Niche - a genetics survival game

I have evolution based autisim and I saw a youtuber play this years ago which is what initially made me get the game. I find the critters to be cute, it took me a minuet to get how the genes thing worked but I really enjoyed how I got to see my little group of critters grow.

it's fun enough, but i wouldn't recommend it you can't change the fov, and that really sucks since it's at like what, 60? feels very bad for the eyes imo. there's only a story mode and sandbox mode (only played story mode so far), there's no difficulty setting but i think the difficulty is bordering between fine and not great for story mode. new players may get an extinction screen a lot because of it. achievement hunters will have the worst time of their lives in this game. there's four "youtuber" achievements, where you have to get incredibly specific genes for one creature that a youtuber had/made. i think it would be fine if it was just one, but why is it so many?? and why of some random people on youtube? it feels a bit weird in a negative way for me, personally. micromanaging can get tiresome, especially if you have a big pack (which you likely need). you need to keep track of which creatures to breed to get the genes you want to continue/die out, and it feels like pack members die too quickly at times. i also can't stand having to click on every individual creature to check wether they're compatible or not (major disabilites from incest is something you NEED to keep prevent) there's also not enough tips. you get through the tutorial (which only shows you the very basics) and that's it. there's more things to nag about, but i think you get the idea

i loved watching seri and jessimew play this as a kid to finally playing this game myself is so nostalgic

Chill but also high stakes, worth buying

absolutely worth picking up on sale if you've always wondered what it would be like playing the games in the lets plays you enjoyed. disregard everything people say about needing to roleplay or make up stories in order to feel motivated or have fun- i just finished my second full story mode playthrough and i was running my nichelings like the navy. no names, no couples/families, no lore. i was sacrificing genetically inferior babies to the birds, i was throwing elderly nichelings into thorny vines to avoid them eating an extra day's food, i was launching useless nichelings into the ocean to rack up drowning damage to die quicker. keeping the tribe healthy, safe, and operating at maximum potential was the point for me. there's no need for window-dressing; you will enjoy this game if you enjoy micro-managing creatures with a rudimentary genetics system and strategic turn-based interactions. i died once over my two runs, after a disastrous first visit to long winter led me to a hasty retreat onto a whale, where my starving survivors were promptly cornered by four bearyenas. rip to my 657 day survival streak. tips: - specialized creatures go extinct, and maintaining multiple distinct builds in one tribe isn't viable long term with the limited genetic pool. diversify your potential food sources as much as possible on one creature. nimble fingers + beak + claw will be your friends, and poison resistance is a must. - you can tear down food sources as you advance past them, but you can also leave an unimportant nicheling to sit and harvest alone until they die. - inbred nichelings are nbd and in fact are desirable as backup breeders due to their single genetic allowing easier matches. just set them up in isolation as your tribe's omelas child, but if you have more than one they can hang out together with no further repercussions :) - when hunting/fishing, use other random game actions to trigger prey movement to get it in more optimal positions. they'll just walk/swim right up to you. - platypus bill and sticky tongue, despite being cute, will never be viable </3 cons: - makes my computer melt when more than 3 trees or 20 nichelings are on screen simultaneously. - frustrating UI. multiple action icons are jumbled closely and overlap frequently, and there's no way to deselect a selected nicheling without clicking off onto the horizon. misclicking abounds. - keeping genetic information organized for any substantial tribe is a nightmare of cross-checking individual menus, and there are no badges you can see at a glance without clicking and clicking and clicking and clicking and - general 10 y/o kickstarter indie game jank and lack of polish. it's good, but it could be a lot better. - do yourself a favour and change your keybinds to NOT use "spacebar for day advance" because i can't tell you how many times i ♥♥♥♥♥♥ myself over. use literally any other key. (my final optimized build was: beak, mega-horns, nimble fingers + claw, interchangeable body, hind legs, and scorpion tail. some nichelings can have bearyena claws as a treat)

Amazing gameplay and large expanse of genetics to mess around with, very replayable, got it for 3.50 at an amazing deal!

fun

The gateway drug to my genetics hyperfixation