In those days, in those distant days, in those nights, in those faraway nights, in those years, in those distant years; in days of yore, when the necessary things had been brought into manifest existence, in days of yore, when the necessary things had been for the first time properly cared for...
The old gods are dead, and the world is shattered. You must now take their power and rebuild anew. You will cultivate a diverse ecosystem of creatures and life-forms that you can grow, capture, tame, breed and evolve to fulfil your objectives. For example, instead of building conveyor belts, you grow tiny simple creatures called Lemmules that travel in a line like ants, carrying the items on their back. Beneath the creature taming twist, however, is a full-fledged factory builder: deep, multi-step recipes, real throughput and logistics challenges, and industrial-scale automation. Ruin and Rebirth is optimized so you can build truly massive, late-game bases that push the limits of modern CPUs.
Other notable creatures we have implemented that are ready for you to discover include:
Terramite (Mining drill equivalent, Name Origin: Terra + Termite)
Built like a living boulder with segmented plates, the roly-poly Terramite spends its days churning through soil and stone in search of mineral nutrients. What it doesn't consume, it leaves scattered on the surface - making it an ideal creature for resource gathering in the wasteland.
Truffler (Train equivalent)
These herd animals possess a keen sense of smell for their favorite food - a specific variety of truffle mushroom. Scent trails can guide these somewhat dim creatures along a pre-determined path, making them useful beasts of burden, but the aroma sends them into an unstoppable frenzy. Anyone caught in their stampeding path will be trampled without hesitation.
Wyrm (Water pump/pipe equivalent)
Semi-aquatic serpentine creatures that live near bodies of water and burrow through mud and soil in search of food. These elongated diggers can be lured to excavate in specific directions using bait. Their natural tunneling behavior makes them invaluable for creating irrigation canals and waterways.
Budblob
Adaptable ooze with unlimited evolutionary potential. Given time and the right conditions, a Budblob can blossom into virtually any form life requires.
Sapien
As their namesake implies, these creatures are unique in that they possess a rudimentary form of sapience. They are able to use primitive tools and even practice agriculture. While not quite reaching the cognitive heights of true civilization, their abilities set them apart from other creatures in the wasteland, making them valuable allies in rebuilding.
...and many more. Creatures that we plan to have but are not yet implemented:
Ore-toise
Heavily armored reptilian creatures whose shells naturally accumulate precious minerals and metals over time. The crystalline growths on their backs can be carefully harvested without harming the creature. Their slow movement is offset by their ability to produce valuable resources simply by existing.
Jellofts
Colossal creatures that drift through the air using gas-filled chambers within their soft and lightweight bodies. These gentle giants can carry substantial cargo loads across vast distances, making them ideal for aerial transport. Their buoyant nature allows them to navigate terrain that would be impassable for ground-based creatures.
You progress from simple creatures, to developing farming, mining and beast/dragon timing, and eventually work your way up to constructing high-magic artifacts. The way you attain research and upgrades in the game is by searching for the corpses of dead gods; When creatures as vast and powerful as gods die, their powers do not dissipate all at once. Fragments of their soul still linger. These divine remnants can be harvested, used, and converted into something else. To help navigate and explore this broken land in search of dead gods, there will be creatures that you can mount and ride, such as Sabercats and Wyverns.
The game features customizable procedural generation and some very light combat elements. The setting is primal and surreal; visual inspirations include the psychedelic landscapes found in prog-rock album covers, as well as famous illustrators whose panoramic, otherworldly vistas have graced the pages of Heavy Metal magazine. These dreamy landscapes help capture the unique feel of this 'post-divine apocalyptic' world.
We plan to have an Early Access release of Ruin and Rebirth some time in 2026.
