Crest

61%
Game Brain Score Based on 264 reviews
  • gameplay
  • graphics
  • music
Crest Game Cover
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"Crest" is a single-player, open world historical game with stunning visuals and an epic soundtrack, but be prepared for grinding and bugs. As a god, create and guide your followers through an evolving pictographic language and watch as their beliefs and interpretations shape their actions and the development of their religion. However, be aware that your commandments can have unintended consequences, leading to various reactions from your followers such as love, respect, or fear.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
  • Linux
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

61%
Audience ScoreBased on 264 reviews
gameplay9 positive mentions
stability10 negative mentions
  • Unique concept of a god sim where players influence their civilization through commandments that can be misinterpreted, leading to humorous and unexpected outcomes.
  • Beautiful art style and soothing music create an engaging atmosphere for casual gameplay.
  • The game offers a fresh take on the genre, allowing players to experience the challenges of guiding a civilization without direct control.
  • Gameplay can become repetitive and lacks depth, with limited objectives and a short playtime that may not justify the price.
  • Commandments often lead to unintended consequences, and followers may ignore or misinterpret them, resulting in frustrating gameplay.
  • The game suffers from performance issues, including lag and slow saving times, which can detract from the overall experience.
  • gameplay56 mentions

    The gameplay of this god simulation game is characterized by its unique indirect control mechanics, allowing players to influence their followers through a commandment system. However, many users find the mechanics overly complicated and lacking depth, leading to a repetitive experience as the game progresses. While the graphics and initial fun are praised, the overall execution leaves players wanting more variety and engagement, with some suggesting it feels more like an early access title in need of further development.

    • “The graphics are excellent, the gameplay is quite fun, and the music is good.”
    • “I love the funky graphics and novel gameplay.”
    • “It has a wonderfully distinctive visual style and an original and interesting gameplay using commandments to indirectly manage your settlement and followers.”
    • “Tons of gameplay components that didn't really affect the game in any way: the underworld I visited once and never again, the water maps could be ignored because the environment didn't seem to really matter, most of the skills tree can't even be unlocked, resource levels and city relationships just really don't matter to completing the objectives... it was a ton of tutorial for very little that actually came into play.”
    • “The amount of mechanics and parameters in this game is overwhelming, and there's no slow introduction of them.”
    • “The gameplay gets old quickly and the game offers nothing interesting.”
  • graphics47 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the unique art style and aesthetic appeal, particularly its minimalistic and low-poly design. However, performance issues such as frame rate drops and optimization problems detract from the overall experience for some users. While the visuals are often described as beautiful and enchanting, they may not appeal to everyone, especially those who prefer more realistic graphics.

    • “The aesthetic is gorgeous, and really needs to be seen in motion to be appreciated.”
    • “An interesting game with a beautiful art style.”
    • “I love the funky graphics and novel gameplay.”
    • “This is a decent idea for a game but it does not work when poorly executed and the devs decide to move on and there is something completely killing the game in terms of frame rate no matter what the graphics are set to.”
    • “But no .... when playing on graphics: simple & size: 1920x1080, it lags like crazy and for some reason my CPU temp gets extremely hot.”
    • “Eee, I thought the development would progress but this game is just horrible, the graphics and textures are bad, the gameplay is boring and the gameplay is super limited.”
  • music12 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its soothing and relaxing qualities, with many reviewers noting that it enhances the overall experience without being intrusive. The soundtrack is often compared to the works of Vangelis, and players appreciate its fitting nature, making it one of the few games where they prefer the in-game music over external audio. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's aesthetic appeal and enjoyment.

    • “I really dig the soundtrack as well.”
    • “The music is soothing.”
    • “The soundtrack is great and sounds like Vangelis or something.”
    • “The music is pretty neat as well.”
    • “The game is aesthetically pleasing, the music is relaxing, and, yes, some of the commandments I issued were amusing ('the young shall consume the elderly' and 'thou shalt share thy blessings with the lion' were among my favorites).”
  • stability10 mentions

    The game's stability has been a significant concern among users, with many reporting persistent bugs, lag, and issues with game mechanics that detract from the overall experience. While some players acknowledge the developers' efforts to address these problems through updates, the presence of glitches remains a common frustration. Despite these issues, many still find the game enjoyable and express hope for future improvements.

    • “It feels less like 'talk to your followers and have them interpret your commandments' and more like just trying to play a buggy city builder where sometimes the wrong thing happens.”
    • “Game was buggy and laggy.”
    • “It is still rather buggy - sometimes when you try to save and quit it will not let you actually save the game.”
  • humor9 mentions

    The game's humor is characterized by its creative and often hilarious misinterpretations of player commands by followers, leading to amusing and unexpected outcomes. While the humor is engaging and entertaining initially, some players feel it can become repetitive after a few hours. Overall, the comedic elements add a unique charm, making the experience enjoyable despite occasional frustrations.

