Eco
- February 5, 2018
- Strange Loop Games
- 27h median play time
Get on Steam"Eco" is a survival game that simulates a realistic ecosystem, where players must build and maintain a society while protecting the environment from pollution and other threats. The game features crafting, building, and research systems, and allows players to create laws, form governments, and collaborate on complex projects. Players' actions have lasting consequences, making "Eco" a unique blend of survival, simulation, and education.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- gameplay1,342 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Eco is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its depth and unique mechanics, such as resource management and ecological impact, reminiscent of Minecraft but with a more complex social and economic system. However, criticisms abound regarding the grindy nature of progression, tedious mechanics, and a lack of clarity in gameplay, which can lead to frustration, especially for solo players. Overall, while the game offers a rich cooperative experience, it often feels bogged down by its mechanics and requires a significant time investment to enjoy fully.
“Eco feels like Minecraft for grown-ups, with its beautiful art style, co-op-driven gameplay, and proficiency system offering an experience similar to no other game.”
“Eco, similar to Minecraft, excels in its core mechanics, which revolve around gathering resources, crafting, and building.”
“The gameplay and crafting systems in the game are fun and satisfying.”
“I've played this on and off for years and the only thing I can work out is the devs just do whatever they want and claim it's based on community feedback; it's gone from a playable game to an absolute slog bogged down in mechanics designed to infuriate players and encourage you to play less and less.”
“The gameplay is taken out of the game itself and slapped into a dollar sign.”
“The actual gameplay you do is boring and repetitive.”
- grinding1,012 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 1 % neutral mentions
- 98 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is a major point of contention among players, with many describing it as excessively tedious and time-consuming. While some enjoy the grind for its sense of accomplishment and community engagement, others find it overwhelming and frustrating, particularly in single-player modes where progress feels slow and unrewarding. Overall, the game is best suited for those who appreciate grind-heavy gameplay and have the time to invest in it, especially in multiplayer settings.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“I haven't gotten to the deep end of the tech tree, but some upgrades and enhancements to farming would be nice.”
“Tldr general dev-focus should be fun/speed, not tediousness.”
“The game has gone from a fun, interactive simulator to a tedious grindfest.”
“Mining alone is so incredibly tedious that your loss of interest is the Damocles meteorite looming over you the whole time, because you certainly will lose interest long before the rock drops.”
“This game isn't about fun, it is about meaningless tedious work that doesn't respect your time.”
- graphics672 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the vibrant art style and aesthetic appeal, often comparing it favorably to Minecraft. However, numerous users have reported significant performance issues, including low frame rates and graphical glitches, even on high-end systems, which detracts from the overall experience. While some find the visuals beautiful and engaging, others criticize the optimization and technical execution, suggesting that improvements are needed to enhance gameplay.
“Eco feels like Minecraft for grown-ups, with its beautiful art style, co-op-driven gameplay, and proficiency system offering an experience like no other game.”
“The graphics are amazing and the amount of detail that has gone into the gameplay is incredible.”
“The graphics are beautiful, the game has a lot of variety, and the scenery looks great, making the world feel alive.”
“But after playing this game for close to 500 hours I don't think I can recommend it anymore because it is still extremely buggy, the performance is abysmal for the simple voxel graphics, and the user interfaces are an inconsistent mess.”
“- the characters and graphics look terrible even on max settings, personally I don't really mind how bad the game looks, however every person I ever asked to play this game with me, and I asked over fifty people, everyone hated how the game looks that I could not get one single person to even try the game!”
“Graphics progressively got more broken, broken tutorial, bad optimization, invisible players, overall trash.”
- optimization396 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues, including memory leaks, frequent crashes, and significant frame rate drops, regardless of hardware specifications. Many users express frustration over the game's inability to run smoothly, even after updates aimed at improving performance, leading to a consensus that the game is poorly optimized and often unplayable. While some acknowledge minor improvements, the overall sentiment remains that substantial optimization work is still needed for a satisfactory gaming experience.
“Eco has been improving performance lately and is on a good update schedule.”
“Optimization is the massive push right now and it has only improved each iteration!”
