Cultural Factor

“It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world.”

- The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Cultural Factor is a game where you can guide a simulated society from it's early beginnings.  Inspired by games such as Suzerain, this takes a minimalistic approach to your standard civilization builder!  Follow your people as they develop their identity by guiding their decisions during key moments of inspiration.  At each key moment, you will face a crossroads and must choose what path to take.  Rather than micro-manage a society, you will nudge them in the direction you find best and leave them to the consequences.  Unlike most civilization games, your sphere of influence is defined by cultural impact, not strict borders.  Sometimes these key moments will come from seemingly minor events which shape the beliefs and capabilities of your people.  You will find that it is not always leaders who help define a society.

The game begins during the Mesolithic era, nearly 12,000 years ago.  Your tribe's first concerns will be for food in an unstable environment.  Live through the end of the Ice Age, as waters rise and megafauna, such as woolly mammoths, die out.  Find new sources of food in your warming world.  Encounter others and fight for resources, or band together against the world.  Engage in economy or seclude yourself against outside interference.  Develop a society from the ground up, and fight for your independence or find yourself absorbed into those around you.

The minimalistic interface belies a complex system of beliefs; your decisions will help define the ideology of those who follow.  Each decision matters, as they will have cumulative effects on the beliefs of your people.  You may even find at times that your people are unwilling or unable to walk the path you lay for them.  A bloodthirsty society may find war unavoidable, whereas a peaceful one may avoid it at all costs.  You may find that what helps your people prosper today will make them suffer tomorrow.  Guide your people into understanding the world around them.  Help them develop a society of their own.  Create caste systems or true democracies.  Fight for dominance or make peace.  Embrace many ideologies, or submit all to your designs. 

Culture exists separate from government.  You will begin as a tribe, but as you grow you may find your culture is but a small part of a larger body.  If you can gain a majority, then the fate of the entire civilization may be within your grasp.  But even a minority can play a significant role in the right hands.  Lead from the front, or manipulate from the shadows.

Culture rarely dies with a civilization.  New civilizations are built on the ruins of old, subtly influenced by that which came before.  You may find the best route forward is for the old world to die and a new one to emerge.  Loss is not the end, just a new beginning.  The name of your people may change, but their beliefs continue on through those they inspire.

Will you change the world for the better, or for worse?

Note:  Cover image is a pre-demo placeholder sourced from copyright/royalty-free assets