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Let’s try and get you up to speed on the fascinating oddity that is simulation game Ecosystem, on the off chance that Nate’s coverage of it hasn’t stuck with you like an unwelcome brain parasite you’re nonetheless unwilling to get removed for fear of the lingering emptiness it might cause (he once described an eel as “a quaver with erectile dysfunction”). Broadly speaking, this game is Spore’s evolutionary-biology-degree-having cousin. It’s been in early access for about three years now, but with the latest “Crustacean” update, it’s just hit 1.0. Once again, carcinization has come for all things.
Here’s how the Steam page describes it:
“The nervous system of a virtual lifeform is a pipeline computer where, every moment, data from sense organs passes through a network of neurons and finally contracts a muscle in a specific body part. Creatures swim just like real sea-life, applying torque at their joints to push against the water in a way coordinated to propel themselves forward.”
Nate’s attempts to play Poseidon are worth reading up on if you’re curious, but in short, Ecosystem lets you tweak certain environmental factors or traits to guide the evolutionary trajectories of your aquatic abominations, or just start with a clutch of random lifeforms and see how they get on. Most will be too stupid to live – or even move – but a few will have traits that let them survive, and these traits will be passed down to their offspring.
Since Nate last played, the game has added fishy combat, in which animals now directly attack one another and evolve spikes and hard skin to defend themselves from predators. There’s also now more complex behaviour that will see them building nests and swimming in groups. Everything down to the way they traverse the ocean is simulated. It looks fascinating. Also: Data!
For players who want to monitor their ecosystems closely, there is a lot of data at your fingertips. We’ve got you covered for all the statistics and analysis of your world that you could possibly want – from ecosystem overviews showing population charts for both animals and plants to phylogenetic trees for individual species, allowing you to track your species evolution.
To celebrate 1.0, there’s also a chunky 30% discount running until the 22nd of November. I’m very tempted, if only to see how close I get to turning one of these hapless, flailing lifeforms into Godzilla.