Screeps: World

About

Screeps: World is a single player and multiplayer open world turn-based strategy game with a economy theme. It was developed by Screeps, LLC and was released on November 16, 2016. It received positive reviews from players.

“Screeps” is a wordplay for “scripts” and “creeps.” It is an MMO RTS game for programmers in an open persistent shared world. Each player uses JavaScript (or compilers of other languages into JavaScript) to write AI of his or her colony of units (“creeps”) which live and operate in real time even while the player is offline. The game world is generated procedurally and consists of rooms. Players c…

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87%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,311 reviews

gameplay22 positive mentions

grinding15 negative mentions

Unique and innovative MMO RTS where players program their units and bases in JavaScript or other languages compiling to WebAssembly.
Highly rewarding for programmers or anyone wanting to learn programming by applying skills to a persistent, strategic environment.
Active, helpful community with extensive documentation and tutorials; plenty of scope to optimize and improve your AI and empire.

Steep learning curve that can be daunting for beginners without programming experience; requires patience and self-study.
Gameplay on official servers can be slow due to low tick rate and server load; private servers and simulators run faster but require setup.
Subscription-based CPU limits can feel like pay-to-win for competitive play, requiring paid subscriptions or code optimizations to remain viable.

gameplay
83 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
69%
4%
The gameplay of Screeps offers a deeply rewarding and intellectually engaging experience centered on programming AI with JavaScript, featuring multiple layers of strategy and meta-gameplay. It excels in balancing complexity and educational value, appealing especially to players with coding experience, though the slow pacing, steep learning curve, and significant power gap between new and veteran players can hinder accessibility and motivation. Despite occasional grind and performance issues, the game's unique mechanics, persistent progress, and rich community support make it a standout in programming-focused MMORTS games.
- “Very balanced and deep gameplay.”
- “This is currently the best of the "programming mmorts" genre, with multiple layers of gameplay and meta-gameplay.”
- “The meat of the gameplay is literally just coding the logic that your creeps will follow, and the "game" on-screen where your colony grows and fights other colonies just serves to give you concrete objectives and goals to reach for as you code.”
- “If you do know JavaScript already, I don't know how you're supposed to learn the mechanics of the game, as the tutorial teaches you very little, the game moves too slowly, and you'll just be wiped out by players 500x as strong as you.”
- “The power discrepancy between old and new players is absolutely massive without any mechanics to help new players get a foothold.”
- “This is because I chose to code my AI entirely from scratch, and doing so means several days of not much happening every time you start a new base, because grinding and waiting is the main gameplay loop.”
optimization
69 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
77%
7%
The game offers a deep and rewarding optimization challenge, requiring players to carefully manage CPU and memory constraints through efficient coding and advanced techniques. However, its client and server performance are often criticized for being sluggish and poorly optimized, with notable freezes and lag, especially on the Steam client, which can detract from the experience. Despite these issues, optimization remains a core and highly engaging aspect, appealing particularly to players eager to develop and refine complex, high-performance code.
- “The game provides a very large breadth of topics, from general program architecture to performance optimization, market efficiency to combat strategy and tactics, pathfinding to optimized creeps (your "agents" in the game world) configuration.”
- “Even if you're already familiar with JavaScript, it's a great way to challenge yourself by writing efficient and optimized code due to CPU and memory constraints that will require caching and other advanced techniques.”
- “You'll never quite feel satisfied with what you've written and there's always room for optimization and new strategies. Highly recommend if you enjoy optimization and solving open-ended problems.”
- “Cons - it is baffling how a game built for and by programmers is so incredibly unoptimized.”
- “The game's performance is also extremely poor considering it's meant to be for programmers. I was fairly shocked to see how sluggish the game was.”
- “The gameplay is fun, however, the absolutely terrible performance (at least on the Steam client) makes the experience painful.”
graphics
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
73%
12%
The game's graphics are minimalistic and basic, often described as plain or simple, with some notable glitches and rendering issues affecting map views and in-game visuals. While functional for understanding gameplay, the visuals lack polish and depth, and players suggest improvements or modding options to enhance graphical presentation. Overall, graphics are not the focus and may disappoint those seeking detailed or fast-paced visual experiences.
- “It's all good and well to put text into a computer and see text output to your screen in the way you expect, but there's something so satisfying about seeing a graphical representation of the work you've done.”