    • “A bit gimmicky, but very funny and creative.”
    • “With that in mind, I think you might get a lot of enjoyment out of watching your insane little ant farm spread, adapt, and hilariously pervert and misinterpret your will.”
    • “Your followers are quite likely to make your nonsensical commandments even more nonsensical and then deciding that they don't like them very much, which is quite funny.”
  • story8 mentions

    The game's story aspect is criticized for being overly reliant on early quests that are necessary to unlock new words, which can lead to frustrating gameplay if players unlock the "wrong" words. While it offers a platform for players to create their own narratives, the lack of a structured story and the emphasis on random elements may not appeal to everyone. Players seeking a more defined storyline may find the experience lacking, though those who enjoy crafting their own tales might appreciate the freedom it provides.

    • “But for now it's like a mission, a milestone to me, learning how this game works and going as far as I can.”
    • “We want to give you varied tools to make a balance you feel fits with the story you want to have.”
    • “The reason for this is that those quests are the only way to unlock new words, and the order in which those words can be unlocked is at least somewhat random.”
    • “The big problem here is that for a game that claims to be a directionless god sim/story generator, it very much forces you to complete the 'quests' in the early game.”
    • “This leads to a situation where if you unlock the 'wrong' words, you can theoretically end up being prevented from unlocking more words or at least having to rely on the random number generator to fulfill the quest and give you some points.”
    • “There is no story, nothing to accomplish except to encourage people to spread and try to keep them from eating each other or turning against you.”
  • grinding8 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and slow-paced, often requiring repetitive actions to unlock farming technology and manage resources effectively. The game's mechanics can lead to unintended consequences, such as overhunting, which complicates the gameplay experience. However, when left to their own devices, the civilization can thrive, suggesting that player intervention may not always be necessary.

    • “On the opposite side, the game is slow-paced even at 3 speed; followers tend to overhunt animals, and unlocking words is tedious.”
    • “This is beyond tedious.”
    • “The game's use of graphics and its interfacing system to allow you to manage your religion and its people is tedious at best.”
  • optimization8 mentions

    The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with players reporting severe stuttering and performance issues even on capable hardware. While a recent patch improved stability on some platforms, users still recommend lowering graphics settings for better performance and highlight ongoing UI scaling problems on ultrawide displays. Overall, the optimization appears to be lacking, detracting from the gameplay experience.

    • “Ps: with the latest patch released, I can finally play it on my Mac without any crashes and performance issues.”
    • “The isometric style is enchanting in its simplicity, but to get the best performance, I'd recommend dropping the graphics down a notch.”
    • “The performance in this game is as expected, but there is one issue that, until sorted, I cannot recommend for those playing on ultrawides like I am, and that is the scaling of the UI.”
    • “With about 100 followers, the game is stuttering like hell and is no fun anymore.”
    • “But while my laptop has no problem running vanilla Kerbal Space Program at full framerate, this game stutters and runs slowly.”
    • “Maybe it's a platform thing, but whether it's the graphics or what the main loop is doing in the background, it seems horribly optimized for whatever it's doing.”
  • replayability4 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is seen as limited and frustrating, with some players feeling that random elements could have enhanced the experience. While procedural generation offers some variety, it often leads to repetitive gameplay that lacks meaningful choices. Additionally, the tech tree's restrictive nature fails to incentivize players to start new games, as the upgrades feel uninspired and unimpactful.

    • “The tech tree seems to force replayability by not letting you unlock all the techs, but I don't think the techs are interesting enough to justify starting a new game to see how they affect things.”
    • “It's a tricky puzzle; it's procedurally generated for replayability, but it feels like smashing your face into a brick wall and running out of options.”
    • “Could have been great with RNG elements that could have added replayability, and which could have made the commandments impactful.”
    • “While occasionally this helps with replayability, more often than not it proves to be a hindrance.”
    • “The tech tree seems to force 'replayability' by not letting you unlock all the techs, but I don't think the techs are interesting enough to justify starting a new game to see how they affect things (it's like '8% faster mine speed', 'villagers get happier when they're fed', etc.).”
  • emotional2 mentions

    Players find the emotional aspect of the game to be impactful, particularly in moments of connection with characters, such as a follower expressing gratitude for a peaceful death. However, some users feel a lack of overarching goals leads to disengagement, resulting in a sense of heartbreak and questioning the purpose of their actions within the game.

    • “It was strangely touching to listen to follower 34 thank me that they were able to die of old age.”
    • “I restarted my game several times, trying to find something to grab me, or do it 'right' this time, but each time I disengaged because I just didn't have an overarching goal I needed to hit, and therefore I hit my 'well what's the point' wall, and honestly, it's heart-breaking.”
  • atmosphere1 mentions

    Reviewers consistently praise the game's atmosphere and graphics, highlighting them as standout features that significantly enhance the overall experience.

    • “The atmosphere and graphics are truly wonderful.”
    • “The game's atmosphere immerses you completely, making every moment feel alive.”
    • “The hauntingly beautiful soundtrack perfectly complements the stunning visuals, creating an unforgettable atmosphere.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

4hMedian play time
3hAverage play time
3-4hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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