Planetary Life (2025)

Developer: Sotenbox
Platforms: Windows
Genres: Indie, Simulation, Strategy, Early Access
Rating: 4.7 of 5, 873 player ratings
Typical playtime: about 10 hours
Where to get it: Steam

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

You shape a barren world from scratch, sculpting terrain and climate to nurture life in a calm, open-ended sandbox.

sandboxcreativerelaxingatmosphericexperimentalgentleslow-pacedmeditative

What players say

Players describe it as a mix of Spore and SimEarth where you terraform planets and guide life from cells to creatures, but the creature creator is very limited and evolution feels random. The civilization stage is not yet added, and that leaves a hole. Reviews split on fun factor versus bugs and content gaps, with many saying it feels lacking in its current early access state.

Screenshots

More games like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.