Darwin's Demons

About

Darwin's Demons is a single player and multiplayer casual simulation game. It was developed by Polymorphic Games and was released on February 13, 2017. It received very positive reviews from players.

In Darwin's Demons, players manage a space station and its inhabitants, facing ethical dilemmas while conducting scientific experiments. The game features procedurally generated creatures and environments, encouraging strategic decisions in resource management, habitat design, and ethical governance. navigate moral dilemmas and make tough choices to ensure the station's survival and maintain the crew's humanity.

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93%

Audience ScoreBased on 58 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

optimization2 negative mentions

The game offers a unique twist on the classic Space Invaders formula with its adaptive AI that evolves based on player performance, providing a fresh and challenging experience.
Players enjoy the variety of unlockable ships, weapons, and upgrades, which contribute to a sense of progression and replayability.
The game is praised for its clever mechanics and the fun it provides, making it a compelling choice for fans of shoot-em-up and bullet-hell genres.

There are several bugs and issues, including a broken awards system, which detracts from the overall experience.
Some players find the game overly difficult, with the adaptive AI quickly exploiting their weaknesses, leading to frustration.
The graphics and sound design are considered mediocre, and there are complaints about slow load times and lack of multiplayer functionality.

gameplay
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
36%
21%
The gameplay of Darwin's Demons is characterized by its simple yet engaging mechanics, reminiscent of classic space invaders, which effectively highlight the underlying algorithm of natural selection. While the graphics and sound may not impress, the game offers a rewarding loop with numerous upgrades and unlocks, making it both challenging and entertaining, especially when played with a controller. Overall, it combines straightforward gameplay with deeper strategic elements, appealing to players looking for both simplicity and complexity.
- “Other games do incorporate something along these lines, albeit in a less direct form (boss constructor comes to mind, wherein you can pit designs against one another to determine fitness, and then either use those designs yourself or deploy them as enemies.) but the simplicity of the space invaders inspired gameplay here makes the product of natural selection so much more immediately apparent, transparent, and, for me, entertaining.”
- “Obviously it's more fun with a controller (I use Xbox One which works great). The game's sound and graphics are nothing to write home about, but the gameplay loop is great. There are many upgrades and unlocks, and I already recommended it to my friends.”
- “Darwin's Demons is incredibly simple in its presentation, yet this simplicity belies an interesting game with complex mechanics at the core.”
- “Gameplay is, of course, basic, but the real beauty of this game is the algorithm behind the scenes.”
- “Just be sure that you are ready for a Space Invaders style gameplay.”
- “Other games do incorporate something along these lines, albeit in a less direct form (boss constructor comes to mind, wherein you can pit designs against one another to determine fitness, and then either use those designs yourself or deploy them as enemies). But the simplicity of the Space Invaders inspired gameplay here makes the product of natural selection so much more immediately apparent, transparent, and, for me, entertaining.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The graphics of the game are generally described as nice and crisp, featuring a pleasing art style and effective procedural content generation. However, some users noted slow load times and mentioned that while the visuals are enjoyable, they are not groundbreaking. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the gameplay experience, which is highlighted as engaging and rewarding.
- “Crisp graphics, great art style, addictive, simple and complicated all at once, has better procedural content generation than No Man's Sky.”
- “Simple but pleasing visuals.”
- “Nice graphics, but slow load times.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is designed to adapt to individual player performance over multiple rounds, creating a challenging experience that aims to push players to their limits.
- “It adapts to each player over the course of several rounds to specifically try and undermine your personal performance.”
- “It adapts to each player over the course of several rounds to specifically try and undermine your personal performance.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is noted for its high replayability, with multiple users rating it 8/10 for its engaging mechanics and enduring appeal, reminiscent of classic space invaders.
- “8/10 - Highly replayable space invaders.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find certain achievements, particularly the "ace" and "ace of aces," to be tedious and time-consuming, contributing to a sense of grinding in the game.
- “Some of the achievements are tedious, especially the ace and ace of aces ones.”