Eufloria Review

By Kevin Mitchell  |  Posted: October 4, 2011

Eufloria straddles the line between simplicity and complexity, shedding the micromanagement systems of other real-time strategy games while still maintaining enough depth to make the game fully enjoyable.

The Mother Tree has decreed that her once great empire will be reborn and sends you out to conquer unknown asteroids in space by planting one of two different types of trees. These trees will either produce seedlings, which are the heart of your empire, or serve as defensive structures to protect your newly conquered asteroids. With limited space on each asteroid, knowing when to grow seedling-producing trees and when to build defensive structures becomes paramount in the constant struggle of expanding and protecting your empire simultaneously.

Early on, the Mother Tree realizes that you are not alone in space, and these unknown seedlings must be wiped out from existence like the plague she paints them as. Does this carry a more profound meaning about humankind itself, or is it truly about seedlings floating through space?

The seedlings produced on each asteroid retain that specific asteroid's set of stats, which affect the seedlings' performance in battle. Energy determines the amount of health each seedling will have, speed makes them move faster in combat, and strength controls their power. These different stats play into the strategy of what kind of tree to grow on each asteroid. You might think you would want to produce as many seedlings as possible on the asteroids with the best stats, but this will make them vulnerable due to the lack of defensive structures.

Once you have a formidable swarm orbiting your asteroid, you want to start venturing forth to new territories. Taking calculated risks into unknown areas produces tense moments, as you never know if you missed something with the scout sent ahead or what your opponent may be hiding and with what strength their seedlings might be. Once you send off your seedlings, you are unable to see what stats they have, so you don't particularly grow attached to them; they all become expendable peons in the grand scheme of things. Wrong decisions will no doubt happen from time to time, and misjudging an enemy's strength will result in countless losses.

Sadly, there is no multiplayer of any kind, but there is the inclusion of a skirmish mode. While the campaign follows the story of the Mother Tree and slowly teaches you everything the game has to offer, skirmish mode sets you right into the action — making the game feel fast and more fun to play. Secrets can also be found orbiting around asteroids throughout the levels — by focusing and zooming the camera on these secrets, players are able to collect them.

If you happen to run out of seedlings or simply need more to defeat an overwhelming force, there is nothing to do but wait for the trees to produce more. There is a fast-forward toggle that can be turned on at any time in either game mode to help quicken the process. Even the battles, which take place automatically, have players simply waiting to see if their counter stays higher than the A.I.'s. Besides sending the seedlings off to fight, there is nothing else one can do to tip the outcome in your favor besides producing and sending more seedlings. Most battles are won by having the bigger army, although with the inclusion of defensive structures, a massive force can be stopped almost instantly.

The game has a very simplistic look when the camera is fully zoomed out, with colored shapes moving around muted backdrops, but when the camera zooms in, you get a better picture of the clean and vivid designs that Omni Systems Limited created. Each tree has multiple diverging branches, which sway in the vast emptiness of space and will never look the same as any other tree. You will never see two identical trees in the game. The ambient musical score ties it all together to show that you are truly alone in space.

Simply Put

Without looking like a serious and deep real-time strategy game, Eufloria is able to pull it off by adding a touch of depth to a rather simple-looking design. I was surprisingly pleased to find out just how much depth this game has, and without the micromanaging of other RTS titles, I ended up having more fun sending my seedlings off to their death than in any recent RTS title.