Thrive (video game)

Thrive is an open source life simulation god game developed and published by Revolutionary Games Studio. The game was published on Steam on November 26, 2021, and is available on Microsoft Windows, MacOS and Linux.^[1] The game has been available as a free download from its official website since 2013, although a paid version can be bought on Steam as a developer support act.^[2] Thrive takes significant influence from Spore, being similar in gameplay, and connected through development history.^[3][4] The current version of Thrive is 0.8.2.1.^[5][6]

Thrive
Developer(s)	Revolutionary Games Studio
Publisher(s)	Revolutionary Games Studio
Engine	Godot
Platform(s)	Windows, Linux, MacOS
Release	October 2013 (first version); 26 November 2021 (early access on Steam)
Genre(s)	God game, life simulation
Mode(s)	Single-player

Gameplay

First stage - the Microbe Stage

Thrive allows players to play as a species from its earliest form as a microscopic organism as it develops into a more complex lifeform, eventually progressing into primitive society and then civilization.^[7] The game is divided into different stages, each of them representing a different time period of the life and society evolution into sentience. There are 9 different stages planned, including the Microbe Stage, Multicellular Stage, Macroscopic Stage, Aware Stage, Awakening Stage, Society Stage, Industrial Stage, Space Stage and the Ascension Stage.^[8] Of all 9 stages, only the Microbe Stage is finished to a presentable form, while the others are still in development.

In the first stage of the game, the player plays as a microorganism, who must collect various chemical compounds in order to function.^[9] The game allows the player to edit their species, adding new organelles or changing living conditions, which unlocks more opportunities for the player to explore the world through increasing the ability of the species to synthesize needed compounds like glucose. The game tracks various environmental parameters, such as oxygen or temperature levels, which affect the functions of the microbe. If the player should find themselves in conditions unsuitable for the organism, like extreme temperatures or pressure, their creature will die unless adaptations are made through an in-game editor.

The second stage, the Multicellular Stage, is still in development, but has a working prototype which can be played after finishing the first stage. The player controls a growing colony of cells connected together, forming a single organism. Similar to the Microbe Stage, the player explores the world and adapts their creature to environmental conditions, and when their creature reaches the required size, they can move to the next stage.^[10]

Development

The idea of creating Thrive was born in 2008, with the release of a life simulation game known as Spore.^[3] During the development of Spore, many expected Spore to be more realistic and “scientifically accurate", and were disappointed when final product took a more simplified and “cute” approach. In early 2009, a user on a forum, dedicated to Spore posted screenshots of a game called "Evolutions!", claiming it was a scientifically-minded Spore-like game being developed by students at Berlin University.^{[citation needed]} With time, the "Evolutions!" project didn't show any progress, and some users decided to leave and create their own project, which, after a vote, was named "Thrive" in 2010. Similar to "Evolutions!", Thrive was intended as a more scientific version of Spore, and began slowly developing in 2011 and 2012, collecting a small group of programmers, all of which left the project by early 2013, with the first release of the game known as 0.2.1. By that time, the forum of the game was "a hub of speculation and baseless ideas", and the project suffered a lack of skilled enthusiasts willing to actively develop the game. In 2014, Thrive forums experienced a strong flow of newcomers, caused by the interest of Spore players in alternative project to their game. Several programmers joined the development team, keeping the project moving forward "slowly but meaningful". In 2015 and 2016, new development and community forums were launched, alongside with a release of a new version of Thrive known as 0.3.0.

In 2017, after multiple game engine changes throughout previous years, Thrive's developers selected Godot, on which the game is developed today. By 2020, the project faced a question of including money in game's development, and as a result of a long discussion, Revolutionary Games was officially registered as an association in Finland.^[11][12] In 2021, Thrive was released on Steam in early access, and thus experienced a new wave of popularity on YouTube.^[13][14] By 2025, the team is planning to complete the development of the first stage before the end of the year, and afterwards focusing work on the multicellular stage, with possible release of the version 1.0.0.