| WorldBox | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Maxim Karpenko |
| Designer(s) | Hugo Vaz |
| Programmer(s) | Mastef Maxim Karpenko |
| Artist(s) | Hugo Vaz Alifanov Ilia |
| Composer(s) | Milan Milosevic John Pata |
| Engine | |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | Browser
|
| Genre(s) | Sandbox, god game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
WorldBox is a 2012 sandbox game by Maxim Karpenko. The game allows the use of different elements to create, change, and destroy virtual worlds.
The game's main feature is the ability to create worlds, using godlike tools known as "God powers" provided in the game. These are divided into several groups: World Creation, Civilizations, Creatures, Nature and Disasters, Destruction Powers, and Other Powers. [1] Conversely, the game also allows the destruction of worlds, ranging from explosives to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and acid rain. Populations can also be reduced with hostile entities, illnesses, etc. [2] Worlds can also, as of version 0.21, go through "ages", which can affect biomes and creatures, both negatively and positively. [3]
Some creatures are able to create civilizations (humans, orcs, elves and dwarves). Such civilizations can grow, declare war on each other, and suffer rebellions. [1] [4]
Beginning with version 0.14, players are also able to customise the banners and symbols of kingdoms, along with the ability to control the traits of creatures, adding more content and depth to the gameplay. [5] [6] Beginning with version 0.21, kingdoms can form alliances, and kings and leaders can form clans. [3]
 |
Russian game developer Maxim Karpenko started working on the game back in 2011, and published the first prototype on Flash in the same year. In 2012, he released it on Newgrounds. He continued working on the game for several years, and released it on IOS in December 2018, with the Android version coming in early February 2019. He proceeded to work on the game and released it for Windows in October 2019.
Graham Smith of Rock Paper Shotgun wrote: "I'd probably had my fill of WorldBox after around 4 hours, but it was a happy four hours." [7] Joseph Knoop of PC Gamer wrote: "It's funny how much WorldBox shares with big strategy games, despite not presenting an ultimate goal to the player, and almost always ending with a boredom-killing nuclear bomb. Watching the borders of a kingdom stretch, retract, and suddenly disappear tickles a part of my brain that really likes to be tickled. Considering WorldBox is about to become an Early Access game on Steam, I'm eager to see what other maniacal tools get added to the toybox." [2]
A browser game is a video game that is played via the internet using a web browser. They are mostly free-to-play and can be single-player or multiplayer. Alternative names for the browser game genre reference their software platform used, with common examples being Flash games, and HTML5 games.
Dwarf Fortress is a construction and management simulation and roguelike indie video game created by Bay 12 Games. Available as freeware and in development since 2002, its first alpha version was released in 2006 and received attention for being a two-member project surviving solely on donations.
Aquaria is a side-scrolling action-adventure game designed by Alec Holowka and Derek Yu, who published the game in 2007 as an independent game company Bit Blot. The game follows Naija, an aquatic humanoid woman, as she explores the underwater world of Aquaria. Along her journey, she learns about the history of the world she inhabits as well as her own past. The gameplay focuses on a combination of swimming, singing, and combat, through which Naija can interact with the world. Her songs can move items, affect plants and animals, and change her physical appearance into other forms that have different abilities, like firing projectiles at hostile creatures, or passing through barriers inaccessible to her in her natural form.
Sid Meier's Civilization V is a 4X turn-based strategy video game in the Civilization series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released for Windows in September 2010, for Mac OS X on November 23, 2010, and for Linux on June 10, 2014.
Aether is a video game designed by Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel and published by Armor Games, released on September 3, 2008. Players control a lonely boy and an octopus-like monster that the boy encounters, solving puzzles on different planets to restore them from monochrome to color. The pair travel through space by swinging on clouds and asteroids with the monster's elongated tongue, searching other planets for life to which the boy can relate. It is also a part of The Basement Collection.
Fancy Pants is a series of free side-scrolling Flash games created by American developer Brad Borne. Four worlds have been released so far. World 1 was released on March 14, 2006 and World 2 was released on January 9, 2008. After the 2009 Comic-Con, Borne announced he would officially start working on World 3. It was released on April 5, 2012. A console version developed by Borne and Over the Top Games was released by EA 2D for PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade on April 19 and April 20, 2011, respectively. An iOS version developed by Chillingo, Over the Top Games and Borne Games was released on the Apple App Store on March 4, 2012, with an Android version released on May 22, 2017. In 2017, Brad Borne made a fourth entry, Super Fancy Pants Adventure, which was later ported to Adobe Flash in 2020 as World 4.
Yume Nikki is a 2004 adventure game created by the pseudonymous Japanese developer Kikiyama. The player controls a girl named Madotsuki and explores her dreams, collecting 24 effects that change her appearance and equipment. Random events also occur throughout the game in the form of cutscenes and unique gameplay sequences. The game was developed using RPG Maker 2003 without a traditional plot or battle system. Gameplay instead focuses on exploration of the dream world.
