The Universim
- July 31, 2018
- Crytivo
- 9h median play time
"The Universim" is a god-game simulation where players oversee a developing civilization across time. Manage resources, research technology, and handle natural disasters to guide your civilization to prosperity. Experience a living, breathing world with dynamic AI and simulated ecosystems. However, keep in mind that ultimate power may lead to the downfall of your civilizations if misused.
Reviews
- Engaging gameplay that allows players to guide a civilization from the Stone Age to the Space Age.
- Beautiful graphics and a charming narrator add to the overall experience.
- The game offers a unique blend of city-building and god simulation mechanics.
- Gameplay can become tedious with long wait times for research and building construction.
- The AI can be frustrating, with nuggets often making poor decisions that lead to resource shortages.
- Frequent updates can render save files obsolete, forcing players to restart their progress.
- gameplay455 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "The Universim" has received mixed reviews, with players appreciating its blend of city-building and god game mechanics, but criticizing its pacing and depth. Many find the core gameplay loop repetitive and slow, often involving long waits for research and resource management, which can lead to boredom. While the game features engaging visuals and a humorous narrative, it suffers from bugs and a lack of clarity in mechanics, leaving some players feeling that it is still in an incomplete state despite its potential.
“The balance between resource management, citizen happiness, and planetary conditions keeps the gameplay exciting and dynamic.”
“It masterfully combines classic god game nostalgia with modern mechanics, offering an immersive and engaging experience.”
“The game seamlessly blends city-building, strategy, and god game elements, providing a dynamic and immersive gameplay experience.”
“Universim is a barely above average city builder game and a mediocre god game; its engine is promising, but the content is extremely shallow and spread over several dozen hours of gameplay where all you're doing is waiting for technology to advance.”
“The gameplay loop is a case of 'click a button to queue researching something' and then 'click to place a building of what you just researched' and then 'click to queue a new research' and you repeat that over and over.”
“The whole game dynamic just feels off after a few hours of gameplay, and the straw on the camel's back was an underground expedition where I had to constantly assist the team, only for them to run out of food and rebel, losing everything just 50 meters from the surface.”
- graphics347 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their vibrant, cartoonish art style and detailed visuals, which enhance the immersive experience. Many players appreciate the charming aesthetics and humor, although some have noted performance issues and graphical bugs, particularly on certain systems. Overall, the graphics are considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's appeal despite some optimization concerns.
“The graphics are beautiful, watching the world grow older for your nuggets is interesting and interactive, and just trying to keep all of the nuggets alive and happy is a fun (yet sometimes infuriating) challenge.”
“The graphics are amazing, with popping colors and clean environment/character designs, and the music soothes my soul.”
“The graphics are lovely, very pretty indeed, without being childishly cartoon-like, and the nuggets are simply adorable.”
“Pretty graphics don't mean anything if you can't even control anything.”
“Aesthetically, the game falls flat, especially in the later stages.”
“There are major graphical bugs, and the dev team has made it clear that these won't be fixed due to the game engine.”
- humor214 mentions
- 99 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for its cleverness and charm, primarily delivered through a sarcastic narrator whose witty remarks enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the blend of dark and light-hearted humor, with many finding the quirky quests and character interactions amusing. However, some reviewers noted that the humor can become repetitive over time, and while it starts strong, it may lose its novelty in the later stages of gameplay.
“The humor in the game, both up front and subtle, is what keeps me coming back to the Universim.”
“The narrator is funny and charming but disappears after a few hours as you get past the first phase; I would love for extra dialogue to be added later on from him.”
“Funny comments from a 'narrator' throughout the game, interesting and hilarious descriptions and loading screen hints clearly show you that the developers put a lot of effort into this game.”
“The guy is not funny and tries too hard.”
“I get how it is supposed to be funny, but the clunky camera and UI design just make him talk constantly, and then it just becomes annoying.”
- story155 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 81 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating the engaging narrative and charming quests that create a sense of attachment to the "nuggets," while others criticize its linearity and lack of depth, leading to repetitive gameplay. Many reviews highlight bugs and issues with quest mechanics that detract from the overall experience, suggesting that the story feels incomplete or poorly executed. Overall, while there are elements of an interesting storyline, the execution leaves much to be desired, impacting replayability and player engagement.
