German multi-million-euro project Seed aims to revolutionise simulators
With a budget of more than 80 million euros, Berlin-based studio Klang Games is developing Seed – a vast online social simulation without NPCs. It’s launching in early access this year.
Have you heard of the MMO game Seed from Berlin-based studio Klang Games? Probably not. This game’s still largely flying under the radar, but the team behind it has big plans. More than a decade in the making, Seed’s set to launch in early access this year. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
The best way to describe Seed is an online life and society simulation. Imagine The Sims, but as an MMO and without NPCs. The world’s persistent, which means the simulated characters – called Seedlings – continue to live and work even after the players responsible for them have logged out.
Seed’s second special feature is its simulation aspect – the actions of the players, known as Cultivators, influence the socioeconomic conditions. Nothing works without collaboration, and democracies are just as possible as a dictator who prevents further elections.
And last but not least, AI comes into play. The hope’s that ChatGPT will spark lively conversations and offer a few surprises. With AI, you can give your Seedlings commands using natural language, steer conversations in a certain direction and chat with them via the Companion app on your smartphone.
A major project that hardly anyone knows about (yet)
These three special features show that Klang Games has lofty ambitions. And investors believe in it. The studio, founded in 2013, managed to raise more than 80 million euros (equivalent to 73 million Francs) in funding. There are now about 90 people working on the game – even though Klang Games hasn’t released a title in about ten years. But that’s set to change soon.
For some time now, Seed’s been available to play for free as a closed beta under an NDA. This summer, Klang Games plans to open up its game world and put an early access version to the test. Seed will be available on Steam starting this autumn, CEO Mundi Vondi announced at a presentation in Berlin. «The first Seed keynote – this is a historic moment,» he says with a laugh to the audience, made up of invited journalists and content creators.
I’m one of them. In the presentation, Vondi and some of his employees explain their vision in more detail.
More simulation than game
The initial conceptual ideas for the project go all the way back to 2010, Vondi explains. Two of the three founders were working on Eve Online at the time. This is a large-scale but niche science fiction game that, due to its complexity, is often described as an Excel spreadsheet with graphics. Its persistent game world, shared by hundreds of thousands of players, and the alliances and economic systems that are created as a result, served as inspiration for the trio’s own game.
When people come together in such large numbers and organise themselves, it’s an opportunity to analyse social structures. Here, on a small scale, we can observe how a collective reacts to changes in the interaction between forms of governance and market mechanisms.
Early on, the team was able to convince Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig of the merit of their vision as a simulation of human societies. He advises the developers on the design of the political aspects.
Source: Klang Games
Klang Games aims to develop a «large-scale Society Simulator unlike any other». On its website, Klang Games describes Seed as «a deep, meaningful experience that combines the beauty and challenges of reality in a virtual playground full of possibilities.»
As Vondi explains, Seed simulates three different core areas, revealing striking parallels with our society.
Life simulation: home, work and family
Your Seedling takes centre stage. You can create up to ten of them. The well-being of the Seedlings depends on various impressions, experiences, skills and social interactions. You’ll know all about this from The Sims or RimWorld. Each Seedling has their own calendar, which you fill with various activities and which defines their daily routine unless you actively adjust it.
Still, you don’t have to just sit back and watch while your Seedling goes about their business. You decide what hobbies they have and help them make friends. You can build a house for your Seedling, furnish it and let them start a family. And yes, your Seedling can have a child with another Cultivator’s Seedling. You agree before conception which parent will get custody.
Source: Klang Games
One hour in the real world is equal to one day in the game. Your Seedling has a lifespan of about three months, a developer tells me. You can use this time to give them a wonderful virtual life.
Economic simulation: someone’s got to make nails
But how do you pay for your fancy house? The entire economic structure’s based on the goods and services provided by the players. In Seed, you can start your own business if you want, and choose for yourself what to produce or offer. It could be a factory or a nightclub. But one Seedling isn’t enough for a large company, so you’ll need more employees. You find them by posting vacancies with defined tasks.
Through the job board, Seedlings can be hired for the advertised positions and, as a result, gain purchasing power. In turn, they use that money to pay for goods and services, creating a cycle. Just like in the real world, the pay for advertised positions and prices for services depend on supply and demand.
Source: Klang Games
Cultivators who run a business play an active role in creating a functioning society. But that takes coordination. If no one’s willing to produce basic iron nails in their workshop, then there’ll be no nails and no one will be able to build anything. This is where politics comes into play.
