Darwinia

Truly a pioneer for its time. Nowadays that means lots of interface, pathing and broken level issues. Navigating those is the only challenge in this game. Did teach me not to use grenade launcher uphill. There is that.

If Tron and Pac-Man had a baby, it’d be Darwinia.

This game is like falling headfirst into an old-school computer and being handed god-like powers to save a bunch of pixelated stickmen from extinction. It’s weird. It’s charming. It’s gloriously retro.

You don’t command troops – you influence them like some kind of digital dad with a laser pointer. The graphics? Minimalist hacker-vibe meets artsy screensaver. The music? Synthy goodness that’ll make you want to hug a floppy disk.

Gameplay is part strategy, part action, part “wait... what am I doing?” But somehow, it all clicks. Watching your little Darwinian dudes evolve and fight back against viruses is weirdly satisfying.

✅ Unique concept
✅ Retro aesthetic with modern soul
✅ Surprisingly emotional for a game full of green stickmen
❌ No real reason not to try it unless you hate fun

Final verdict: 10/10 would spiritually adopt digital stickmen again.

Don't let my hours deceive you, I purchased the physical copy of this game from a Big Lots bin nearly 20 years ago. I have the keychain to prove it!!!

It's a phenomenal game. Sure, it is pretty simple, but you should know you're not buying a command heavy-RTS or colony sim when you buy this. The negative reviews on here are likely from purchasers that did not know what they are buying. This game is a vibe. It oozes digital atmosphere, like a song from Daft Punk, the Buggle's "The Age of Plastic" or Neil Young's "Trans" come to life. The story is incredibly told, but does not bog you down in text or cinematics. It establishes an emotional connection to the little green Darwinians so well that I felt sick to my stomach any time a misfortune would befall a densely packed cluster. It's a beautiful game, and I couldn't recommend it more.

not a good game but i'm nostalgic for this one too lol

Fun simple game, except for the FUCKING SPIDERS, horrid creatures, i wish nothing but death towards them.

Darwinia is a brilliant mix of strategy and retro-style visuals, with just the right balance of simplicity and depth. You guide little AI creatures through a digital world, fighting off a virus using tactical gameplay that keeps things engaging without overwhelming micromanagement.

The minimalist aesthetic gives it a unique charm, and the gameplay constantly challenges you to think strategically. It’s one of those games that does a lot with a little, and it deserves more attention. Definitely worth checking out!

fun

Fun, short, sweet. Straightforward.

So many potential

Quite a unique little game. Nice blast from the past. Had no problem making this work on the Win 10 and new hardware.

Dr. Sepulveda, pull the udder one.

I remember loving this as a kid on my 360, now I'm playing it and I gotta be honest the gameplay hasn't aged gracefully. I could put up with mediocre twin stick shooting, but most of the game has a lot of promoting directors to guide the denizens to a location which takes on average 30 minutes each mission. Maybe I'll go back to this as a backlog game but I'd rather play any other game for now. All this said the story was pretty neat from the 4 sentences I got from it.

The only problem this game has - it forces you to sacrifice hundrends of cute litte 1-bit darwinians to save the world.. and then you can recycle them back to life to send them straight back into digital war. 10/10. Everyone should play this.

Sad that this game is quite short - well under 5h even if you are bad at rts.

Simple and in ways primitive, but elegant. Unchanging, but endlessly replayable. Beautiful sound, emotionally resonant, a great game

I love this game. Bought it in 2015 and still play through this once a year.
Easy to play, doesn't take long to master. Great Tron-ish graphics and butter smooth performance.
Good music, cute retroloading- and demo scene intros.

Kind of wish someone made a Cannon Fodder total conversion mod for this ;)

One of the first real non-browser computer games I ever played, and it holds up to this day. Game is beautiful, challenging, and has a solid amount of well-scaling content. Some aspects require patience, but it's really not that bad. I don't find it tedious at all. As someone who doesn't like RTS games, I love this game because you are able to exercise total control over units (especially the squads) when you want to, and can let them manage themselves at other times. Perfect blend of hands-on action, and big picture map strategy. Nothing else like it.

Good fun based on an amalgamation of old 80's games along with a basic plot line thrown in to give a cohesive twist. The 'sentient' Darwinians have a way of making the player care about their fate despite the very basic (in fact almost Sinclair basic) graphics. Loads of fum. Loads of game play. Good for whenever you have 10 minutes to spare, but you'll probably suddenly find you've been playing for hours.

Fun game

One of a kind. Classic,