“Now this is how all steam games should perform, it's extremely well optimized and even playing solo gives the player so much to do that the game stays interesting and fun.”
“This game is so badly optimized, you will go into a big town to buy stuff it will create a memory leak then you will have to kill the process to be able to close the game and even if the program is closed it will keep eating your RAM for like 10 minutes freezing your PC and even making it hard to restart your PC. Whatever the PC you have, you may have a beast PC, it doesn't matter, it will happen to you!”
“The game is constantly crashing, creating memory leaks, creating frame drops, and the server-side code seems terribly optimized and incapable of handling around 20 players without generating noticeable latency.”
“I have 2080 Super and Ryzen 7 3700X so I'm pretty sure my PC should be enough, but it's clearly not because I get at most 30 FPS even with it as low as the settings can go. It feels like it's not optimized at all.”
- stability284 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 90 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern among players, with many reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and crashes that hinder gameplay. While some acknowledge that minor issues are expected in early access titles, the frequency and severity of these problems have led to frustration and a lack of recommendation from several users. Overall, the game is perceived as unstable, with ongoing performance issues that detract from the overall experience.
“Runs great with quite a bit of things to do even for an early access game.”
“The game runs great and I'm at a consistent 45 to 60 fps even with a built world.”
“Very bug free for an early access game.”
“After 50 hours, the game just keeps resetting my world settings, such as experience rates and carry stack multiplier. You cannot change them after the world is created, and it's very buggy with config files in single player with no mods. It will ruin your builds, progress, and items stored every time.”
“For a game that is supposedly years old, it's buggy, unstable, and super annoying. For what is supposedly a community-driven game, the reality is that it's just a conflict waiting to happen.”
“But after playing this game for close to 500 hours, I don't think I can recommend it anymore because it is still extremely buggy. The performance is abysmal for the simple voxel graphics, and the user interfaces are an inconsistent mess.”
- story190 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely criticized for its lack of depth, with many players noting that it feels more like a sandbox experience without a compelling narrative. While there is a basic premise involving saving the planet from a meteor, the execution is often seen as simplistic, leaving players to create their own stories through gameplay rather than following a structured plot. Overall, the storytelling aspect is considered weak, with many reviews highlighting the absence of engaging quests or character-driven narratives.
“To summarize, this game is about creating a community of people who cooperate to create thriving towns and cities, rather than surviving solo in your own little plot of land, where you try to do everything yourself.”
“A very creative spin on Minecraft where there are consequences for polluting and chopping down too many trees all in the way in the quest to stop a meteor from destroying your precious world. Collaboration is key for this game!”
“You are on a mission to save your planet from a giant meteor floating in the sky.”
“There's no story or anything, as any attempt at guidance is left to player tutorials.”
“For a multiplayer game, this feels more like a single player game only without the story.”
“So very dry with no story.”
- music60 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as beautiful, relaxing, and soothing, enhancing the overall ambiance and allowing players to unwind while engaging in gameplay. While some reviewers noted that the soundtrack can be repetitive and lacks variety, many appreciated its ability to create a peaceful atmosphere that complements the game's visuals. Overall, the music is seen as a significant aspect of the experience, though some players felt it could benefit from more dynamic elements.
“The music is very soothing and the ambiance keeps you feeling relaxed.”
“Music: beautiful, relaxing, inspired and meaningful (it describes the game's spirit well).”
“The game is pretty damn good looking and the music is relaxing and its core aspect is one I haven't heard of before while the gameplay is slow but good.”
“The music exists but I cannot think of anything that stood out to me.”
“Music is repetitive but at least decent.”
“The music is really relaxing (all 30 seconds of it)”
- humor52 mentions
- 96 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely derived from its quirky bugs and chaotic multiplayer interactions, leading to hilarious moments like players being launched into the sky or engaging in absurd in-game antics. Many players find joy in the community's camaraderie, often sharing laughs over the game's mechanics and the absurdity of their situations, despite some frustrations with grindiness. Overall, the humor adds a lighthearted element to the gameplay experience, making it enjoyable for those who embrace the chaos.
