The Guild 3 Has Many Tiny Cyberpeople Judging You

"It’s not a great game but it's one of those games that I always hope will spawn a great sequel," our Adam said when he asked Have You Played... The Guild 2? That day may be coming, as The Guild 3 [official site] is coming. It'll bring more economic strategy fun with a side of family life and social simming. Publishers Nordic Games actually announced The Guild 3 yonks ago but if there's one thing I've learned about video games, it's that if I don't see them in the woods they aren't being made. And, trust me, I spend a lot of time in the woods. So let's talk virtuafolks!

Developed GolemLabs - the folks behind geopolitical sim SuperPower 2 - seem awfully pleased with their imaginary people. They've put an awful lot of thought into how best to create false people but make them believe they're real, with real hopes and dreams and fears, GolemLabs explain in a dev post. They've divided cyberbrains into six characteristics along three axes saying whether someone yearns for the tidy urban progress of Construction or going back to lovely chaotic nature with Destruction, whether they're motivated to do things for the Ego or the Community, and whether they want to rule with the influence of Power or the cold hard coin of Wealth.

They say that every family has an AI along these lines, and so do neighbourhoods, cities, and societies like the Freemasons and Thieves' Guild. This governs how they behave and how they respond to you, and... supposedly they'll learn too. That's a bold claim often made but rarely realised in much depth, so it'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

In short, everyone and everything in the game will have a tiny brain judging you and trying to figure out if it needs to destroy you as you try to build your dynasty through financial, social, and societal wheelings and dealings. That's the plan, anyway.

The Guild 3 is coming out later this year, according to its Steam page.