Environmental impact has been a major topic in recent years, particularly as a source for video game inspiration; from the cosy planet-cleaner Terra Nil to the oily ocean extravaganza of Spilled!, there is a lot of fun to be had in the impending, real-world cataclysm that is planetary devastation; we should probably do something about that.
BioEden follows this theme of human-made global destruction but puts additional emphasis on how our relationship with technology and our tendencies towards over-industrialisation correlate to this – more importantly, it gives you the tools to do something about it; you’ll set out to revive your environment, breathe life back into the world and bring numerous species back from the brink of extinction. Sadly you’ll only be doing this in the game, but who knows – give it 30 years and we might all have a pet dodo, provided the atmosphere doesn’t combust before then.
Designed as a two-for-one colony simulator, you are charged with managing resources both inside and outside of specially made domes; inside the domes you will need to set conditions to perfectly manage any number of cloned animal species with the objective of releasing them into the wild, but before you can do that you’ll need to reduce the pollution on the surface and rebuild habitats – all of this while balancing your own impact on the world.
Before getting the inside of your domes up and running, you need to establish some infrastructure around them – this means building solar farms, laboratories, water plants and a network of cables to connect your resource miners, giving you the materials you need to expand further; in any other game this would be great news, but BioEden is not about expansion – as a matter of fact, the more you expand, the more peril you put the planet in as your risk of creating a calamity increases.
Instead of growing outward, you are encouraged to recycle and remove your resources when they are no longer needed – each device will refund exactly what was spent on it, meaning there are never any downsides to remodelling the planet with the exception of time. Finding the balance between resource gathering, cleaning pollution and avoiding over-industrialisation is key to restoring the planet and making a perfect place for your newly raised critters to roam.
On the subject of newly raised creatures, this is where your domes come in: balancing flora and fauna to create a perfect environment is vital to the later stages of revitalising your planet, with each creature requiring their own set of ideal circumstances to grow, mate and eventually leave the dome – this can include controlling humidity and heat, but generally means placing the right items nearby.
For both parts of the game you begin with limited access to resources and technology – by itself this is a fairly standard practice for the genre, allowing you to upgrade as you progress to bigger and better tech, but as mentioned this isn’t a game about growth, meaning progression is tied to two different factors – your research points and your faction missions.
Research points are the easiest to obtain, usually gathered from a laboratory sitting passively by your dome as you play; this, along with points gained from exploring the historic ruins of the planet will give you the tools to produce more effective types of technology, ranging from upgraded humidifiers to water purifiers, allowing you to bring the planet back to life more effectively.
Unlike research points, faction missions instead require you to reach certain progress milestones before unlocking the next reward – each of the five factions specialises in a certain area such as technology, ecology or exploration, but all of them aspire to the same end goal of bringing the planet back into balance; these factions, known as ‘Guilds’, will guide your playstyle, asking you to prioritise different goals to one another – this could mean exploring the entire surface of the planet before releasing your creatures or optimising your technology to reduce your impact.
The game leans heavily into the cosy and relaxed playstyle, asking players to try their hardest but also making sure that every step forward is a positive one – this might turn some people away, but I for one welcome the idea of playing a simulator like this without a fail state; even after being buffeted by sandstorms and fighting for resources, it’s always a good feeling to know the player can still recover – something we don’t have the luxury of on our own world.
The game isn’t entirely without flaws; its relaxed nature also means it suffers from a slow pace, even at its highest speed – you can often spend a few minutes staring at the screen waiting for resources to be gathered or structures to be built, especially in the earlier stages of the game. Along with the pacing, there are a few issues with the UI scaling options – despite working for the menus, in-game the UI doesn’t appear to scale correctly. This might be something that will be fixed in an early patch, but it is worth taking into account if you have any sort of visual difficulties.
These small issues don’t trump the fact that BioEden is an incredibly fun game – some may argue that the trend of making cosy games in each genre is becoming tired, but I would argue the opposite – playing with genre is such a vital part of the creative process; combined with a strong message about the importance of protecting our planet, the game manages to strike a fine balance between entertainment and reminding us of our own ecological fragility. It also has cute creatures in it.
