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1418610cookie-checkHound Project Lets Players Play God By Creating An AI That Simulates Evolution
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2016/07

Hound Project Lets Players Play God By Creating An AI That Simulates Evolution

The headline is a mouthful, I know, I know. However, it accurately states exactly what the indie game Hound Project is all about. You are the story.

The object is to create and manipulate an artificial intelligence that can create living organisms that evolve. The object is to help the AI grow, advance and continually expand an entire simulated universe of digitally birthed organisms. In this game, you are the god that creates light, life and everything else in between.

It’s difficult to break down exactly how complex this game is but the trailer does a fine job of explaining how in depth things can get. Check it out below.

The part that really blew my mind was the AI advancing to the point where it created an organism that could talk using sound synthesis.

Players can connect and adapt to the nervous systems of the AI to communicate with them and help them grow. You can think of yourself as being the voice of god to this fledgling AI amoeba.

According to the developer…

“This is the beginning of HOUND project – a game, where you are able to create living things – eating, breathing, struggling for survival in the name of natural selection. If you ever had a fantasy of following Dr. Frankensteins’ footsteps or playing God in basically any way, possible, this game is for you!”

That pretty much sums it up.

There’s an environmental demo available right now that you can grab from over on the official website, or you can back the project and contribute to its development by tossing in some funds over on the IndieGoGo page.

According to the press release, there are plans to get a version of Hound project up and out by early September, but it’s tough to tell how much of that will be affected by the success (or failure) of the IndieGoGo campaign.

Nevertheless, if you’re looking for something that really steps outside the boundaries when it comes to god games, you can’t really go wrong here. I would even venture to say that this is like the proto-version of god games.

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