Ecosystem
Release date: Nov 8, 2024
Developers: Tom Johnson
Publishers: Slug Disco
Genres: Casual, Indie, Simulation, Strategy
Categories: Single-player, Steam Workshop, Steam Cloud, Family Sharing
Supported languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese

Ecosystem is a game about life. At its heart are evolving virtual lifeforms, who grow from synthetic DNA and live in a physically-simulated ocean. This DNA encodes everything about a creature: their skeletal structure, their mental processors and even their combat prowess. Simulation The nervous system of a virtual lifeform is a pipeline computer where, every moment, data from sense organs passes through a network of neurons and finally contracts a muscle in a specific body part. Creatures swim just like real sea-life, applying torque at their joints to push against the water in a way coordinated to propel themselves forward. Evolution To create life, you need only release a batch of these lifeforms into the water with random brains and bodies. Most will flail around aimlessly, but those that manage to move even slightly will get to have more offspring than the others. Ten generations later, their descendants will be talented swimmers. It’s really satisfying to see the creatures evolve in a real sense, guided by your hand in the simulated fluid of your own world. Combat Whether it’s using electrical attacks to stun enemies or developing poisonous spikes to evade the jaws of predators, Ecosystem’s simulation features an in-depth combat layer. Each creature has a range of combat statistics that will determine their role in the food chain. As a species evolves and gains a foothold, it will need to adapt to survive attacks from predators or face extinction. Playing God If you want to take a more hands-on approach in your creatures’ evolution, a suite of tools are provided, unlocked as you progress through the game, to force certain traits in your species. From high level settings such as requiring a species to have tentacles, be a certain size, or have a set amount of body parts, to minute details such as determining the amount of drag or torque a creature may face when swimming, the simulation is yours to control. Sculpt Your Own Ecosystem Ecosystem features procedural worlds with a variety of options such as ocean depth and soil type, but you can go one step further and sculpt the terrain yourself, raising mountains or carving out dark caves for your predators to lurk in. Data At Your Fingertips For players who want to monitor their ecosystems closely, there is a lot of data at your fingertips. We’ve got you covered for all the statistics and analysis of your world that you could possibly want - from ecosystem overviews showing population charts for both animals and plants to phylogenetic trees for individual species, allowing you to track your species evolution. Share Online Ecosystem features Steam Workshop support, allowing you to share your species, maps and aquariums. Download other players' species from within the game and introduce them to your ecosystem and see if they have what it takes to survive.