Crest PC

Crest is a strategy game belonging to the god game subgenre, which was popular especially in the 1990s. Crest was created by Eat Create Sleep – a small, independent studio from Gotland, Sweden; the team consisted mainly of young and inexperienced gamemakers. The development process was supported by a successful crowd-funding campaign held on Indiegogo.

Mechanics

The mechanics were inspired both by classic representatives of the god game subgenre, and such legendary strategies as Sid Meier's Civilization, Pharaoh or Hammurabi. The player assumes the honorable role of a god, and their task is to lead a group of believers through subsequent stages of development. In other words, the player has to act in a way that makes people hungry for life, development and reproduction, so they can create a rich legacy for those to come. The action takes place on randomly generated terrains inspired by African landscapes, so throughout the game, the player encounters biomes and both animals and plants typical for that continent. Interestingly, the game does not place a specific goal in front of the player, and it can last without ending, as the player observes the actions of subsequent generations of their subjects, who develop and evolve in accordance with the player's will. One has to remain cautious however, as only one slot for saving the game is at their disposal, so each wrong decision can lead to an irreversible collapse of one's civilization, or even to its complete destruction.

Crest approaches the subject of the genre in a slightly different way than most god games. The only way to influence the behaviours of one's believers is to create commandments for them - those are rules their actions in specific situations are supposed to be based on. One can also combine commandments together in order to create advanced behaviour models. This task seems easy at first glance, but it turns out to be incredibly complicated if one takes into account that their believers are not mindless beings that blindly follow their god's will. They were gifted with artificial intelligence, thanks to which depending on a series of external factors, they can interpret the player's commandments in a lot of different ways, sometimes completely out of alignment with the player's intentions. The player's role as a god is to show as much creativity as it takes to convince the people that acting in accordance with the commandments will be better and more rewarding for them.

Game modes

Crest is a single-player game only. However, the creators implemented a series of social options, which diversify the experience to a certain extent. The most interesting of those, is the ability to share save files, which allows to continue an adventure started by another player.

Technical aspects

The visuals in Crest were inspired by both classic representatives of the genre, such as the Populous series, and newer titles, like Peter Molyneux's infamous Godus. The creators employed a simplified, though aesthetic graphic style based on angular geometric solids.

Last updated on 01 July 2016