Xenonauts is a turn-based science fiction video game developed and published as the maiden title of London-based independent game studio Goldhawk Interactive. Inspired by the 1994 game X-COM: UFO Defense, gameplay involves the player taking the role of the commander of a clandestine organization known as the Xenonauts, and attempting to defeat an alien invasion of Earth in the alternative history year 1979. The game was released on June 17, 2014 for Microsoft Windows. Ports to Mac OS X and Linux were initially based on the Wine compatibility layer, until native ports became available in September 2015. A sequel, Xenonauts 2, was released through early access in 2023.
Cube World is an action role-playing game developed and published by Picroma for Microsoft Windows. Wolfram von Funck, the game's designer, began developing the game in June 2011, and was later joined by his wife, Sarah. An alpha version of the game was released on July 2, 2013, but saw sparse updates and communication from von Funck, with many considering the game to be vaporware until he officially released it on September 30, 2019.
RimWorld is a construction and management simulation video game developed by Canadian game designer Tynan Sylvester and published by Ludeon Studios. Originally called Eclipse Colony, it was initially released as a Kickstarter crowdfunding project in early access for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux in November 2013, and was released on October 17, 2018. The game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as RimWorld Console Edition on July 29, 2022, with development and publishing being handled by Double Eleven. Rather than a test of skill or a challenge, the game is intended to serve as an AI-powered "story generator", where the game is used as the medium for players to experience narrative adventures.
Nicholas Gorissen, also known as Bignic, is an indie game developer and independent musician. His video games are released under his company Dolphin Barn Incorporated, based in Quebec, Canada, where he was the only employee as of 2017.
Tabletop Simulator is an independent video game that allows players to play and create tabletop games in a multiplayer physics sandbox. Developed by Berserk Games as their first title after a successful crowdfunding campaign in February 2014, the game was released in June of the following year.
Rakuen is a 2017 adventure video game, created by Laura Shigihara. It was built using the RPG Maker XP engine and released on May 10, 2017. It is a sprite-based exploration game, in which text boxes serve as the primary conduit for communication. The name "Rakuen" is translated from Japanese as "paradise." The game is currently available for Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, and Nintendo Switch.
Uboat is a submarine simulator video game, released by Deep Water Studio and being published by PlayWay S.A. The game is inspired by the game mechanics of Fallout Shelter, XCOM, and also the movie Das Boot. Like other submarine simulation games, such as the Silent Hunter series, the player is put in command of a German U-boat during World War II.
Totally Accurate Battlegrounds (TABG) is a multiplayer battle royale video game developed by Swedish studio Landfall Games, and a spin-off of Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (TABS). Similarly to how TABS parodies the battle simulator genre of video games, TABG is a parody of the battle royale genre, primarily titles such as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite, and features exaggerated player and weapon physics. The game was released on Steam on June 5, 2018.
Nicky Case is a Canadian indie game developer, web designer, and critical theorist. They have developed interactive websites and online video games such as Coming Out Simulator, Explorable Explanations, We Become What We Behold and Parable of the Polygons. Case's works are characterized by their recurring goal to "help people understand complex systems", presenting dilemmas and potential resolutions in a philosophical manner. Case has also collaborated with theorists and academics such as Stefano Gualeni, Vi Hart and Bret Victor.
Paralives is an upcoming life simulation indie game by Paralives Studio for Windows and macOS. The game, heavily inspired by The Sims, features house building and management in a small town. It is scheduled for release in early access in 2025.
The Longing is a 2020 point-and-click adventure game created by independent developer Studio Seufz. Set in an underground kingdom, the player controls the Shade, a creature tasked with watching over a sleeping king for 400 days. The Shade performs recreational activities, including reading and exploring, as it waits out the 400 days in real time. The in-game timer continues regardless of the player's actions but moves faster if the Shade performs certain actions inside its home, such as decorating the walls with drawings.
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension is a 2020 puzzle adventure video game developed by the French company Draw Me A Pixel and released for Windows and macOS on August 6, 2020, on Android and iOS on December 17, 2020, and on Nintendo Switch on April 14, 2021. It was inspired by creator Pascal Cammisotto's previous 2015 game jam-winning entry There Is No Game, which he developed under the alias KaMiZoTo. It has been considered a sequel or expansion to its predecessor.
Amazing Cultivation Simulator (了不起的修仙模拟器) is a Wuxia top-down construction and management simulation video game developed by GSQ Games and published by Gamera Games. It was initially released to early access in Chinese in 2019, was fully released on November 25, 2020 and was later localised and released for English speaking consumers in Q4 2021. Being of Xianxia genre, it involves running a Taoist sect and demonstrates Buddhist and Taoist philosophy. Gameplay wise, it draws heavily from the likes of Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress. Originally only available in Chinese in early access, its systems have been described as very complex and in-depth.
