse yourself in the feelings and experiences of an actual natural environment.