Recent reviews by Ph®enzy

Whistle goes woo-woo!

This game is great on so many levels. There is the cuteness factor. I smile when two buddy dups pass each other, turn around, and shoot finger guns at each other. Another favorite is when a dup uses the Rock Crusher.

Another high point is the level of skill possible. This game has a rather shallow learning curve, meaning it takes a while to level up your skill. There are challenges at every skill level. There is always something you could learn how to do. There is always a way you could make things a little better.

There are also levels in a more literal sense. Power has a level, as does liquids, and also gasses. They can run alongside each other, influencing each other with the appropriate building.

This is a game can creep into your life when you are not playing. I mean this in a mostly good way. There have been many times I’ve gone to sleep thinking about how to solve a particular problem. I will later come up with a solution. Not just a solution, but the most fantastic solution. In fact, the world needs to hear about this. I need to announce my newly discovered fantastic build plan. Then 48 hours later, I realize a little thing I missed and I have an even better plan. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

As your experience builds, you will discover some other element in the game, such as polluted oxygen. It is a pain; at times it will feel like a great hindrance. After a while, you discover something about it that makes you realize it is a hidden treasure. Then you discover polluted water, and then slime. They are a pain, then they are a helpful tool. Everything is like that.

After a while you can build a base where your dups will not easily die. But you have to be very careful and babysit them. You have enough confidence to explore a little further from the arch. Then something unexpected happens, and you lose the base. You figured out what mistake you made and you try again.

Your next base performs a little better and you last a little longer. And you got to try out a few new buildings. Then you make another mistake that you didn’t realize the ramifications, and you lose another base.

Despite your death count, your dups are happy to do your bidding. They have no idea they are doomed. In time, you get pretty good at keeping the little buggers alive. You decide to make their home a little nicer. They see art everywhere. They have pretty plants to look at. And they don’t have to step in pee nearly as often as they used to.

You have become a proficient base builder. Don’t get me wrong. You still build airflow tiles where a mesh tile should have gone. You occasionally have to tear apart a good part of your base because of a lead aquatuner. Your toilets stop working. Your dups stop using the atmos suits, etc. But you’ve made these mistakes enough to know how to quickly solve it.
At this stage you will have anywhere from 400 to 800 hours. Congratulations. You are no longer a beginner. You now enough to build a rather stable base that the dups will not easily slay themselves like a bunch of lemmings. You convince a friend to play the game. After a while they start asking questions. Their confusion reminds you of how far you have come. How you can start up a base and keep it alive for 100 cycles without much difficulty Only now you realize how far you have come.

At 2000 hours, there is still a lot I have not worked with.

See you in the great hall, by the water fountain.

Great game. I wish I could remove it from my mind and play it all over again.

I feel I need to bring this up. Some key maps are unchangeable. As a left-handed player, this makes the game difficult to play. I would have returned it if I didn't have a keyboard with remappable keys.