Idle Evolution

As far as my experiences with the original Idle Evolution from Kongregate went back in 2015, it was definitely a neat and intriguing idle game with some promising aspects to it, mainly the exploration of evolution (that, personally, I've always been a big fan of) and delving into the science behind chemistry and the periodic table that, although basic as far as the scientific community is concerned, does help to make education about this foundation level of understanding this topic to be quite a fun activity that one can be as active or relaxed about as they so desire, hence taking my time to complete it way back when. (If memory serves me correctly here, it took me somewhere around 3 to 4 weeks of on and off gameplay before I finally managed to complete that last Gradus stage that was an absolute slog to get through due to the upgrades only going so high) Now that I've finally checked out the new improved and modernised version of this idle game here, Idle Evolution on Steam is certainly a notable improvement from it's old flash game, (not 100% on this, as Kongregate is mainly a game for hosting the flash games of old, although considering that it does not require the Supernova plug-in that came about shortly after the demise of the Flash engine back in January of 2021, I suspect that the Idle Evolution on Kongregate is not running on Flash) although there are a couple of concerns that I will note down below, even though I did enjoy my time spent with this game overall. Focusing on the positives first however, the graphics are to be expected as a step-up from the old game and Idle Evolution on Steam does not disappoint! Seeing how it keeps much of the structure from the old game intact, yet polishes a lot of the older graphics to give it a far nicer and cleaner look in this version here, (kudos goes to the evolution setting for each stage alongside the colourful and fluid special affects seen for using evolve points, getting achievements and exchanging atoms alongside some others!) giving it a more presentable look to a game here in 2021! Furthermore, I do like how they expand on the gameplay by offering more content compared to the older version, be it by having more evolution stages to work through that the old game didn't present at the time or those fun little distractions that are the three minigames that are brief and don't overstay their welcome but also offer notable permanent boosts to any atoms that you successfully 'win', be it through questions answered successfully, collecting falling squares from a game of Breakout or connecting a pair that has the atom's full name and abbreviated version together, as it all helps to give the impression that you can do more when being active in the game of idling and not just merely leaving your mouse cursor pointed at a screen and leaving it on for an hour or more. Now what I am feeling mixed on is the overall pace of the game, as the pacing in the original was a great deal slower, perhaps too slow for a good portion of players, hence the new change where they up the rate of atoms being used (previously the game stopped at around the tens of Sextillions, where it would be nigh-on impossible to go much higher) as now you see far higher amounts being used for the later-game stages which, to my understanding, goes as high as Quindecillions before stopping with upgrade costs. The reason why I feel mixed about it, personally, is due to how quick the game comes and goes, as it can be beaten in under 20 hours quite easily with the right mindset and knowing how to 'beat' Idle Evolution on Steam here, (it took me about 32 hours to fully beat and reach the final Gradus stage once more) but I often feel like it rushes by some parts of the game, as I barely used the exchange function because of how quick I was pushing past parts of the game, similarly I did not bother with the quizzes for this reason largely due to how inconsequential the temporary boosts were compared to the smaller, but more permanent, upgrades that minigames offered to you. Now for my gripes with this game, largely it has to do with how poorly explained a few of the tasks of this game are, as no doubt some reading this will already know about the forums on Steam's Idle Evolution and how many of the threads focus on how to solve certain 'tricky' (or poorly-communicated) tasks. Although some did have me slapping my head due to overlooking a particular atom's detail or missing an extractor for the task due to it being hidden at one of the corners or behind an interface, (perhaps these can be highlighted when on said tasks featuring them?) there is one task that is poorly done and could do with either better advice or being redone in a way that is more clear to the player, that being a specific task in Level 17 that I will not mention here due to spoilers but will no doubt be able to find easily enough on the forums with a little effort. Also what could have been done better was offering more content overall, although I understand that there are only so many periods to cover in the game as well as the challenges that can make said gameplay idling through it can only be stretched so far without repetition setting in, however it is worth noting as I was a little disappointed to see that only a portion of what I hoped to see was added in this new version. Regardless, I hope this constructive criticism sees it's way to the developers of this game and can help with any future updates or, perhaps, a new instalment, whichever of the two is more likely to occur in the near-future.

正如制作者喜欢错误的任务，那他也一定会喜欢错误的评价。 没办法看到好评？ 这是一个差评，正确的评价隐藏在Steam另一个版面的某处！ 评价系统似乎出现了问题，对此造成的麻烦我表示歉意。

While I can see that the author put tons of effort into the game, it lack depth incremental-game wise. I suggest that the author think about making the game deeper other then just putting in more science fact into the game. e.g. make the game a multi-resource management game by making you build compound (e.g. water - h2o) from elements (h and o). one can then imagine other more complex chemical reaction, and adding depth from there (e.g. using complex molecule to form lipid, dna, rna, etc).

good game

One of the best idle games, more polished than Web version

Doesn't even give you a tutorial on how to play the game, wasted 4 hours of my time not knowing what to do next, game is trash and a waste of money!

Very educational. Some of the puzzles are tricky. Quiz reinforces the knowledge.

I don't know why I grinded this out. On the bright side I now know the difference between Astatine and Antimony (Can you guess which is symbol At and which is Sb?) in name. One of the tricks is pixel pinching to fit like 9 extractors within one element ( or was the limit 8? I can't remember). My favourite name is probably Promethium or Neptunium or Tennessine. I also know things called Lanthanum exist now apparently. Or... do they? Hopefully you don't get to meet one in real life because I heard they can turn your balls to stone.

As an educational game, there is some value here in learning the periodic tables through a variety of quizzes and tasks. But as an idle game, it's boring and repetitive without any of the traditional incremental improvement over multiple run-throughs. If you like idle games AND have a strong urge to brush up on basic chemistry, it might be worth playing, but only if both of those things are true.

Unique. Very educational. One of the better idler games.