Why You Can Trust CNET Doodle God Universe: You're the creator of the universe in this new Apple Arcade game
Combine elements creatively, logically or chaotically in this new Apple Arcade game.
- She received the Renau Writing Scholarship in 2016 from the University of Louisville's communication department.
Combine different elements to build a world in Doodle God Universe.
Doodle God, which launched in 2010 from JoyBits, put a puzzle game spin on the world-building genre. Doodle God expanded into a series including titles like Doodle Devil, Doodle Mafia, Doodle Farm and more. On Friday, Doodle God Universe joined Apple Arcade's extensive slate of games.
In Doodle God Universe, you'll combine different elements -- beginning only with earth, air, water and fire -- to build new elements and items for your worlds through puzzles, eventually creating your own universe and supporting the life that inhabits it.
While Doodle God Universe will feel familiar to those who've played any of the games prior, Paul, a brand evangelist for JoyBits who prefers to only use his first name, says in many ways this is an entirely new game. Doodle God Universe sports modern, redrawn element icons, 3D scenes and more reactions, as well as changes to the game's pace and difficulty.
"Easiness and speed are vital for the modern gamers, and you can feel it in Doodle God Universe thanks to the modern animations of all actions made by players, a minimalistic UI style that improves usability, and a dynamic scoring system that motivates you to look for the new reactions," Paul told CNET over email. " The game adjusts to the style and logic of a particular player now."
Certain elements combined can even create life in the game.
The Doodle God series is an A+B=C style game, according to Paul. Games like Triple Town, 2048 and Little Alchemy have similar mechanics, which involve combining existing elements together to create new ones. For example, the game's official trailer shows that combining a bird and fire produces a phoenix. Doodle God's unique content, quests, puzzles, mini-games and art set it apart from variations and clones, Paul says.
The game also gets a boost from Apple's new hardware, like 5G and the A14 Bionic chip.
"The power of all modern Apple devices -- iPhone, iPad, Mac, AppleTV -- as well as many great technologies, like Metal, integrated with the Unity3D -- all this allowed us to implement all the most daring game design and visual ideas," Paul said.
Getting creative and chaotic
World-building games like Minecraft, Stardew Valley, Terraria and The Sims have supplied gamers with hours of entertainment for years. As with all world-building games, Paul says Doodle God Universe is about exploring and searching for the new and unexpected.
"World building games can be fascinating for an awfully long time, and lots of players would like to 're-read' Doodle God over and over again like a good book," Paul said. "And in the situation of a complete lockdown when a person spends almost all the time at home -- what can be better than re-reading your favorite book, re-watching [your] favorite TV show, or re-creating the world in Doodle God Universe?"
To have the most fun with the game, players picking up Doodle God Universe should be open to experiments, Paul says. Doodle God Universe rewards curiosity.
Create volcanos, trees, metals, storms, animals and more to make your universe.
"Use your imagination, make creativity your engine," Paul said. "And there is no special pattern when playing the game, you can try to use your logic or combine elements chaotically."
With the launch of Doodle God Universe, Angry Birds Reloaded and Alto's Odyssey, Apple Arcade is nearing 200 games with more still to come.
If you're interested in trying Apple Arcade, you can get a three-month free trial of Apple Arcade with the purchase of a new device, or one month for free if you're signing up for the first time. Open the App Store and tap the little joystick icon at the bottom of the screen to launch the service.
Another option is the Apple One subscription bundle which launched last year. Apple One makes it easier and more affordable to get up to six Apple subscription services, Apple Arcade included, for one price. Most recently, the service teamed up with Verizon to offer a free year-long subscription with unlimited plans.
For more, check out Apple Arcade is still delivering for casual gamers and Call it Apple Arcade 2.0, with 32 new games, NBA 2K21, Fantasian and classic reboots.
