What's the difference between this game and Reigns? Because I am considering getting one of the two and I would like to know which one has more replayability or content at the moment and also what sets them apart besides the fact that one is medieval while the other is Silicon Valley.
I'm not exactly unbiased, but the biggest difference is probably the fact that ASI has a big overarching story with the AI that levels up as you go from playthrough to playthrough. So you're taking your AI from a simple intelligence that can barely handle basic arithmetic to one that's millions of times smarter than every human who ever lived combined, and along the way you're teaching her to speak, to see, to play games. The world's technology gets more advanced as you go, the city grows from a sleepy little village to a Blade Runner-like megacity, etc etc.
There's an awful lot of content! Around 4,000 unique messages from 53 different characters, 44 tasks to complete, 15 items to collect, and 52 different endings to find.
I know no one reads this thread anymore! But I wanted to post some final thoughts after several months of on-and-off play. - This game is so wonderful. The art is superb, the atmosphere light but compelling, the factions intuitive and well-balanced. There's a lot of interesting thought put into this game, and it all works well as a unique and highly-polished package. - It's really weird to be playing a game with a character shared with my productivity apps!? I had never heard of CARROT before this game, and it convinced me to try some of the other apps. Bizarre and fun! - The art is superb. Have I mentioned that? - I love that it's not just about building an AI, but also a world (worlds). I loved seeing the city expand as my AI did. Beautifully done. All that said... - I feel that the game kinda lost its purpose after I DID achieve superintelligence. Up until then, I knew exactly what I was playing toward: the singularity. Afterwards: now what? Of course, it's possible that I'm missing something because I'm just not very good (high score: eight days post-singularity). But it felt like I had a clear purpose early on, and then later I just... didn't. - On that note, I have a suspicion that the game essentially consists of two parts: the "main game" of trying to achieve superintelligence, and then a "post game" of trying to get the highest score. That's fine (other than the lack of payoff, above), but if so, there HAS to be a way to restart the game. As it is, the game can be played through exactly once, after which the only way to replay the main "story" is to actually delete the game and reinstall it. It's like it has one save slot, and the saved game can't be deleted. Not cool! Especially since I loved the "main game" so much. - I wish one of the goals wasn't to summon a demon. The creepy devil part of Reigns is what turned me off to it; it didn't belong here, either. Today, a soccer management game was announced in this same vein. ASI has served as proof-of-concept that Reigns can be its own genre, adapted to various goals and contexts. I'm really excited about where this is going! Looking ahead, I'm hoping that we're going to see more branching situations like ASI had: where an individual choice is followed up by others, which are followed up by others, etc., all stemming from each other -- rather than individual and isolated choices whose only effects are on the factional balance. So, I guess I'm hoping for a little more choose-your-own-adventure, in addition to the balancing mechanic, which is currently dominant. In this, too, I feel that ASI has advanced the genre. As a final word: thank you for this wonderful gaming experience!
