Evolution

Keiwan Donyagard

About this game

Use joints, bones and muscles to build creatures that are only limited by your imagination. Watch how the combination of a neural network and a genetic algorithm can enable your creatures to "learn" and improve at their given tasks all on their own.

IMPORTANT: This is a simulator and not a game! If you are not interested in the concepts of natural selection, genetic algorithms and neural networks and watching them work together then this is probably not the app you're looking for! Everyone else, please continue reading :)

The tasks include running, jumping and climbing. Can you build the ultimate creature that is good at all of the tasks?

I want to stress again that there are no real objectives. Even if a creature of yours reaches 100% fitness, you don't win anything except for (hopefully) lots of excitement and joy.

IMPORTANT (again): The simulation is pretty CPU heavy so it will crash on most old and/or low-powered devices. If your device does not meet these minimum performance requirements you should NOT download this app!
If you just experience some lag you might be able to improve the fps by lowering the population size in the start menu.

For more information on how the algorithm works behind the scenes and everything else you might be interested in click on the "?" button in the creature building scene.

1.1 Update: You can now save and load your simulation progress.

There is also a Mac & PC version available for download and a browser version for you to try out on the main project website (keiwan.itch.io/evolution).

Ratings and reviews

Sweeeet, thanks for the update 2022! Creatures need to be able to set or detect orientation. Also we need to be able to zoom out more, and have more vertical viewing distance. When creating a flying creature you can't see much more than the initial viewing area preventing you from seeing a full flight. Designer needs measurement tools + multi select, arrow tool when bones + joints are near. A drop down menu with different brain suggestions "types". Add the best voted from discord.

Survival of the Glitchiest.... Great simulator. Unfortunatly, the most successful generations start to be the ones that can glitch its way across the field. Wish there was an option for selective breeding. This might screw with the original intent of the game, but it really would be an awesome mode. Also, factoring in a creature that flops ahead and becomes immobile is not the most effective, even though it made it the furthest.

I think Evolution is an amazing game with a really cool concept of making characters in the game that evolve in how they move over time. You can never expect the exact same outcome with how one of your characters moves around and the way they move and behave mutates like it does with organisms in real life. I like the variety of options such as climbing, running, jumping, and flying, but I would recommend adding swimming to the game.

What’s new

- Added wings and a flying task
- Define a fitness penalty if certain joints touch the ground
- Assign IDs to muscles that should expand and contract at the same time
- Exiting a simulation will now load its creature design into the editor
- Bug fixes
- Stability improvements
- Fixed launch crash on Android 12