Craft the World vs Empires of the Undergrowth
Craft the World
Craft the World is the game to play if you enjoy the survival, mining, and crafting aspects of Minecraft. The game's quite similar to Minecraft in many ways. You can plant and harvest crops. You can and will actually need to dig to find rare minerals as well. You can also craft a variety of tools, furniture, and, in general, items that will help your dwarves survive the periodic invasions of goblins, the undead, and other otherworldly monsters or will at least make your dwarves content.That said, there are a few very important differences between Craft the World and Minecraft that made the former so unique. Instead of playing a character, you get to become the omnipotent "god" of small dwarves who you can order to do your bidding or you could even control them individually if needed.
The crafting system is quite different too. Don't get me wrong - you still need to combine raw materials to create the stuff you need like in Minecraft, but similar to the crafting system in a standard MMORPG, there's a progression system in place that will allow you to unlock new "technologies" simply by crafting lower-tech items repeatedly...even if you don't really need that many of them. What can you do with the surplus of items then? Well, you can just sell them. There's a shop that sells resources that you may need in exchange for game cash. You can randomly earn game cash by battling creatures and monsters and you could also sell off your extra items for cash.
Craft the World may not be everyone's cup of tea due to the rather repetitive and slightly clumsy crafting system, but the game is still pretty fun and it does offer a challenge for fans of the survival genre.
Empires of the Undergrowth
Empires of the Undergrowth is an absolutely-unique ant colony management game that, despite being still in early access, has caused waves of interest and hype, especially within the indie community. The game features plenty of exciting and challenging game modes to put your management system to the test as you try your best to help your ant colony survive threats after threats. The game also provides players with a nifty little pheromones-based system to organize their ants into groups, challenges to earn crucial resources from, a progression system, as well as an upgrade system whereby you can invest Royal Jellies to upgrade an ant type, unlock a new ant skill, or unlock access to a completely new ant type.The game is surprisingly educational too. It teaches about different ant species and how they usually survive in the wild be it from the lack of food, their natural environment, or from certain predators. This might be particularly interesting for someone who has always been fascinated by ants and their colonies. After all, in some way, you'll be getting a digital version of an ant farm or a formicarium of your own!
Empires of the Undergrowth may be an indie game, but it's definitely one of the most innovative and interesting ones out there. If you are keeping your eyes on indie games that you might want to buy, this is one game you mustn't keep your eyes off of.