I remember winning Niche as a "special" prize in a short game development contest because we made a game that involved breeding rabbits with some amount of genetics attached. It's one of the oldest games still on my backlog. I was already looking through Steam games back in 2016 when this released and had initially skipped over it, as it didn't seem like the type of game I'd enjoy. But after getting it for free, I figured I might as well try it, as the review score wasn't so bad.
Well, nearly a decade later, I did try it, and I should have stuck to my original assessment that the game wasn't for me. Niche is about controlling a pack of animals, traveling from island to island, each with its own ways of getting by, and encountering new animals along the way that you can breed with. Animals die of old age quite quickly, so not only do you have to spend time gathering food, you also have to spend time producing offspring. These offsprings inherit (about a dozen out of several dozen possible) genes from their parents, and this shapes both their apperance and capabilities. Some genes may be better for some tasks and getting by on some islands, but as you have to keep moving forward, you have to keep evolving. Also inbreeding generally kills you rather fast, but there often isn't a large selection of suitable mates.
While the genetic system is well-developed and could be used to make something interesting, the rest of the game is really boring. There are basically no animations and the whole game is just clicking on tiles to do stuff. A lot of clicking, especially as your pack gets bigger. You're never really making exciting decisions, nor making meaningful progress towards some genetic perfection. You're just getting by.
I could understand that maybe fans of this genetics-based gameplay find something here, but if you're not here for that feature alone, then I really can't recommend it.
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