Despotism 3k

I have to say that Despotism 3k is one of the most fun, weird and interesting strategy/management games I have played in a very long time. It is one of those games that at first glance does not look all that appealing and has a rather “basic” kind of thing about it. However, once you start playing this, it really is one of those games that is quite hard to stop as it is so addictive.

Enslave All Humans!

The plot of Despotism 3k is a lot of fun. We play as an AI that has enslaved humanity and now uses humans for power. The AI needs to abuse his human slaves for power! The humor in this game is very dark and it is something that appealed to me a great deal. I found myself chuckling away as different random things in the story would happen. To give you an example, Cthulhu can show up, your humans can have an existential crisis and commit suicide and this is just a small example of some of the funny things that can happen in the game.

The Hamster Wheel Of Life

Enslaving humanity to use them for power is not as easy as you would think. You have a power meter on the left side of the screen and you have to keep an eye on it because if it depletes before the 25 days are up, it is game over man! What you have to do sounds simple enough, you have a giant hamster wheel and you need to have a steady supply of humans to put on there to keep it moving and generating power…. But this is far from easy.

The Needs Of Humanity!

The management aspect comes into play in Despotism 3k in how you care for and breed your humans! Humans need to eat and they need to rest. You can have other humans working on this weird trampoline that makes food that you can give your humans to replenish their energy. They also need rest, so you need to put them in the jail or whatever you want to call it.

There is a special banging chamber where you can put humans so that they can have sex and reproduce. After all, you need to make sure that you have a steady supply of humans. You know the phrase you have to spend money to make money? Well, here it is you have to spend energy to make energy. Each thing you do requires energy so you have to manage it so that your output is not more than your input.

Making Weird Choices

One of the most fun aspects of Despotism 3k is when a little box will pop up with some kind of story. I mentioned Cthulhu before and if you answer right, he will grant you special octopus’ arms that let you do more things at once. Each choice you get is completely random and there is no way to know what it will do. It may turn your humans into zombies so they do not get tired as easily, or it could make it so when they breed, they always have twins. Or, it could make it so there are random suicides all the time!

Pros:

• I love the dark humor the game has
• The pixel-style art is hilarious, especially the breeding tube!
• Even when you lose, this game is a lot of fun
• It is one of the most addictive management games I have played in a long time

Cons:

• It is hard to know if a choice will help or hurt you!
• I still have not made it to the 25th day!