Everything

"Everything" is a simulation game by David O'Reilly that is about being, well, everything. From the tiniest bacterium to beyond the galaxies, "Everything" allows you to play as everything. Along the journey, you will hear many bits of lectures from British philosopher Alan Watts in which he discusses his views on many different things.

One of the biggest things that popped out to me with this game is the scale of the game. The game consists of different size levels, like the planet level, island level, land level, etc. Discovering how macro or micro this game gets is what amazed me. I thought going all the way out to planets was grand enough, but then going out to galaxies and beyond the galaxies is what made me pause the game and say 'wow.' Sadly, that amazement is sometimes deterred when you see how fast the levels loop back around. I get that this is an indie developer and they can only do so much, but when I see a water tower that isn't that far out is the same water tower that I am standing next to, that short of a level kinda breaks the illusion. But even with the looping, the scale of the game is unlike anything you have ever seen before. But it's not just how big the game is that impressed me, it's how detailed the game is as well. With at least 1400 items in the game, you can play as just about anything in the world. See that rock over there? play as it. what about the wall surrounding these huts? Play as it. At one point you even play as the game itself. But the sheer about of detail isn't just seen in the amount of objects. What I found to be really neat is that as time goes on in the game, the islands in the game progress as well. At first, you see nothing on the lands, but after playing the game for sometimes, buildings start to pop up. As time progresses even further, the buildings become even more modern. All of these aspects just made me love the game even more.

But the game isn't just that. "Everything" is filled with deeper meanings and messages that fit well with the game. Whether it be the many quotes of Alan Watts or different game mechanics like objects doing the 'dance of life' which eventually ends up with giving birth to baby versions of that object. This game isn't just about being everything, it's about understanding how everything works with one another. Audio logs of Alan Watts also litters the game, giving you deeper thinking on multiple topics that ultimately comes to the conclusion that everything, including you, are important to the existence of this universe. It's these deeper meanings in both mechanics and in message that elevates this game. It's you thinking while you are playing, and that is what makes this game that much better.

But if you don't want to think and play at the same time, you don't have to. The game features an auto-play feature in which the game takes control shortly after leaving the controls and goes on its merry way. What surprised more than the fact that their is an autoplay feature is how many options are in the autoplay feature. Everything that you can do in the game is an option in autoplay, and you can even set the frequency on how often the game uses these options on each option. It was really cool to watch the game play itself, but it was also good for background while I did other things.

Some other miscellaneous aspects include the music, the movement animations, and the 'ending.' The music in the game was excellent. It was in the background for the most part and the various instruments that play the music adds to the sense of wonder and amazement while playing the game. The ending, on the other end, was far less impressive. What I experienced as an 'ending' was one of the weakest aspects of the game. For starters, you have to go back to where you started to find the entrance to the ending, which means back-tracking to a specific galaxy, to a specific world, to a specific island, which may take you hours to find. Once you do find the entrance, the ending consists of going into this void where their are many various objects floating around. The only way out of this void is to find the game itself. Also, in this void, and text you get from the objects are really depressing. When you do find the game, it tells you that all of the conversations and audio logs of Watts are unimportant and wiping them will get you out of that void. When you do get out of the void, you find fireworks shooting in the sky and it says 'tutorial complete.' Luckily, you can find all of the lost quotes again in the world, but I still found it frustrating to lose all the audio logs. The ending was weird and ultimately was the beginning of the game. The last thing to talk about is one of the most obvious things in the game is the movement animations, or the lack thereof. A lot of objects will float, slide, or roll around in the environment, but some things don't move normally. When it comes to the land animals like bears, dear, elephants, etc., they move by rolling in ninety degree increments. While hilarious and stupid at first, I eventually found this to be charming and made the game to me a little more unique.

The verdict: despite some weak aspects like the world repeating itself too fast or the weird 'ending,' "Everything" is an experience unlike any other. It filled with awe and wonder, it got me thinking deeper on different subjects, it made my jaw drop. I have never played a game remotely close to what I experienced with this one. This game is great for many kinds of people. If you are looking for a new experience, a game with deeper meaning, a game with progression that you want to 100%, a game to put on in the background, or even none of the above,"Everything" is a game worth trying out and experiencing for yourself.