The Sapling
- November 9, 2019
- Wessel Stoop
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io StoreThe Sapling is a simulation game where you design your own plants and animals, and put them in a world together. Or you turn on random mutations, and see what evolution does to your ecosystem!
Reviews
- The game offers a unique and engaging evolution simulation experience, allowing players to create and watch their own ecosystems evolve.
- The creature and plant editors provide a lot of customization options, making it fun to design various life forms.
- The developer is active and responsive to community feedback, showing dedication to improving the game over time.
- The game suffers from significant performance issues, including lag and frequent crashes, especially in sandbox mode with many creatures.
- Controls can be clunky and unintuitive, particularly the camera movement, which can hinder gameplay.
- Some mechanics, such as the evolution and adaptation systems, feel limited and may not provide the depth players expect from an evolution simulator.
- optimization80 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues that hinder gameplay, especially as populations of plants and animals increase. Many reviewers express hope for future updates to address these problems, noting that while the game has great potential and features, the current state makes it difficult to enjoy fully. Overall, the consensus is that significant optimization improvements are necessary for a better gaming experience.
“Each update that comes out further enhances the game and its mechanics in addition to performance.”
“Once the performance issues are fixed, this game is an instant recommend from me.”
“I trust the developer is working on performance and stability, and I'm really excited to see where he takes the game from here.”
“The performance is awful, and the creation of creatures and plants especially is quite clunky and confusing.”
“I want to love this game so much, but it's frustrating not being able to play in the same world for more than an hour without performance drastically dropping.”
“The game has some promise, but is in a barely playable state, and from what I see the dev is more concerned with adding more and more content instead of fixing fundamental issues like memory leaks and abysmal performance.”
- stability50 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is currently plagued by significant stability issues, including frequent crashes, freezes, and various bugs that hinder gameplay, particularly as the complexity of the simulation increases. While some players find the core mechanics enjoyable and see potential for improvement, many recommend waiting for further updates before diving in due to the persistent technical problems. Overall, the game's early access status is evident, with a strong need for optimization and bug fixes.
“Interesting concept and I wish it had been good, but it's really laggy even on my high-end computer, and the amount of glitches and features that just do not work at all along with the lack of optimization makes this a game you should wait to get.”
“After 3 years in early access, this game is still a buggy mess.”
“I want to keep playing, but in its current buggy state it's not worth booting it up just to know it'll crash sooner or later.”
- graphics41 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 51 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players noting a charming yet simplistic art style that lacks polish. Despite its appealing aesthetic, the game suffers from significant performance issues, including crashes and lag, even on lower settings, which detracts from the overall experience. While some players appreciate the potential for improvement as the game is still in early access, the current graphical optimization is a major concern.
“It's got a charming aesthetic.”
“The art style feels chubby, soft and satisfying.”
“Graphics are charming, the gameplay is fun and I feel good for supporting an indie developer.”
“Don't let the simple graphics fool you; this game will at times bring your high-end gaming PC to its knees, only able to spit out single-digit frames.”
“Even with every graphics/performance setting turned as low as possible, it still slowly devolves into constant lag and long loading times.”
“The game runs poorly on the lowest graphics setting and it crashes frequently.”
- gameplay40 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is generally praised for its interesting mechanics and potential, offering a fun sandbox experience and engaging challenges. However, many users report significant issues with optimization, bugs, and confusing mechanics that detract from the overall experience, leading to frustration and limiting playtime. While the core gameplay is enjoyable, it requires further refinement and stability to fully realize its potential.
“The gameplay is nice and interesting; you can play in the sandbox or do the challenges that teach you the mechanics of the game (and are also fun later when you want to max them out).”
“The core gameplay of this game is very fun and satisfying, although I would love to see a bit more variation in terrain.”
“Love the mechanics and simulation depth; creating an ecosystem that's evolving in real-time is such a fascinating idea and it's a lot of fun to mess around with.”
“I like this game, but I can't give it a positive recommendation when I know that you've got maybe 10-20 minutes of gameplay max before your game becomes too laggy and you can't do anything anymore (using the timeskip feature at this point has a real possibility of freezing you in the timeskip, so don't).”
“First of all, the camera alone is a buggy mess. This is one of the simplest mechanics and it has somehow been messed up; it stops moving randomly, speeds up randomly, teleports to the other side of the map randomly, and zooms out randomly.”
“As it stands, however, I wouldn't recommend Sapling, as for me the core mechanics are flawed.”
- music12 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality, with many users describing it as epic, calming, and well-suited to the gameplay. However, some players have reported issues with music playback, such as it restarting unexpectedly and stuttering, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these technical problems, the soundtrack is considered a strong point of the game, enhancing its charming art style and gameplay flow.
“The mechanics are great, the creatures look cool, the music is amazing, and it's always fun to do the scenarios and sandbox.”
“Very promising for an early access game, and the music is nice and relaxing.”
“This is a very calming game, I would recommend this plus the music goes so well with the flow of the game.”
“Whenever the world reloads, the music is turned on again (even after I turned it off), the light goes crazy, the plants are ginormous, and the game crashes :(”
“But as it is, it's unplayable for any length of time. It has many bugs; the music stutters, and the game just goes weird with graphic errors every time I play.”
“The music for the game is relaxing.”
- humor8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely appreciated, with players finding the creatures and their antics amusing, particularly the quirky fish. Despite some bugs in the updates, many users find the glitches themselves to be entertaining, contributing to the game's overall charm and unpredictability. Overall, the game successfully delivers a lighthearted and funny experience.
“This game's new food and fire update/beta is quite buggy, but the game itself is wonderful and funny.”
“I give it a positive rating as I find these bugs hilarious.”
“The sapling is a beautiful game and can also create unpredictable and hilarious outcomes.”
- story8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The story mode is the primary focus of the game, offering an engaging narrative that many players find enjoyable, despite some technical issues like crashes. While the scenario mode provides additional quests, players appreciate the challenge and creativity found within the story levels, which are seen as a significant highlight of the experience.
“The story levels help out.”
“I enjoy the challenge of the 'story' mode!”
“Effectively, only the story mode is playable right now.”
“The sapling is one man's quest to make the game he imagined Spore to be.”
“Second mission/phase is impossible.”
- emotional3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the game emotionally uplifting and wholesome, particularly appreciating its simulation elements that resonate with their personal experiences and feelings. The overall sentiment reflects a strong connection to the game's ability to evoke positive emotions.
“Thanks, Wessel, for making a good wholesome game.”
“I'm a big fan of simulation games and touching grass, so this is pretty much perfect!”