“The storyline is rich with lore and surprises, immersing the player in a captivating world filled with mystery and discovery.”
“With its stunning graphics, intricate gameplay mechanics, and engaging storyline, The Universim has captured the hearts of gamers worldwide.”
“This game has a brilliant intro and leads the player into a rich world of development along with a great story.”
“The linear nature and story that the developers chose is an unfortunate decision that hurts replayability.”
“Many, if not most of the quests and cutscenes are seriously bugged to the point where it's game-breaking.”
“There was never any threat to deal with and the quests are just 'rinse and repeats'.”
- stability110 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 91 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been a significant concern among players, with many reporting persistent bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, even after the recent 1.0 update. While some users noted improvements and a reduction in major issues, others described the game as still being plagued by various technical problems, including freezing, AI malfunctions, and unresponsive mechanics. Overall, the consensus suggests that while the game shows potential, it remains unpolished and requires further development to achieve a stable experience.
“What is in the game right now is really well done - essentially the stone age and medieval age are polished and bug free.”
“Long story short: the game is still in its early phases, what they have out is, for the most part, bug free and fun to play.”
“Relatively bug free for an early access in my opinion.”
“Once you leave the planet, the game becomes too buggy to continue playing.”
“Sadly it is so bug-ridden it's almost unplayable.”
“The release date is recent, but this game has been in development for ages, and you sure can't tell by how buggy it is.”
- grinding76 mentions
- 1 % positive mentions
- 7 % neutral mentions
- 92 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has been widely criticized for being excessively tedious and repetitive, with players often feeling overwhelmed by micromanagement and slow-paced mechanics. Many reviews highlight the frustration of waiting for research progress and managing resources, which detracts from the overall enjoyment and leads to a sense of boredom. Despite some interesting concepts, the game's execution results in a grind that feels unfulfilling and overly demanding.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“The technology in this game is time gate after time gate and while some of its contents are interesting (like unlocking bridges or crumbs of new structures), the game ends up being extremely tedious and repetitive, again, because it lacks content.”
“Research is tediously slow, meaning you spend most of your playtime waiting to get new buildings to place, often 5-10 minutes at a time.”
“The end game is just tedious and not fun to play.”
- optimization69 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is a significant concern among players, particularly in late-game scenarios where performance issues, such as lag and frame rate drops, become pronounced. While some users appreciate the game's visuals and initial smooth performance, many report that the game struggles to handle larger populations and complex simulations, rendering it nearly unplayable for some. There is a general consensus that optimization improvements are urgently needed, especially as the game is still in its early stages.
“The graphics are great, the game runs smoothly even on slower computers, and the progression/research system is vast.”
“I hope that the game gets better optimized in the future, but overall it’s absolutely amazing and fun!”
“The graphic design is at the same time creative and simple, which allows the game to handle an obscene amount of items on the screen without weighing down the performance.”
“The game is almost unplayable to me due to the fact that it's not optimized yet.”
“Unfortunately, once my population reached above 150, my performance tanked and rendered the game unplayable.”
“The game is poorly optimized, and although it has great visuals, it is hard to be immersed and relaxed while your CPU screams to death.”
- music62 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to enhance immersion and create a relaxing atmosphere, with many users highlighting the engaging soundtrack and effective voiceover work. While the overall composition is considered exceptional, some players noted issues such as music stopping during gameplay and a desire for more varied scores. Overall, the sound design contributes significantly to the game's charm and enjoyment.
“The ambient sounds and dynamic soundtrack enhance immersion, perfectly complementing the game’s atmosphere.”
“Finally, the game's soundtrack is truly exceptional, adding an extra layer of depth and emotion to the gameplay experience.”
“This game is super relaxing, and full of enjoyment with chill music playing in the background, watching your 'nuggets' progress and grow their civilization.”
“I usually turn off the music and would likely have turned the 'narrator' off if the commentary he provided wasn't so good.”
