Teach the loop
- One biome: Starter Meadow / Snootmoogle Safari.
- Respawn creature variants and compare outcomes.
- Keep in Stable or Release to Wild.
- First traces appear: snootprint, glowspore, echo fur.
- Unlock Forge Ruins quickly so biomes make sense.
open /planning/progression.md
Early, mid, and late game shape.
The POC should prove the loop quickly, then reveal that the toy is actually a sim ecology: creatures respawn, biomes diverge, alchemy changes conditions, and some memories survive the runtime.
Make choices matter
- Alchemy changes biome water, atmosphere, signal, or memory pressure.
- Biome firewalls mean local decisions stay local.
- Research tree opens tuning controls and new recipes.
- Released creatures begin affecting wild logs and future respawns.
- Bank first advanced product to carry across a firewall.
Reveal depth
- Cross-biome products create shortcuts and weird consequences.
- Creatures reference prior sessions and previous incarnations.
- Rare respawn events feel like encounters, not loot drops.
- Players build a personal research style: curator, alchemist, ecologist.
- Steam-scale version adds saves, profiles, richer sim feedback.