When I bring up the name Peter Molyneux, does it evoke nostalgia for you as it does for me? Games like Dungeon Keeper, Theme Park, Populous, Fable, and Black & White were all huge parts of my childhood, and I often think back on these as part of the golden age of video game development creativity.
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So far, we’ve seen several of these titles reborn as some of the best Meta Quest games. Underworld Overseer successfully translated the Dungeon Keeper formula to VR, and that same developer brought us the Populous-inspired Deisim to VR a few years before that.
Now, a new developer is working on a full-fledged Black & White successor called How to God that you can wishlist now on the Meta Horizon store. I got to see the game early and have a 45-minute chat with the developers this past week, and came away impressed. As a huge fan of the Black & White games, I’ve been hoping someone would give me a good reason to combine my appreciation for virtual pets with the granular control that only VR can provide, and I think I’ve finally found it.
No animals were harmed, but you may be
In How to God, you play as a deity that can directly control the world around you, picking up people, trees, and animals, as well as directly building structures and other formations. But the one thing you cannot control is the giant creature that serves as your physical manifestation on the planet.
Just as in the Black & White games, this creature is fueled by an artificial intelligence that is essentially a living being, experimenting with the world around it and learning as it goes. Like a pet, your encouragement or discipline will help shape this pet’s personality and its understanding of morality, which will directly influence the people in the world around it.
The primary goal of the game is to inspire humans to worship you — either with grace or force — which, in turn, will increase your powers as a god. As humans visit shrines to worship you, they’ll generate prayer power that you can collect and use to grow your powers. As your influence grows, so does your population’s notoriety worldwide.
The game isn’t a massive open world but, rather, a level-based strategy sandbox with a clear storyline bridging each locale together. As you and your citizens grow in influence, you’ll come across enemies that want to bring you back down to size. Whether it’s bandits that appear out of the fog of war or another civilization bent on war depends entirely on each scenario.
But while some of these features can be found in other games, the “virtual pet” portion of the game is unique among VR titles. It’s your creature that makes How to God truly unique among Meta Quest strategy games and the thing that gives it the most character and intrigue, by far.
As a “living” creature’s master, you must shape your pet to represent you in the best way since you can’t micromanage it at all times. This isn’t a Familiar that you summon on command, and it isn’t a creature that you can just pick up and put wherever you want. It must be molded to properly represent you in the world.
If you’ve ever trained a pet before, you’ll know there are very different trains of thought. Do you squirt them with a spray bottle when they’ve done something bad? You certainly can in How to God, if you want, but you may find that positive reinforcement works better.
Between the game’s complex alchemy system, the virtual pet training mechanics, and village building and strategy, this feels like a title that’s easy to sink hours into.
As you’re training your creature, you’ll still need to take care of each villager’s needs in addition to doing anything you can to gain more power. Whether you choose to expand your village and earn praise or keep the population at bay by feeding your creature — thus inciting fearful prayers and power — is entirely up to you.
I also loved the game’s alchemy system. Just like in the Job Simulator games, How to God lets you grab different elements and combine them, like mixing fire and water to make steam. While it doesn’t look nearly as intricate as those games, I’m eager to explore everything the developers have implemented, as I’ve been told there are dozens of combinations to be discovered.
The game is set to launch in the next few months as a single-player experience, but the developers have hinted that their goal is to eventually incorporate a multiplayer component. Until then, though, the campaign and sandbox modes should keep you plenty busy on release.