“It's also a place where my friends and I sometimes join together to create absolute chaos while at the same time working together and laughing.”
“Although it is hilarious to watch people say 'we want a democracy' and then create the ultimate oligarchy while my friends and I create a small communist colony in the middle of it and do pretty well anyways.”
“I've had some amazing experiences laughing with people about the powered cart that was duped from a server reset and ended up lodged between two buildings (insert drunk driving joke here).”
“Ridiculously not funny, too many tasks to do one thing.”
- replayability48 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game offers a mix of high replayability and limited replay value, with many players enjoying the unique experiences provided by procedurally generated maps, diverse professions, and varying player interactions. While some users report hundreds of hours of gameplay, others feel the lack of challenge and player availability diminishes its replay potential. Overall, the game is seen as having significant replayability, especially with future updates and more scenarios.
“Very good game, you can play alone or co-op and have the same good time, because the map is generated and you get different players joining a new server. The game is never the same, with lots of professions to try out and different mixes. You will always have new ways to play; the size of the map, the laws, the prices, and the missing professions on the server make this game replayable. You will not get bored doing the same stuff.”
“Every cycle, the world is reset by a meteor, so it is infinitely replayable.”
“There is a ton of replayability from what I can see because of the various skill trees you can delve into and build up over time.”
“Replayability is not high, but got over 130 hours of playtime, so well worth the price.”
“Just a few of the many quality of life things that would give this game actual replay value.”
“I do not see this as a replayable game.”
- monetization46 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 35 % negative mentions
The introduction of microtransactions, even if labeled as "cosmetic only," has sparked significant backlash among players, who view it as a cash grab that undermines the game's integrity. Many users express disappointment that these monetization strategies were not part of the original development plans, leading to concerns about the game's direction and long-term viability. Overall, the sentiment is largely negative, with players fearing that the focus on monetization will detract from the gaming experience.
“Apparently microtransactions are coming for 'cosmetics only'.”
“Microtransactions can be a double-edged sword.”
“It's not so bad that the game is getting supposedly cosmetic microtransactions, but the way they are being implemented.”
“The final blow to the game is now they just announced microtransactions, which was never mentioned or in the development plans.”
“This game is a prime example of an intentional cash grab.”
“As much fun as this game is, I can't see this game as anything more than a cash grab at this point.”
- atmosphere34 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is generally praised for its beautiful graphics and vibrant, lively environment, contributing to an enjoyable experience. However, some players feel that the ecological mechanics and community interactions could be improved to foster a more engaging and collaborative atmosphere. While the game successfully creates a visually appealing world, there are calls for more dynamic environmental effects and systems to enhance immersion.
“It's a very nice game, beautiful graphics and an awesome atmosphere!”
“With the sheer amount of realistic labor it takes to do things and the large amount of things you can craft combined with the pleasant atmosphere teeming with life around you.”
“You can circumvent the globe easily, but there is an abundance of space for adventure, building, etc. The graphics and music create a vibrant and fun atmosphere.”
“- lacks any atmosphere”
“Is there even an atmosphere or is it simply 'you have factories here and they destroy the air in those places at a rate of x over y time.'”
“While there is great emphasis on your actions causing destruction to the world, I can tell you that this is not the case. I have yet to experience a situation where the population of animals dies out or the atmosphere gets so polluted that everything starts dying out.”
- emotional22 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by its wholesome themes of community collaboration and environmental protection, which resonate deeply with players. However, the experience can be marred by a grindy gameplay loop and a surprisingly toxic community, leading to mixed feelings about the overall enjoyment. Despite these issues, many players appreciate the game's heartfelt message and the potential for meaningful interactions within its player-driven economy.
“This game made me want to cry.”
“The game's idea itself is very wholesome; players have to work together and build a fully player-driven simulation of a civilization with an economy, government, laws, and all sorts of other stuff while trying to stop a meteor that is trying to destroy the planet without the players destroying it first, which goes on the message of the game: protecting nature.”
“It's a great message, and having a game spread it is very wholesome and caring.”
- character development2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The character development in the game is generally viewed as lacking, with multiple users noting that the character design is mediocre.
“The character design is mediocre.”
