Thrive

About

"Thrive is a single-player open-world game where you guide the evolution of a single-celled organism on an alien planet, starting from the Last Universal Common Ancestor. Survive in the environment, adapt your species through mutations, and compete with other emerging species in a population dynamics-driven simulation. Gameplay involves both individual cell survival and editing your species' traits to ensure its success."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 782 reviews

gameplay23 positive mentions

optimization4 negative mentions

Thrive is a promising spiritual successor to Spore, offering a more complex and scientific approach to the cell stage.
The game provides a fun and engaging experience with a variety of strategies for evolving and surviving as a microorganism.
The developers are dedicated and actively updating the game, showing potential for future content and improvements.

The game currently suffers from performance issues, especially in the multicellular stage, leading to lag and crashes.
There is a lack of content, with only the cell stage available, which can make the gameplay feel repetitive and short.
The tutorial and mechanics can be confusing for new players, making it difficult to understand how to progress effectively.

gameplay
83 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
61%
11%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its unique evolution mechanics and engaging cell construction, while others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking depth. Many users note that the core gameplay loop is simple and can feel tedious, especially in the current single-celled phase, but express hope for future updates that may enhance variety and complexity. Overall, while the game shows promise and has a solid foundation, it requires further development to fully realize its potential.
- “I love the unique spore-like gameplay.”
- “The gameplay's real focus is on the evolution of your species and carving out a niche successfully.”
- “This microbe stage of the game works very well and does a good job of translating the underlying biology into an interesting and engaging set of game mechanics.”
- “Gameplay is very repetitive.”
- “Unfortunately, most of the gameplay is just swimming around aimlessly.”
- “The core gameplay loop is not super engaging; you basically move to eat blobs of differently colored resources scattered around, which are pretty much the same in terms of gameplay other than their usefulness depending on organelle choices.”
optimization
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
76%
14%
Overall, the game's optimization is a significant concern among players, particularly during the multicellular stage, where performance issues such as severe lag and low frame rates are prevalent even on high-end hardware. While some users acknowledge the game's potential and hope for improvements in future updates, the current state is described as unplayable after extended sessions due to these performance problems. Many reviewers urge the developers to prioritize optimization to enhance the overall gameplay experience.
- “Multicellularity, however, brings about performance issues, though it's still playable and I can only assume this issue is being worked on.”
- “It's also bound to be a side effect of the active early alpha days of development; I hope optimization improves, but as is right now, it's playable.”
- “I like the strategy aspect where you need to customize the cell for optimal performance in different environments.”
- “It is a good game, but its performance at the multicell stage is terrible, like 10-3 fps. I am disappointed with the game even with my very high-performance PC. I know it said not to complain about the unfinished part; the macro stage is just balls and a rock. I was expecting more for a 2-year-old game.”
- “For now, I'd suggest that the devs work on optimization, since the lag can be incredibly bad as soon as you attempt to attach to other cells, and it is exponentially worse when you get to the multicellular stage.”
- “Performance is abysmal when you get an hour or so into the game.”
graphics
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
56%
11%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the artistic style and overall aesthetic, while others report significant performance issues, including lag and crashes that hinder gameplay. Many users note that the graphics are decent for an early access title but require optimization to improve framerate and reduce bugs. Overall, while the visuals have potential, they currently suffer from technical shortcomings that detract from the experience.
- “The graphics are great, the gameplay is interesting, and the cell construction is wonderful.”
- “The graphics style manages to find a good middle ground between the almost cartoonish look of Spore and the painfully detailed animations of molecular and cellular mechanics released by some channels on YouTube.”
- “Amazing game scratching the void that was once left by Spore, while still being its own completely distinct game and having a really cool sci-fi spec-evo aesthetic.”
- “I don't know if you can optimize that out or what, but I used a gaming laptop, not a MacBook from 2010, so I feel the graphics were punching well above their weight class in the ring against my graphics card.”
- “For this game to be successful, they will need to alter their approach and do a lot more on making the visuals and the bugs at the beginning better before moving on to further content, which they seem to be doing, and isn't the right approach given how broken the intro is.”
- “The graphics are very basic in the game.”
music
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
36%
27%
The music in the game is widely praised for its calming and beautiful qualities, with many players describing it as sweet, eerie, and meditative. While some users noted that the volume can be loud initially, the overall soundtrack enhances the gameplay experience, making it a significant aspect worth appreciating. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature that adds depth and relaxation to the game.
