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Vilmonic is a fascinating artificial life simulator for iOS and Android

A singular experience

Vilmonic is a fascinating artificial life simulator for iOS and Android
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| Vilmonic

First launched back in 2018 for PC, Vilmonic is an artificial life sim where you'll be tasked with cultivating creatures that can then, with your guidance and care, evolve. It's incredibly interesting but also incredibly layered, perhaps to the point where it risks putting off as many as it draws in.

Make no mistake, though, that's not a slight against what Bludgeonsoft has crafted here. It's by all accounts a singular experience that rewards creativity and commitment above all else. Once you've got the hang of the basics (and I don't just mean the controls), a sandbox world of borderline endless experiments awaits.

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I first played it after reading Rock Paper Shotgun's story on one of the game's players, Victoria, and her investigation into the genetic makeup of her pixel-art creations. Little did I know that the game made its way to mobile earlier this year, even despite the fact that it earned a place in Dann's Games of the Week roundup. Silly me. And so here I am once again bringing it to your attention several months after the fact, because, well, it's really quite neat.

Every creature's body is generated based on its genes. This most obviously affects their shape and the way they look. Such factors determine how many nutrients they'll need, how much hydration is evaporated or retained, and what type of environment the creature will thrive in. These guys also have their own neural-net brains that can evolve to produce different behaviours.

And that doesn't even really cover the basics of what's going on here. There are also food sources to play around with and evolving "zombitons" to work with or against. Did I mention that there's in-depth crafting, allowing you to shape your world and build the foundations of civilisation?

For all these reasons and more, Vilmonic is probably going to leave a lot of players perplexed, as it did with me at first, but I would still recommend that you at least give it a shot. Its soundtrack is quite lovely, if that helps.

It's available for download now as a free-to-play title over on the App Store and Google Play.

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Cameron Bald
Cameron Bald
Cameron started out as an intern here in late 2018, then went on to join us as our News Editor in July 2019. He brings with him an encyclopedic knowledge of decade-old GamesMaster review scores and plenty of stinking takes on games, movies, and proper pizza etiquette.