Political simulation: keep your wits about you during elections
The legislative body, which – like everything else – is made up of people, can, for example, subsidise certain economic sectors, therefore influencing them. Shaping the social framework’s the third pillar of the Seed simulation. And every player has a role in it.
All Cultivators belong to a «Society» from the moment they create characters; there are no loners. A Society consists of a group of at least three people who come together to build an economic and political community from the ground up. The numerous Societies in Seed are linked to one another through trade relations. But each Society decides for itself how to organise its shared life. First, this is done by electing a mayor, who’s granted certain privileges and appoints other officials.
Players can also choose their own governance structures in Seed. In theory, an elected official can amass so much power that they can prevent further elections. The result? A democratically legitimised autocracy. This dictator can’t be overthrown, since Seed doesn’t allow violence. So a coup isn’t on the cards.
Source: Klang Games
As Vondi explains, the government isn’t just responsible for tax rates and public facilities like hospitals and subway stations – it also has a direct impact on the allocation and pricing of building plots for your home. So keep your wits about you during elections.
AI’s intended to make the game feel more lively
AI’s frowned upon by many developer studios, and also by the gaming community as a whole. But for Seed, it’s a godsend, says Vondi. Experimenting with standard chatbots prior to the launch of ChatGPT hadn’t been particularly promising. But the ChatGPT LLM, which is deeply integrated into the game, has unlocked new possibilities.
As a talking user guide, AI not only answers your questions about the game, but is also intended to encourage more lively conversations. Unlike in The Sims, you’re not limited to predefined dialogue options when talking to other Seedlings. Instead, you can tell your Seedling exactly what to say, ask, or do.
This means you can steer a conversation more precisely and should open up plenty of opportunities for you to experiment. As a developer demonstrates during the keynote, you can ask another Seedling for help or create a shared calendar event. «Conversations powered by AI result in actions that offer real gameplay value,» he says.
Source: Klang Games
What’s Seed been like to play so far?
During the brief demo session in Berlin, my impressions were mainly limited to figuring out the interface and realising that, unsurprisingly, Seed’s quite complex. At home, I create a private account to test out the game for this review. I want to see what Seed’s like to play.
I log in with my Discord account on the game’s website, giving me 90 days of access to the game plus a Seed Life. This allows me to create my first Seedling. Then I join one of the Societies recommended on the start screen – ones that are active and therefore presumably doing well. These already have some community infrastructure, plus a few successful businesses and jobs.
So far, Seed feels more like a browser game. When I have time to play, I catch up with my Seedling, make a few decisions and let him have conversations. Unlike The Sims, everything takes much longer – no wonder, since my Seedling goes about his day-to-day life even when I’m sleeping and working. If I’m still completely broke by the end of the evening, I can make the money I’ve earned in the meantime stretch quite far the next day. I finished building my first home after a few days in the real world.
Source: Debora Pape
Every now and then, my Seedling sends me a message – both in the game and in the Companion app for Android or iOS, which I’ve downloaded. It does the job, but like the game itself, I keep noticing performance issues. Still, I like that I can check to see what my Seedling’s up to when I’m on the go, what my account balance is, or if there are any unmet needs.
The chats – which, by the way, like the rest of the game, are currently only available in English – haven’t been particularly meaningful so far. For instance, my Seedling tells me that he enjoys the sunshine and likes to work. He also lets me know when I’ve reached a skill goal. When I ask questions, he answers me in a flowery way that seems to reflect his personality.
I use the app to ask if the house I designed for him is ready yet. His reply: «My house? I’m homeless, don’t you know? Like a wildflower under the open sky. But there’s a certain peace in that, a quiet vastness.» Jeez. I did finish the house, but I didn’t pick my Seedling to live there.
Source: Debora Pape
On the whole, Seed has a steep learning curve. As a newcomer, I’ve no idea what to do when I join an existing Society. So I log into the Seed Discord server and ask some questions. Lots of them, in fact. Fortunately, the other Cultivators are patient and happy to lend a helping hand.
My impression of Seed
I’m really intrigued by the vision outlined for Seed. The simulation aspects are just as exciting as the idea of incorporating AI as an agent and conversational assistant. The screenshots I’ve seen so far reveal a game that’s on a par with The Sims.
I didn’t find it to be quite so polished when I played it myself. The game’s mechanics are difficult to grasp, and the overall experience – from the soundscape to quality-of-life issues – still has a lot of room for improvement. But that checks out for a game that isn’t even in early access yet. The developer team’s rolling out updates all the time, and if Seed lives up to its promises, it could be something really special.
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.
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