Reus

Reus is a game of logical, organic systems presented as simply as possible. It’s a delight to play at every turn, and it strikes the perfect balance between providing new content and not overloading players. Beneath its unassuming appearance exists a challenging experience that will last a good long time. Maybe not as long as it took for humanity to grow from nomadic tribes to city-dwelling go-getters, but who the hell has time for that?

Reus takes the concept of god games and adds its own twists making for a refreshing change of pace. It’s a really relaxing experience thanks to its beautiful hand-drawn art-style and its smooth music, and I always find myself coming back for more. Despite its casual looks, the game provides plenty of in-depth mechanics that work perfectly together, making for a great mix of strategy and puzzle genres. The game is available right now on Steam for 10$ and for what it has to offer it’s a must own, more so if you like the idea of having your own digital “ant” farm.

I can’t believe I never heard of Reus when it released on Steam three years ago. I love sim-style games, and this one appeared to have its own unique spin on the genre, not to mention adorable visual representation. Look at the image above. I created otters. Otters. That already puts it in my personal game of the year race. Adorable otters aside, how well does it stack up against other god genre titles? PC gamers seem to love it on Steam, which hints that it does something right in this genre, but how well does it cross to the console? Sim games and other real-time strategy titles often hit a ...

Crab gods and swamps lands and ambassadors (oh my)

Reus is a god-sim that lets players terraform the world, choosing what plants and animals will inhabit it. Revel in the forging of great empires, or watch in horror as humans lead to the world's destruction.

Reus is a gorgeous-looking, imaginative game which suffers from over-baked mechanics, but those hungry for to play god are still likely to find one of their favourite Populous-style games in a long while. Finding the fun here means embracing a needlessly complex and unintuitive system of synergies and transmutations, and a high tolerance for repetition over the long haul, but those elements are at least backed up with plenty of personality and no shortage of challenge.

These issues aside, though, Reus is a fantastic god game - even if it departs from the usual defining staples of that genre and feels more like a puzzle game. Working out its puzzles to help bring your people to prosperity is challenging and rewarding, and while the need to keep referring to tooltips and the slow speed of your giants can get frustrating, you’ll want to keep returning to Reus, trying again and again to make your world as prosperous as it can be.