Reus Review

The desires of humans can complicate your life in other ways, too. Give them too much too quickly, and they get greedy. If they get too greedy, they start trying to take what isn't theirs by waging war on other villages, and they sometimes even attack your giants, who can withstand a good deal of punishment but aren't invincible. There are numerous ways to try to keep greed in check. You can put some dangerous animals nearby so the villagers have more immediate concerns than planning for war, for instance, or you can place some sources that inspire awe in their vicinity.

Puny villagers think they can attack the forest giant? Not on the rock giant's watch!

If the greed of some humans does get the better of them, you can let them wage war on (and possibly destroy) other villages; you can try to punish them into a state of humility; or you can always opt for a good old-fashioned smiting via your rock giant's mountain ability. On one hand, it can be disappointing to destroy everything you've worked to help your humans build. On the other, demonstrating your tremendous power and sending a clear, wrathful message about how foolish the humans were to behave the way they did can be morbidly satisfying.

Even though human nature sometimes reveals its uglier side in Reus, the game remains a welcoming experience. The giants are endearing, particularly the forest giant, whom you might see sneeze, sending forth an explosion of leaves. Zoom in on the world, and you can see humans tending to their villages and chatting with each other. The planet can be a diverse place, with villages in different environments displaying different styles of architecture and clothing. In a pious village that pursues projects like temples, you're likely to see residents in plain cloth robes, while the people of a wealthier, more materialistic town opt for more ornate attire. Villages continue to grow and evolve over time, making the world you've created feel alive and potentially bustling.

Let there be minerals!

Time is always a concern in Reus. At first, you have access to games that take place over 30 minutes, and you might scramble to eke out every bit of prosperity you can from the planet right up to the final seconds when your giants return to their long slumber. By completing a certain number of challenges, you gain access to longer games during which humans attempt more advanced projects and which allow you to attempt to complete more difficult challenges. (You can also always play freeplay games, which last as long as you'd like, but in this mode you cannot complete challenges or unlock new sources.)

You might initially feel that the slowness with which your giants traverse the planet's surface drags the pace of the game down, but as you get better at the game and come to understand how the abilities of the various giants complement each other, your giants' movements become another welcome strategic consideration. Do you choose to focus on just a few villages, all within close proximity to each other? Do you cover the world in livable spaces, sacrificing time sending your giants to and fro as you try to bring as much prosperity as possible to each far-flung village?

The variety of challenges to complete gives you the incentive to try all kinds of approaches, and frees you to pursue those goals that are more interesting to you. You don't win or lose Reus; you just do the best you can each time, trying (or not trying at all) to complete as many or as few challenges as you like. You can just focus on creating a village that has a 250 prosperity score and only uses minerals, or you can attempt the challenge that requires you to have six villages with over 150 prosperity each.

The forest giant's working his branches to the bone to help humanity, and what's the ocean giant doing? Taking a bath.

Different challenges require different approaches, and this keeps you coming back to Reus time and time again. You might hit a few awkward stages in your progression, though; especially when you first advance from one length of game to the next (from 30-minute games to hour-long games, for instance), humans may attempt projects that you can't adequately help them complete because you haven't yet unlocked the sources their specializations require.

Don't let the simplicity Reus exhibits at first glance fool you. Putting blueberries near chickens is basic enough, but starting from this fundamental concept of interconnected resources, Reus grows into a game that presents complex challenges, a great deal of flexibility, and the freedom to determine your own standards of success, or to simply enjoy experimenting with the landscape and toying with humans. It's good to be the planet.