Kittens Game

Over the years I've made a couple of references to Kitten's Game but never really talked much about it. Calling itself the Dark Souls of incremental gaming, Kittens Game is not quite as complex as Sandcastle Builder, but it's complex enough to be interesting by a good margin.

The game is a somewhat typical town-builder in that you generate a variety of resources like wood, minerals and gold, then you use those materials to build buildings in a sensible if very gamey way - a lumber mill uses wood, minerals and iron. An observatory uses scaffolds, iron and slabs and science.

The game contains a huge number of science upgrades that take you through all the ages of civilization you'll find in Civilization V plus a little bit more. It also has a no-so-hidden horror-themed parallel development tree.

Some interesting things about the game are its use of resource caps that I hadn't really seen in this kind of idle game before, and it's use of crafted resources. As you go through the game you increase your craft ratio so instead of using 175 wood to make a beam, you use 175 wood to make two or three or ten beams. This keeps the relationship between your resources changing as you play through. the prestige system also has features that really change the game dynamics, not just multiply your production by a fixed number.

I played through almost all the content a little over a year ago, but they've added more since, and since I got a new computer I started again. I've been playing since late November, I think. There's definitely a lot to do and a lot of play in the game. I don't know if it's quite as epic as Sandcastle Builder, but it definitely would be more appealing to those who like their games to make a vague amount of sense.