Hello friends. I wanted to write a little about what I’m aiming for with Uncivilized, its inspiration, and something about the people who are making it (mostly me!).
If you’re reading this then you must be signed up to my newsletter or otherwise have checked out this blog, which means you must like the look of Uncivilized, which also means you probably have a very similar taste in games as I do. That’s really cool! Making a game that channels my personality and sense of humour is a really fun way to connect with people. Speaking of me: I’m Dan. Here’s drawing of me my wife did that I can’t decide on being flattering or insulting:
I’m the designer/programmer of Uncivilized, and also handle writing, music and sound. I’m not very good at drawing, but thankfully most of my family are. The visual design of the game was created by my brother, Evan, and the character/faction design is being done by my extremely talented wife who I literally couldn’t afford if I wasn’t married to her.
I’m guessing you’re probably a fan of Civilization. Maybe also Stellaris, and Old World. Pretty typical 4X fare. I am too. Hopefully you also like Into the Breach and Invisible Inc, or possibly Advance Wars. Shorter, less complex, but still extremely crunchy and addictive games.
With Uncivilized, I’m combining both of these things. The fun and the fantasy of 4X, but without the MASSIVE time investment required of games like Civilization. A match will be over in an hour, with the kind of crunchy, interesting decision making you get from the shorter games I mentioned above. Actions are simple to execute once you’ve made a decision, and there are no crazy stats, minmaxing or micro to get bogged down in. It’s the sort of game I imagine myself glued to on the Switch or Steam Deck on a long train journey.
And it’ll be strictly singleplayer, against characterful rival leaders, who all have their own distinct personality that affects how they act in the world and in diplomacy. As the game is now, you could end up a puny subsidiary of the Eden Corporation, or wear them down to the point they sell their remaining assets to you at bargain-bin prices, amongst many other outcomes in between.
I mentioned Old World before, and Uncivilized is almost a direct response to my experience with that game. I’d been looking forward to playing it for years, and when I took a break after releasing my last game I decided to finally give it a go. But it is VAST. I spent more time on the tutorial than I give to most other games period. The level of complexity and amount of micro is absolutely off the charts. I really don’t need to be directing my fourth son’s studies while also running a freaking empire. I have a son in real life who needs attention!
No, the game is too much for me. The fiddlyness is out of hand. The time commitment required is insane. I actually got carried away complaining about it here, but I’ll maybe save writing about that (and all its good ideas that I’ve stolen for Uncivilized) for another newsletter.
So that left me with a gaping 4X shaped hole inside me, and nothing to fill it with. I don’t have the time to play the big-boys these days, and the few other short form 4X games out there are either multiplayer focused or too puzzly/abstract for me. And so Uncivilized was born!
What started out as a drawing in August 2024 is now a fully playable and fun game, which you’ll soon be able to play and hopefully enjoy as much as I do.
I hope it was interesting getting some insight into the game. I’ll try to keep these coming!
Until next time
Dan
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