“Cant adjust audio for some reason, just deafening music at all times with no option to turn it down.”
“I was messing with the new nuggets when I noticed the music was skipping.”
- replayability43 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with some players praising its high replay value due to procedurally generated worlds and diverse gameplay mechanics, while others criticize its linearity and repetitive nature, leading to a lack of long-term engagement. Frequent updates and new content have been noted to enhance replayability, but many feel that the core experience remains shallow and limited. Overall, opinions vary widely, with some finding it highly replayable and others deeming it lacking in depth and variety.
“Additionally, the game's procedurally generated worlds offer a high replayability factor, ensuring that each new playthrough is unique and challenging in its own way.”
“This is a great game, very diverse and highly replayable.”
“Replayability is also very high, and with every patch and update it's even more fun.”
“The linear nature and story that the developers chose is an unfortunate decision that hurts replayability.”
“Playing it again is the same experience every time, so there isn't much replayability.”
“Currently, the gameplay is incredibly shallow, not only making it somewhat boring for people who are very deep into god games, but also hurting replayability (a vital component to any god game in my book).”
- atmosphere17 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive visuals, dynamic soundtrack, and relaxing vibe, making it enjoyable for players who appreciate a god-game experience. Reviewers highlight the sense of progression as they build and manage their colonies, while also noting the humorous and sometimes dark undertones of the gameplay. Overall, the atmosphere is described as engaging and fun, with a unique charm that enhances the overall experience.
“The ambient sounds and dynamic soundtrack enhance immersion, perfectly complementing the game’s atmosphere.”
“I also appreciate the game's relaxing atmosphere and sense of progression as I watch my colony grow and thrive.”
“I really enjoy the atmosphere and narrator for this game.”
“The planet is small, ugly, and lacks atmosphere.”
“I started getting a toxic atmosphere (low O2) that was present all around the planet.”
“Between throwing dead corpses in lakes and watching people being flung into the atmosphere for no apparent reason (bug), I was mostly just staring at the screen, watching my nuggets work.”
- emotional10 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional response to the game is largely negative, with players feeling a sense of helplessness and detachment rather than engagement or excitement. While some appreciate the organic development of the town, the lack of meaningful interactions and overwhelming elements, such as inappropriate audio, detract from any emotional connection to the characters or gameplay. Overall, the game fails to evoke strong feelings, leaving players feeling indifferent.
“But instead, this game made me feel like a helpless loser.”
“The town, as it develops, gains that extraordinary organic look, which certainly made me feel like it grew naturally, which is awesome as far as I am concerned.”
“So far, the game did not get me excited or emotionally bound by my little mcnuggets.”
- monetization9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- -22 % neutral mentions
- 89 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has received significant criticism, with users labeling it a "cash grab" due to misleading advertising and incomplete features. Many express frustration over intrusive ads and poor user interface design, which detracts from the overall experience. While some appreciate the absence of loot boxes and microtransactions, the game's current state and pricing have led to a lack of recommendations until substantial improvements are made.
“The price is fair for what it offers; the game includes everything with no loot boxes or microtransactions.”
“I appreciate that there are no hidden costs or intrusive DRM; it's a complete package.”
“It's refreshing to see a game that doesn't rely on monetization tactics like loot boxes.”
“Cash grab, no updates, garbage game as of right now.”
“Can't play the game; it is nowhere near complete, and you cannot achieve the images in the ads, nor can you get planes or aliens. This game shouldn't even have left the engine.”
“As it stands right now, I will not be recommending this so obvious cash grab until it has done some serious overhauling to its features and reduced that price significantly.”
- character development3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The character development in the game is highlighted by its cute and visually appealing designs, particularly for the nuggets and alien-like animals, which contribute to an immersive and vibrant aesthetic. The combination of stunning graphics and soothing music enhances the overall experience, making the characters feel engaging and memorable.
“The graphics are amazing, with vibrant colors and clean environment and character designs, and the music soothes my soul.”
“The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
“There are limited options for character progression, which makes the experience feel stagnant.”
“The characters don't evolve throughout the game, leaving them feeling one-dimensional and uninteresting.”