Birthdays the Beginning (2017)

Developer: Toybox Inc., Arc System Works
Publisher: NIS America, Arc System Works
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows), Nintendo Switch
Genres: Simulator, Strategy
Rating: 2.5 of 5, 4 player ratings
Where to get it: PlayStation Store

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 carefully sculpt a tiny cube world, adjusting its geography and temperature to coax life into existence.

sandboxexperimentalgeographic simulationlife creationstrategicrelaxed pacecreative

About

"From the legendary creator, Mr. Yasuhiro Wada (TOYBOX Inc.), comes Birthdays the Beginning: a new sandbox game in which players create cube-shaped worlds that give rise to diverse and unique lifeforms. With careful experimentation, players can shape the geography and alter the temperature of each world to create the conditions for life and witness the birth of an entire ecosystem!"

Screenshots

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More by Arc System Works

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.