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Real charming and creative! game was paced well, things got switched around at good intervals. fit the theme. good job~
The no text entries are really interesting, as it forces the developer to do clean design choices so the game still "reads"(hehe) well to player.
This inspired me to try the no text challenge myself, maybe some other gamejam.
oh and also, first time the narrator said something it gave me a shook as I was focused and didn't expect it at all.
Thank you! Yeah it's super challenging to do no text, but it does really force you to think! I look forward to trying your next no-text game :D
Sorry about the jumpscare, haha!
Best game of the jam that I've played so far! It hits really nicely because I'm playing it after getting weary of the complexities of Evolve. I think it does a great job sticking to the themes, but I was pretty lost after the second stage in terms of understanding what upgrades were doing. I only played until stage 1 of the prestige, unsure how much the game changes after that.
As was mentioned in some of the other comments, QOL is a bit lacking, and I think that largely falls into two recurring problems: having to click too much, or having difficulty conveying information (obviously limited by the no-text theme). For the clicking, stage 1 should let you select a building and then default to that until it's changed, rather than having to click on the building and then the spot each time. I found stage 3 to have similar amounts of clicking, but the rotating planet and many tiles made it hard to click where I wanted, and having to click so many times on whichever species you're trying to win with was pretty annoying.
I think the information problem is difficult to solve while keeping consistent with the theme, but maybe there's some way to make the icons more clear? The first stage does a nice job of this, with the bolder coloring showing presumably more capable buildings.
Thank you! I agree with your feedback about the QOL. I especially wish I had done a bit more to make phase 1 less clicky. I don't know what to do about the information problem; I spent a looooot of time trying to figure out how to convey information with no text and it was very difficult! I think I need to stop looking at it for a while and then come back with fresh eyes.
Reminds me of the good old days playing spore! I actually really enjoyed playing this. Set up two planets was fun!
hahaha yeah I was definitely inspired by a few old games like spore (and even older ones)
Review contains a bit of a spoiler so be warned
I think the best creativity happens under constraints, and this game really leaned into both the theme, and the fact that there was no text was super interesting. I found myself getting really into trying to get a specific species to come out on top(spoiler), so I got a little meteor happy. I think I might try a challenge to get one of each species which would be pretty hard, but a fun challenge all the same.
The music was very cute and the art follows that esthetic as well.
Question for the dev though, are the landmasses procedurally generated? Are there rules for specific species as to where they can thrive?
thank you! the land/ocean setup is procedurally generated, but there aren't any more complex biomes or anything. the life forms will stick to water or land depending on the life form.
It took me a bit to 'get' what was going on, but I like this idea a lot. It was a really fun surprise moment when the game looped with my new species. abiogenesis really fits both themes very well! With a bit of quality-of-life tweaks, I think this could be an amazing game, and I'm quite impressed at how the game communicated things without text.
thank you! in your opinion, what's the part that could have used some QOL tweaks the most?
ooh yes, thank you. I agree with all of that! (clicking on the meteor should in theory change the cursor to a crosshair but maybe it isn't obvious enough)
It feels like a clicking simulator. I often dont see/understand my goal and rescources. I mean yeah i get it but it at the same time it feels so goalles
thanks for the feedback - was definitely challenging to make the goal clear without the benefit of text!
This game is very fun and cute!
thanks!