If juggling dozens of numbers in real-time while your phone processor takes a beating sounds like fun to you then Edgeworks Entertainment’s idle planet-building game TerraGenesis is for you.
Cultivate real planets in our solar system and alien worlds in this immersive idle planetary simulator based on real science.
How many planets are there in TerraGenesis?
A little over three years ago Edgeworks Entertainment released TerraGenesis (Free), a freakishly deep simulation and strategy game where you can terraform planets, build colonies, and develop them into thriving civilizations. The game uses actual science and data from NASA to cultivate life on desolate planets, including our own solar system’s planets, their satellites, or fictional alien worlds.
Each world has different attributes that make it more or less difficult to terraform and colonize. There’s also a wide range of minerals and biological species to discover and splice together.
Players are encouraged to start with the Terrestrial Planet Pack, which includes Mars, Mercury, and the Moon and is available for free. The remaining worlds are unlocked one at a time as you beat each of them. There are also several planet packs and world bundles, as well as the All Access Pass, that can be purchased to unlock additional worlds early. These purchases don’t impact your progression but can make it faster to terraform a planet.
What is TerraGenesis?
TerraGenesis is a number-driven game where you build things and watch them grow. While there are a few animations of hab-units and heating clusters assembling, most of the game is played out in numbers and visualized statistics.
You’re a space scientist, trying to terraform alien planets for colonization by humans. But terraforming isn’t without controversy in the real world, and the TRAPPIST-1 campaign has you facing off against two rival science teams (Daughters of Gaia vs Sons of Hephaestus) over the morality of planetary engineering.
The planetary biosphere determines how green your world is, and the amount of land plants contribute to how habitable a planet is. A planet can also be cooled or heated, but this can have serious consequences for life there.
It’s important to keep track of your credit, which is earned both from commercial sites and events and in the city centers. You can pause and resume construction and research at these centers, or speed up progress with Genesis Points.
What are the main features of TerraGenesis?
The game has a huge community, and some big updates are coming that will add new planets and features. It’s also free-to-play, though the game is very slow to start up on Windows 10 Mobile and drains phone processor power while running.
You can pause the game at any time to stop the progress of your terraforming project, but you’ll need to be careful that you don’t leave it unattended for too long or you could return to an unplayable planet. You’ll also need to pay attention to planetary stats – for example, changing the climate can be very destructive, especially when water is concerned.
A lot of the planet’s terraforming is done through number-driven statistics, so there isn’t much in the way of surface structure-building animations, but it’s nice to see the planet slowly transforming from bare rock into a lush world with trees and grass. The game is partnered with the Rodale Institute, a real-life nonprofit organization that promotes organic farming, so there’s a nice environmental angle to the game as well.
What are the limitations of TerraGenesis?
TerraGenesis is a complex game that demands dedication and patience to master. Players need to constantly be on the lookout for new challenges and learn from past mistakes. A thriving colony requires a balanced economy of production facilities and revenue-generating structures. Players must balance the number of each type of building and ensure that each is positioned correctly to maximize profit.
The game also features a social component that encourages friendly competition among players and rewards them for their efforts. Players can also participate in faction wars to earn extra resources.
While the game is an immersive experience, it does drain the battery and processor power of your phone. This makes it difficult to play if you have other tasks on your plate. The game starts up slowly as well, taking more than 30 seconds on a Lumia 950 to load. This may deter impatient gamers from trying it out. However, the game is free to download and does not feature any in-app purchases.
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