Faunasphere is an in browser online game being developed by Big Fish Games. We were recently given beta access to the game, and I had the chance to give the game a shot over the holiday weekend.
The first thing that jumps out about this game is its style. It has a very pleasant animated presentation that manages to charm. The game casts you as a Caretaker, picking out your first Fauna. I chose a red horse, who I called Inferno, and I was sent into the game. After learning my way around in a small, isolated patch of land, I was given access to the main hub, the Rock Garden.
The game is controlled with a simple point and click system, and your goal is to clear pollution from the world. To do this, you use a charged collar around your Fauna’s neck. When you destroy a piece of pollution, you get Lux (One of the currencies of the world) and other items, including pieces of land. You use these pieces of land to build your own custom Faunasphere. This is where the game really sets itself apart. You construct your Faunasphere piece by piece on a grid, and place various decorations. Any of your friends can visit your Faunasphere at any time, and purchase items from your Totem.
A Totem is a decoration that has several uses. It can be used as a gift box to receive items from other players, as well as a factory for items called Commodities. You aren’t able to determine which commodity your totem will dispense; it’s completely random when you create it. Commodities are traded to a Canopy Column in the Rock Garden for raffle tickets, and to contribute towards a Community Project. Every player is working together to trade in a certain amount of each item to complete this Project. It adds a unique sense of community to the game, where making friends to access their Faunasphere, and in turn, their Totem, is key.
There are a few different areas available in the Beta, each with a Goal Station. The goals range from tutorials to gathering quests and even some surprises mixed in. One area has a pretty cool boss battle with a pollution monster. This is the only event that I experienced that has any sort of adversity. It’s pulled off in a very unique way, where you have to destroy the pieces of pollution while avoiding the monster’s attacks. The only form of “death” in the game is your Fauna becoming too unhappy to continue. When that happens, you are returned to your Faunasphere, safe and sound. You keep your Fauna happy and energized by feeding them certain foods.
While doing quests and destroying pollution, you are gaining experience, and when you level up, you get an Egg. This egg can be incubated in a nest at your Faunasphere. You can have other Fauna incubate your egg to change up your results. Each Fauna hatched from the egg inherits gene traits from the parents, and you can get some pretty interesting results. Breeding Fauna adds a great sense of variety that will keep the Pokemaniacs interested. It definitely had me hooked!
Faunasphere is an online game, so interaction with other people is inevitable. The players I’ve interacted with thus far have been extremely friendly and helpful. The community has the potential to become really strong, with the Community Project hovering in the background of everything you do. The customization in Faunasphere development also gives you incentive to make more friends and see what they have created. And as time goes on, you will have to partner up with other players to create stronger and more varied fauna.
The Beta is always changing, and features are constantly being added. Just last week, they announced new designs for the Totems players will be able to create. The game will be evolving as the Beta goes on, and will most likely continue past release. Easily accessible, charming, and strangely addictive, Faunasphere is one online game to keep your eyes on!
