Odd god game Crest ascends from Early Access

Gods come in all shapes and sizes. Video games love to introduce us to gods and let us become them or destroy them or in some cases, eat them. What the new Swedish indirect deity-sim Crest presupposes is this: "What if you were more of a libertarian god?" And that's a... well, not a good question, but decidedly a very interesting question. Especially when it comes to converting that into an entertaining game.

So after five years of development, Swedish developers Eat Create Sleep have released Crest, an indirect god sim set in a stylized sub-saharan setting with an afrofuturistic vibe that delivers a new take on the god game genre. Your only means of interaction with your followers, and therefore influence on the world, is by issuing commandments but beware, because of free will these are left open to interpretation by your followers. Which is, admittedly, something that feels like a wholly new take. Although a good idea can only take you so far, as RPS discovered when giving Crest a spin back in Early Access.

So what does the end product look like? Here is the cinematic trailer for the game:

So yeah... def some monoliths in there and some more complicated... uh... spiritual concepts that I'm sure we can all agree upon, the uh, meaning. Like, I totally get it. You get it, right? Sure you do.

Crest includes management of natural and man-made elements, ranging from terraforming to the control of animal species. Weather and other ecological matters can help give a push, but your worshipers have an incredible level of self-control.

Things become a bit clearer in this gameplay trailer:

Crest is available for PC, Mac & Linux on Steam for $9.99 / 6.99£.