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Early Access Game

Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Observe is a game about systems colliding and I can't find the interesting collisions on my own. Every player who writes an AI script finds strategies I'd never think to write. Every scenario someone builds pushes the simulation somewhere I never tested it. That loop is how this game gets developed, not a nice extra on top of it.

There's a practical reason too. The Arena is a ranked ladder of player-written AI, and a ladder needs opponents. It only becomes the thing it should be with people already in it.

So Early Access is where I:
-find the edge cases that only turn up when hundreds of worlds are running at once
-balance systems against strategies players actually use, instead of the ones I assumed
-shape the Arena and its seasons around the people competing
-decide what to build next from what people ask for”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Longer than I first said, When I wrote this page I guessed a year. That year came and went, because each update kept opening up something more worth doing than shipping 1.0 on schedule.

So instead of a date, here's the condition. Observe leaves Early Access when the systems that decide whether a nation survives (economy, stability and rebellion, war, the nuclear age) are all in place and balanced against each other, when the tutorial teaches all of them, and when the Arena has run a full ranked season from start to finish. My honest estimate for that is another year. If it slips again, the updates keep coming in the meantime, which is the part I can actually promise.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The full version is this game with its systems finished, not a different game. Since Early Access started, Observe has gained nuclear weapons, stability and two kinds of rebellion, forts and front stances, buildings, a reworked naval and political system, the Arena ranked ladder, a 30 lesson interactive coding tutorial and era theming. What's left is more of that: deepening the simulation and the tools around it and finding new more interesting systems to add.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Stable, and well past what the original Early Access build was. The map is 3,400+ regions and the scenario editor, God Controls, AI Studio with its MiniScript editor and tutorial, the Workshop integration, the leaderboards and the Arena ladder are all in and in daily use.

Warning: this is a spectator-first game, so if you want direct unit control this isn't that. Balance genuinely shifts between updates, because that's what the ladder feedback is for. And parts of the interface are still being rebuilt as the systems underneath them grow. One day this might change depending on how we move on from here.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The price will go up modestly when Observe leaves Early Access. Buying now is the cheapest it will be.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Discord is where the discussions and the polls on what comes next happen, and I read every suggestion on the Steam forums and every email that reaches me.”
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About This Game

A WORLD THAT PLAYS ITSELF

In Observe, the world runs on its own. Nations make their own decisions. They expand, form alliances, fight wars, build empires and collapse without waiting for your orders.

Watch events unfold, step in through God Mode, create entirely new worlds or write the AI controlling their nations.

Watch the World Change

Press Play and the world takes over. The political map changes while every country pursues its own survival.

  • Watch wars move. Animated front lines, flags, armies, aircraft and invasions show where each war is being fought.

  • Follow the story. A live news feed records wars, alliances, uprisings, famines, atrocities and other major events.

  • See empires break apart. Overextended countries lose stability. Rival ideologies can begin civil wars, while badly treated peoples can fight for independence.

  • Read the world your way. Switch map views to compare military strength, stability, food, wealth, cultures, alliances and subject blocs.

  • Enter the nuclear age. Industrial powers build missiles and silos. Nuclear strikes kill populations and leave permanent wastelands.

  • Endless Mode. When one world ends, another is generated automatically so the simulation never stops.

Reach Into the Simulation

God Mode lets you change the running world without taking over every decision. Select a nation, choose an action and use it directly on the map.

  • Declare wars, force peace, create alliances, annex countries and create subjects.

  • Paint ownership and colonisation across the map.

  • Force a breakthrough, reinforce one side or collapse an enemy front.

  • Create nations, release peoples, incite revolts, cause famines or eliminate a country.

  • Change armies, money, technology, nuclear weapons, food reserves and capitals.

  • Disable diplomacy or nuclear AI for one nation, or take those decisions away from every AI in the world.

Draw Your Own World

Create a map inside the game and turn it directly into a working scenario.

  • Draw borders with brushes, a one-pixel pen, straight lines and flood fill.

  • Paint regions directly or draw boundaries and fill the areas inside them.

  • Trace a reference image and arrange artwork on movable layers.

  • Create maps up to 8K or import and edit Observe's built-in Earth map.

  • Edit adjacency, sea zones and naval routes when your world needs special connections.

  • Publish your work through Steam Workshop, or download maps and scenarios made by other players.

Build More Than Borders

The Scenario Editor controls what exists inside your map and how its history begins. Start from a detailed Earth with more than 3,400 regions, build an alternate history, generate a random scenario or create everything from an empty canvas.

  • Create nations. Set borders, capitals, flags, armies, technology, economies and starting relationships.

  • Create ideologies. Give them bonuses, rules and different approaches to war, diplomacy and culture.

  • Paint cultures and peoples. Build diverse populations, cultural groups and countries that can break away.

  • Shape the land. Terrain changes combat and food production. Farms feed growing populations, while shortages can become famines.

  • Build empires. Create colonies, puppets and subject blocs without turning them into one country.

  • Change the rules. Make the world peaceful, aggressive, unstable or completely chaotic.

Program the Nations

Writing code is entirely optional. AI Studio lets you replace a nation's decisions using MiniScript, a simple built-in scripting language. Decide when it expands, who it trusts, what it builds and how it fights.

  • New to coding? Interactive lessons take you from your first line to a working strategic AI inside the editor.

  • Already a programmer? Use the built-in mechanic reference and game data to create your own strategy.

  • Test quickly. Run scenarios inside AI Studio, watch the script act, then inspect its console output and detailed report.

  • Share your work. Publish scripts through Steam Workshop and test them against the same challenges as everyone else.

Fight for the Leaderboards

Use your scripts in competitive modes built around AI strategy.

  • Leaderboard challenges. Every script receives the same country, world and turn limit, so every score can be compared directly.

  • Arena duels. Watch automated one-on-one wars between your AI and scripts written by other players.

  • Run several AIs. Build different personalities and strategies, then see which one survives the competition.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 10 version 21H1 (build 19043) or newer
    • Processor: Intel I5-1135G7
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
    • DirectX: Version 10
    • Storage: 1 GB available space
    • Sound Card: Yes
    • VR Support: N/A
    Recommended:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 11
    • Processor: AMD Ryzen 3 4100
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Nvidia GT 740
    • DirectX: Version 11
    • Storage: 1 GB available space
    • Sound Card: Yes
    • VR Support: N/A
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