Toni considered her options.
In front of her, a room full of wooden furniture was burning. A large array of gigantic insects, already on fire, were frantically running around in a vain attempt to escape. The bodies of her fallen comrades were prone on the ground, awaiting rescue. A goat, for no other reason than bad RNG luck, was running around outside in man-hunting rage. Her brother, artificially enhanced with two bionic arms, was in a comatose state after consuming the base’s entire supply of illicit drugs. There was only one thing to do. She played some chess, went for a walk, then sat down and ate a simple meal, while the colony burned down around her.
RimWorld is, if nothing else, an incredibly cruel game. Inevitably, 99% of the games you play will end in nihilistic ruin for you. But it is the unbridled joy of the struggle that hooks you each and every time. I’ve now logged over 600 hours in this storyteller-driven Colony Sim and it’s hard to think of another game that can provide the same amount of variety, challenge, and replayability in a small package that started as an indie alpha release, but has since become a best-selling hit with official DLC. I’ve not played the Royalty add-on yet, but it’s something I’ll be sure to do soon.
Ah, RimWorld - how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
Early man experimented with fire. Erika’s RimWorld colony ran a constant scientific study. What started as a small, isolated, dry flashstorm turned into a raging inferno. Halfway through the desperate battle to save the colony, a wild herd of Boomalope ran into the base. With bodies that produce volatile chemfuel instead of milk, that was always going to end well. [Narrator: It did not end well.]
A small tribal village had done well enough to survive early raids in their harsh desert outcrop - but they had little to no resources to wall off the small crop fields that were vital to their survival. At first, this wasn’t a problem, as strongwoman Blue and wise old Comxe kept wandering camels and ostriches at bay with their bows and arrows. When a rampaging herd of elephants arrived however, things took a turn for the worst. Unable to stop the beasts with their simple tools, all hope looked lost as the elephants enjoyed grazing on the most fertile plains of the map - their colony. Then a couple of days later, a trade caravan appeared. Comxe sat the tribe down and told them what to do - everyone would stay inside, then Blue would lean out the door and shoot an elephant. If - when - it aggro’d and turned manhunter, the visiting traders would be able to shoot it dead with their rifles and shotguns. Blue grinned; she leaned out the door, shot one of the large beasts… and the whole herd of six elephants instantly turned manhunter. They overwhelmed the trade caravan quickly, busted the door down to the small communal barracks, and were only finally finished off by a desperate Blue and three surviving traders, one of whom had an LMG. Soon, all but one of the traders would die of infections Comxe had no capability to treat, and two of his tribe would follow. But the remnants would inherit guns, silver, clothing - and a whole bunch of elephant meat.
Shrike was a mace-wielding pirate sailor from The Grey Mosquitos. She loved the pirate life. She also loved Go Juice. When she heard about the new colony she and her pirate brethren were due to raid, she was excited. Gold! Guns! Girls! She travelled for eleven days from the pirate camp to raid the colony with her team. They prepared to attack in the forest on the edge of the base. They readied their melee weapons. They loaded their guns. The order was given… and Shrike promptly injected herself with so much Go Juice she fell unconscious on the edge of the map, never to attack a single soul.
Life as a tribal merchant is hard. Some days, you get colonies that buy your spears and trinkets. Some days, you have to subsist on the pemmican you carry around with you from camp to camp. Some days, you try to trade with a colony and instead interrupt a raid from a very angry mechanoid hive.
As you might tell from the above adventures, RimWorld is truly a game that I will keep coming back and back and back to. The new Royalty expansion adds even more variety, including psychic powers, and that’s something I’d definitely like to try out. Some have questioned Ludeon Studios’ decision to release paid DLC at a $20 price, pointing out all the wide variety of mods available for this game already (Dinosaurs! Cthulu mythos! Several different kinds of fancy pants!) but from my standpoint, the developer more than deserves to start raking in some cash on a game that I’ve played since pre-Steam beta (alpha?) days. Heck, the fact that they’ve made it so moddable more than justifies the price point of the DLC.
If you haven’t tried RimWorld yet, I urge you to. If you love a good story, you won’t be disappointed. Maybe I’ll see you in a transport pod crash soon.