Ever wondered what it would be like if the Sims packed up and decided to settle on a new planet? How about Stardew Valley but sci-fi? Seed aims to answer these questions and more with its society-building gameplay and neat genre mashups. This one sees you managing space colonists tasked with setting up life on a new planet 1,000 years after Earth’s demise. The individual colonists are controlled by AI, but you are the lone master of their collective actions, deciding which tasks to prioritize in their quest to build a new home among the stars.
Seed melds together elements of various genres, combining the life simulation of The Sims with the scope and sci-fi setting of Star Citizen. It seems like it’ll be a good shout for fans of relaxing games like Stardew Valley too.
What makes Seed more notable, though, is that – on top of its myriad sim mechanics – it’s also an MMO. You can choose to cooperate with other players to create a functioning society or, alternatively, become their enemy. Uniting with other families lets you form large colonies where your seedlings can thrive, so it’s down to you whether you’ll pursue a glorious utopia or only look out for number one.
First, you’ll need to attend to your clan’s basic needs, like gathering food for them and building shelters to ensure the safety of your seedlings. Your first priority will be to establish a homestead for your seedlings, where you can cultivate crops and livestock. It sounds like things get a bit more complex from there on. Beyond mere survival, you’ll have to juggle issues of caretaking, government, and business. To build a functioning society, you’ll also need leaders. You can have one of your seedlings run for the presidency, or you can vote for a fellow player.
If you see yourself as more of an industrial paragon, then Seed also seems to have some robust business mechanics. You’ll need to assign one of your seedlings to run the show, and once it’s shipshape you can create job openings and hire other seedlings to keep things moving. An assembly machine can build products for you, which will probably come in handy given the apparent scarcity of resources out in the wilderness.
Finally, caretaking encompasses the well-being of your seedlings. When you first lay down the roots of your settlement, your focus will be on keeping your virtual followers safe and fed. As things progress, though, you’ll be able to establish relationships with other seedlings and tend to their day-to-day needs. They can join clubs, get jobs, and form friendships. As I say, it’s all very Sims.
But with great power comes great responsibility – and Seed does grant you that power. If you’re feeling a little more chaotic evil, you can stir the pot and cause some drama with your neighboring civilizations – which I, for one, will probably end up doing. After all, it’s nice to be nice, but fun to cause havoc.
Seed is still in development, but you can get a headstart on building your society on Avesta by signing up for the free test flight. This preview period is running until Tuesday, November 28, so don’t wait around.
Read our list of the best MMO games for more recommendations like this,