The Sapling (v12.46)

The Sapling is a short simulation game where you design your own plants and animals and put them in a world together. Or you turn on random mutations, and see what evolution does to your ecosystem! Wessel Stoop has wanted to play a simulation game where you can build your own plants and animals, put them in a world, and see what happens since 2002. You can imagine his excitement when Will Wright, the father of simulation games, demoed his latest game Spore to an enthusiastic crowd. When Spore turned out to be all game genres except simulation, Wessel decided he wanted to try to make the game by himself. The Sapling is the result of that attempt. Design plants and animals. Fast-forward time to and watch the ecosystem work like a charm or slowly fall apart. A sandbox mode where you can skip time and turn on random mutation, allowing true evolution. An instinct system where you can specify what an animal should do when it hears or sees something. A procedural animation system so any animal can perform any animation. Procedural music mixed on the fly. Everything is set up to be easily extended by players.