- “The game has deceptively simple visuals, but a lot of increasingly complex systems that you gain access to as you progress within the game, providing interesting challenges for your programming ability.”
- “Don't let the simple graphics fool you, this game has huge depth.”
- “There are very frequent graphical glitches, ranging from parts of the rooms not rendering to seeing virtual stationary creeps that have actually left that spot many ticks ago.”
- “The other map view does display player visuals, but does not display the correct room terrain; it seems to be rendering totally different rooms.”
- “The graphics are the bare minimum you need to see what's going on, and could definitely use some improvements.”
grinding
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
6%
88%
Grinding in Screeps is often described as slow, repetitive, and tedious, resembling traditional MMO styles that require extended, monotonous effort. However, many users appreciate that the game rewards strategic thinking and coding skill rather than just grinding, with progress occurring passively over time, making the experience meditative and ultimately rewarding despite its slow pacing.
- “Screeps – a game that rewards thinking, not grinding”
- “I don't like traditional MMOs; they're very grindy and require you to spend hours doing the same repetitive task.”
- “This is because I chose to code my AI entirely from scratch, and doing so means several days of not much happening every time you start a new base, because grinding and waiting is the main gameplay loop.”
- “But the game being all about grinding, with the shallow end goal of being competitive and killing other players, just doesn't resonate with me.”
story
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
The game offers little to no traditional story or narrative, focusing instead on player-driven scripting and strategy within an MMO environment. While some users find the lack of a conventional story boring or nonexistent, others appreciate the challenge and creativity involved in shaping their own in-game experience. Overall, if you're seeking an engaging storyline, this game is likely not the best fit.
- “Awesome story”
- “Good story”
- “It will replace your life story”
- “There is no story to follow, no levels to rush through, and no “win screen” waiting at the end.”
- “If you want story, then go read a book.”
- “I almost fell asleep with this story.”
stability
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is frequently described as buggy with issues like graphical glitches, slow and glitchy UI, and unreliable autocomplete, leading to occasional freezes and crashes. Despite these stability problems, some users still find value in the experience, especially for beginners or programmers interested in debugging. However, overall stability is a notable drawback impacting the gameplay experience.
- “This "game" is extremely buggy.”
- “There are very frequent graphical glitches, ranging from parts of the rooms not rendering to seeing virtual stationary creeps that have actually left that spot many ticks ago.”
- “Another point of contention is the autocomplete is very buggy, it decides when it wants to work and generally doesn't work at all, making guessing some of the code you can use and reference tricky unless you know what to look for.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the humor in the game stems from creative and unexpected gameplay moments, such as using "thief" creepers to disrupt opponents and causing amusing surprises. The humorous situations, combined with strategic play, contribute to an enjoyable and playful experience.
- “It's funny to send creeps with 1 move to construction sites and break them :)”
- “However, I had a blast trying to code a "thief" creeper that would go to my neighbour's land who had unguarded drop miners, and steal from him :p it was hilarious.”
- “Just try, it's "easy to learn, hard to master", and funny to play!”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The game currently lacks any sound effects or music, which many users find disappointing and believe detracts from the overall experience. Adding a soundtrack or audio would significantly improve engagement and enjoyment.
- “Enjoy gorgeous visuals, fluid animation, and a soundtrack that you just can't get enough of.”
- “Also having some YouTube music playing in the background will help keep your sanity while you find that finger-generated bug.”
- “This game desperately needs sounds and a soundtrack.”
- “Other disappointments included a somewhat outdated UI, lack of music or sound, and the overall look of the game in its current state.”
- “Also, no sound effects or music.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
Users highly praise the game's replayability, describing it as extensive and offering long-lasting enjoyment, with some rating it a perfect score of 100/100.
- “I thoroughly enjoy playing this game and I believe it has a huge amount of replayability.”
- “Replayability - 100/100”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the game emotionally engaging, with a growing appreciation that develops over time as they invest more effort, leading to a rewarding and enjoyable experience.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy involving a CPU subscription is reasonable, but restricting free players to only 10 CPU units is seen as overly restrictive and a potential cash grab; a default of 30 CPU would be more acceptable.
- “Selling a CPU subscription makes sense, but limiting players to 10 CPU without buying it feels like a cash grab. A default of 30 CPU would be fair.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users appreciate the game's positive and welcoming community atmosphere, expressing hope that this friendly environment will continue following the Steam launch.