Playing God

About

Playing God is a single player casual simulation game with economy and science fiction themes. It was developed by Ben Fredericks [Collaborations] and was released on September 7, 2020. It received neutral reviews from players.

Imagine you are the captain of a space station. A space station suddenly presented with a humanitarian crisis. When given the choice, who will you save? Playing God is an interactive VR thought experiment that lets you imagine you are the captain of a space station, suddenly presented with a humanitarian crisis. It challenges its audience with a series of scenarios and questions based upon the na…

Skip User Reviews

56%Audience ScoreBased on 27 reviews

replayability2 negative mentions

Interesting and thoughtful ethical dilemmas presented in a choose-your-own-adventure style.
Free to play and accessible both in VR and non-VR modes.
Conceptually engaging with a quick, cinematic experience that encourages multiple playthroughs.

Serious technical and performance issues, including freezing, poor VR startup, and awkward controls.
Choices often feel meaningless with little to no impact on the story outcome or explanations.
Audio and visual problems, such as loud alarms overpowering dialogue, poor graphics, and grating sound effects.

graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The graphics are generally seen as dated and unimpressive, with notable visual distortions and flat, low-resolution elements that hinder immersion, especially in VR. While the artwork on the cover is praised, the in-game visuals are considered just okay or slightly below average.
- “The artwork on the cover is really well done.”
- “Visuals were okay, and the acting was pretty charming.”
- “The visuals do not look good in VR: flat hologram-like character models do not blend with the low-resolution 3D environment.”
- “The graphics look dated.”
- “So many distortions (both in visuals and sounds) it's hard to look at and hear what they are saying.”
- “The visuals were nice, not great.”
story
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The story in this VR experience offers multiple branching paths but lacks meaningful epilogues to show the impact of player choices, making decisions feel inconsequential. While the scenario is replayable to explore different outcomes, some users find the plot elements, such as futuristic engineers and navigation, unconvincing or poorly developed.
- “You will be replaying the scenario multiple times just to experience the story.”
- “Playing god is a free VR experience; it worked on my HTC Vive, Index, and Meta Quest 3 via Steam Link system, looked okay, sounded okay, played okay, and was understandable.”
- “It shows you a flow graph of how the story went and how many people picked different routes.”
- “It shows you a flow graph of how the story went and how many people picked different routes but you don't seem to be given any kind of epilogue to explain how your decisions affected the situation or people, so the decisions become meaningless.”
- “They claim it is supposed to show something, but all it shows me is idiot engineers in the future who can't design spaceships or plot courses.”
- “Or sailing for America first time without stocking your ship properly or having any navigation equipment since future people can't plot course.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Replayability is considered low, with users suggesting that features like skipping scenes or starting mid-chart could improve the experience.
- “Replayability is low.”
- “A way to skip scenes or start mid-chart would make replayability better.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report that the music causes the game to freeze, indicating potential issues with audio-related performance or stability.
- “It just freezes with only music on.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game experiences frequent freezes, often leaving only the music playing while the visuals become unresponsive, indicating significant stability issues.
- “It just freezes with only music on.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from noticeable performance issues that negatively impact the experience, making optimization a significant drawback.