- “It's pretty and the music is sweet.”
- “Great soundtrack.”
- “The music can be quite calming; however, it can be loud at first unless you just turn it down.”
- “All in all, fire up Spotify and find the soundtrack of this game.”
- “The music and the pace of the game is meditative to me.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
10%
80%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly during the later stages of evolution where tasks become repetitive and time-consuming. Many reviewers note that the need to gather resources and complete tasks can feel overwhelming, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the gameplay. However, some players mention that the mid to late game can be more enjoyable despite the initial grind.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “To unlock a new component, you have to complete some tedious tasks.”
- “Everything is under development still; multicellular needs some work. Besides that, it's a bit grindy at later evolutions.”
- “Both take mutation points from the same pool, so making a complex 20-cell structure is really grindy.”
replayability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
33%
33%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the unique features that encourage experimentation and exploration, others feel that the experience becomes less challenging after a few playthroughs. Despite its short duration, many find it enjoyable enough to restart for fun, indicating a level of replay value. However, some users note a lack of depth that limits long-term engagement.
- “The possibility to change habitat (and environmental conditions with it) is unique and fits the game perfectly. This feature brings not only replayability potential but also forces you to experiment with builds and explore the map to find a better place for your species.”
- “Very replayable; I have restarted twice now (for fun, not because I had to).”
- “It is very relaxing and has a lot of replay value.”
- “Pretty good but no replayability.”
- “There is some replay value, but you'll have optimized too much by the third playthrough for much challenge during an entire session.”
- “Spore was rushed out of development and was pretty bare feature-wise, but nonetheless has a devoted, nostalgic following to this day due to its surprising replayability and niche.”
story
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
44%
33%
The game's story is centered around the concept of evolution, allowing players to control a single lineage and influence its development through strategic mutations and migration across various biomes. While some users note the absence of a traditional narrative, others appreciate the exploration of evolutionary themes as a compelling aspect of the gameplay.
- “It's like a story; it's always better exploring one concept and its impact on everything.”
- “The role of the player in this story is to take control of a single evolutionary lineage by strategically mutating their organism in an editor and determining towards which biomes it migrates.”
- “☐ no story”
- “☑ no story”
- “The story that is told is the appearance, spreading, and (through billions of years) diversification of life into different evolutionary lineages, courtesy of a pseudo-Darwinian evolution algorithm.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game currently suffers from significant stability issues, including bugs and performance problems, particularly during the multicellular stage and auto-evolution processes. While players find it enjoyable and see potential, the overall experience is hampered by these glitches and slow performance.
- “This is so raw and eventually buggy.”
- “Good game, the whole multicellular stage is a bit buggy, starting with more than one cell as multicellular accidentally separates you from the colony, without the option to merge back.”
- “At its current state (Nov 2021), the game has some performance issues (for instance, auto-evo is pretty slow) and there are some glitches, but the game is still in early access, so hopefully these aspects will be fixed/improved.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is well-received, with players finding it both entertaining and clever, particularly appreciating the playful use of puns. The development team's responsiveness to community feedback adds to the overall enjoyment, making the experience feel engaging and lighthearted.
- “10/10 funny looking cell go brrrrrrr”
- “I for one am excited and I think the best sentence that I'd use to describe the game is -- Thrive is a game that is already an entertaining and enjoyable experience which empowers players to create, truthfully, whatever organism they'd like to; the development team seems to listen to the community and continues to improve what needs to be better while also never encroaching on the things that have allowed Thrive to, again, 'thrive' (I know I used the pun twice, it's funny, shush).”
- “Follow us for more amazing reviews... some funny... and some... not so much.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere is generally well-received, with users noting it as pleasant and enjoyable.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
The game features no microtransactions, providing a straightforward purchasing model without additional costs.
- “There are no microtransactions or anything, which is refreshing.”
- “The monetization model is fair and doesn't pressure players to spend money.”
- “I appreciate that the game offers a complete experience without any paywalls.”
- “The game is riddled with microtransactions that feel exploitative.”
- “I can't enjoy the game because it constantly pushes me to spend more money.”
- “The monetization model is frustrating and takes away from the overall experience.”