The Fermi Paradox
Aug. 22nd, 2022 11:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThis is a computer game that was recommended to me. Dave and I played through the whole thing last night, over the course of four or five hours, and it was really fun!
There is a map of a galaxy, with multiple solar systems. Over time, sentient species develop on one or more planets. You have to make decisions about how each species progresses, trying to balance tech, population, resources, warfare, and ethics, to hope them develop. But there are restrictions - some of the options cost Synthesis (an in-game resource), which can be gathered slowly by collecting flares or quickly by choosing the usually less beneficial progression options.
The aim of the game is to get multiple species to a particular technology level, so they can make contact with one another across the galaxy. Along the way, they suffer natural and not so natural disasters, internal conflicts, development events, and eventually take the stars to explore space.
I didn't find it particularly compelling to begin with, in the solo game I started. But playing with Dave, making the decisions together, we got very invested in the fates of the various species and it got quite intense at times!
I'm not sure how much replayability there is - there's quite a range of species to choose from, depending on your Synthesis level at the point when they develop sentience, but there was also quite a lot of repetition across the various development lines, so I'm not sure how much additional narrative there is to discover. But I'll probably carry on with my solo game to the end, as the overall game time isn't that long.
There is a map of a galaxy, with multiple solar systems. Over time, sentient species develop on one or more planets. You have to make decisions about how each species progresses, trying to balance tech, population, resources, warfare, and ethics, to hope them develop. But there are restrictions - some of the options cost Synthesis (an in-game resource), which can be gathered slowly by collecting flares or quickly by choosing the usually less beneficial progression options.
The aim of the game is to get multiple species to a particular technology level, so they can make contact with one another across the galaxy. Along the way, they suffer natural and not so natural disasters, internal conflicts, development events, and eventually take the stars to explore space.
I didn't find it particularly compelling to begin with, in the solo game I started. But playing with Dave, making the decisions together, we got very invested in the fates of the various species and it got quite intense at times!
I'm not sure how much replayability there is - there's quite a range of species to choose from, depending on your Synthesis level at the point when they develop sentience, but there was also quite a lot of repetition across the various development lines, so I'm not sure how much additional narrative there is to discover. But I'll probably carry on with my solo game to the end, as the overall game time isn't that long.
