Earthling's Undertaking is an ambitious indie strategy RPG developed and published by MassesGame that attempts to merge sect management, cultivation fantasy, and turn-based tactical combat into a single, sprawling experience. Drawing heavily from Chinese mythology and xianxia-inspired themes, the game places players in the role of a sect leader navigating a fractured world shaped by ancient calamities, divine conflicts, and hidden cosmic forces. From its opening moments, it makes clear that this is not a streamlined or casual experience, but one that prioritizes systemic depth, long-term planning, and emergent storytelling over immediate accessibility.
Rather than following a single protagonist through a linear narrative, Earthling’s Undertaking positions the player as the guiding force behind an entire sect. Your responsibility extends across recruitment, training, resource management, exploration, and diplomacy, all while slowly uncovering the mysteries threatening the stability of the world. The narrative unfolds in fragments through events, encounters, and environmental storytelling, allowing players to piece together the broader mythos at their own pace. This approach reinforces the feeling of operating within a living world rather than progressing through a fixed storyline, though it also means that the plot can feel diffuse or opaque to those expecting clear narrative direction.
Combat is handled through turn-based, grid-based encounters that emphasize positioning, ability synergy, and long-term preparation. Each disciple under your command can follow different cultivation paths, specializing in martial arts, mystical techniques, support abilities, or defensive roles. Battles reward careful planning rather than brute force, as formations, terrain, and timing often matter more than raw statistics. As your sect grows, combat encounters become increasingly layered, demanding that you balance risk, resource expenditure, and team composition in order to succeed against stronger enemies and rival factions.
Outside of combat, sect management forms the backbone of progression. Players must construct and upgrade facilities, manage finances, assign disciples to training or tasks, and ensure that morale and development remain stable. Cultivation itself is a multi-layered system, with characters progressing through distinct stages that unlock new abilities and passive bonuses. Manuals, artifacts, alchemy, and crafting all feed into this loop, creating a sense of steady, earned growth that mirrors traditional cultivation narratives. For players who enjoy long-term optimization and incremental power progression, this system is one of the game’s strongest draws.
Exploration further expands the scope of the experience. The world map is filled with cities, ruins, wilderness zones, and hidden locations that can yield powerful rewards or dangerous consequences. Random events and encounters often force difficult decisions, sometimes offering great benefits at significant risk. This unpredictability helps keep the world feeling dynamic, but it can also introduce uneven pacing, as progress may depend heavily on luck or prior preparation. Exploration is less about charting a predefined path and more about responding to opportunities and threats as they arise.
Customization is another major pillar of Earthling’s Undertaking. Players can create their own sect leader or choose from predefined characters, shaping attributes and cultivation styles that influence the early game. Disciples vary widely in potential and personality, encouraging experimentation with different builds and team compositions. With hundreds of techniques and items available, the game offers substantial freedom in how power is developed, though this abundance can also feel overwhelming, especially in the absence of robust tutorials or guidance.
Presentation reflects the game’s indie roots. Visually, it favors clarity and thematic consistency over spectacle, using stylized environments and character portraits inspired by classical Eastern fantasy. While not graphically impressive by modern standards, the art direction supports the game’s dense systems and tactical combat. The interface, however, can feel cluttered or unintuitive at times, particularly when managing large numbers of disciples or navigating deeper menus. Audio design is understated, serving mainly to support atmosphere rather than drive emotional impact.
Player reception to Earthling’s Undertaking has been divided, largely mirroring its design philosophy. Those drawn to complex systems, sandbox progression, and cultivation fantasy often praise the game’s depth and ambition, finding satisfaction in mastering its interlocking mechanics. Others criticize the steep learning curve, uneven polish, and lack of clear direction, noting that the game demands patience and tolerance for friction. Technical quirks and quality-of-life issues occasionally undermine the experience, especially for newcomers unfamiliar with strategy-heavy RPGs.
Ultimately, Earthling’s Undertaking is a game defined by scope and intention. It does not aim to appeal to everyone, nor does it attempt to simplify its systems for broader accessibility. Instead, it offers a dense, methodical experience for players who enjoy long-term planning, emergent storytelling, and the slow accumulation of power within a richly themed world. While its ambition sometimes exceeds its execution, it remains a compelling example of indie experimentation in the strategy RPG space. For those willing to invest the time and effort to learn its systems, Earthling’s Undertaking can provide a deeply rewarding journey shaped as much by player decisions as by the ancient forces looming over its mythic setting.
Rating: 6/10
