Everything
Everything is an interactive experience where everything you see is a thing you can be, from animals to planets to galaxies and beyond. Travel between outer and inner space, and explore a vast, interconnected universe of things without enforced goals, scores, or tasks to complete. Everything is a procedural, AI-driven simulation of the systems of nature, seen from the points of view of everything in the universe. Learn to change what you are to create worlds within worlds within worlds, or let go any time to allow Everything to take over and produce a never ending documentary about the world you live in. Narrated by the inspiring philosophy of Alan Watts, and featuring a rich score from composer Ben Lukas Boysen, Everything will give you a new perspective on life.
Steam User 41
-be me
-take acid
-play this for 10 hours straight
-achieve ego death
10/10
Steam User 31
What's it like to be a tardigrade? Do grass blades wonder about what they'll be doing in Tuesdays? Do birds get caught up in gossip as humans do? What is a person? Is everything?
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that game changed my life.
Perhaps it was discovering Alan Watts, to "experience the universe experiencing itself" as he would say, or to get to wonder about existence and the nature of everything. I played this game back when it came out, gifted by a dear friend, and had an epiphany... Now, 6 years later, I still feel its impact in my life. It permanently changed my outlook on things and helped me through a particularly difficult, confusing time of my life.
But I recognize it's not for everyone. In my enthusiasm. I have tried showing this game to many friends and acquaintances. Some people were confused, some were thrown off by its aesthetics, some just didn't see the point. It's quirky. And it's pretty much a walking simulator. So the same game that has changed my life might not mean anything to you. Isn't it wonderful, how different people get to experience existence?
Is this game a game? Isn't everything?
Steam User 33
This game definitely is not for everyone. Some may question whether this is a game at all. There is no combat, not much to actually DO, but I wouldn't call it a Walking Sim either. There is no story (not in the usual sense), there is no real ending or beginning...
If you are into philosophy and spirituality, then this game is a must have. Some of the thoughts you can collect are worth considering, may make you question your own thoughts, ideas and beliefs.
There are audio files with outtakes of old recordings from speeches of Alan Watts. If you don't know who Allen Watts was, I recommend you google him. Just be known that he was heavily influenced by Eastern philosophies.
This game is about experiencing rather than doing. About thinking and clearing your mind. You can't really simulate a spiritual experience in a game, but... this game tries. At one point you have to learn how to "clear your mind" and get rid of your thoughts to progress, end the tutorial and start the main game. Basically what people try to accomplish with meditation. Music and sound is calm, sometimes reminds of typical meditation music, sometimes more of a calm SF scenario.
There are worlds within worlds within worlds to discover and explore. As Everything. As Nothing. As an atom, a virus, a dirt particle, a fence, a cow, a planet... you can "become" anything, everything or nothing.
For me, personally, playing this has a calming effect, and some of the "thoughts" were a reminder to reflect my own beliefs, how I am living my daily life and that stuff.
If you think all the above mentioned is humbug and/or esoterical mumbo-jumbo, you may get bored while playing this game. As there isn't much to actually DO.
You still MAY like it if you sometimes enjoy something relaxing.
As for technical aspects, had no trouble running the game on my laptop (Acer laptop, nearly 4 years old, with i7 processor, 8 GB RAM, older NVDIA graphics card, old SSD) while having an idle game plus some other stuff running in the background. Experienced a couple crashes lately, but only since my hard drive is a bit too full. Had some frame rate drops in one particular type of world, but as there is an achievement for what happens when the frame rate drops and it is still possible to discover Everything... so not much of an issue.
Recommended to people who want a different game experience, who enjoy something relaxing and/or who are at least open to philosophy and spirituality.
Steam User 28
To make a concrete recommendation right at the top, I'd buy this for between five and ten dollars and give it an afternoon of your time. Like a ticket to a weird play that your artsy friend says is the best thing they've seen in years but you know that probably means it involves a lot of interpretive dance.
To actually talk about the game just a bit, it's the kind of game where I'm frustrated by the thumbs up / thumbs down limitation of steam reviews. It has a lot of big ideas and about 50% of them are compelling. For the less compelling bits: It's too in love with Alan Watts, and while you may not know who that is, you will definitely hear that guy's voice a lot if you play this game.
For the more compelling: it has a system where something can talk, and you can choose to listen or ignore it. If you listen, it gets added to your 'mind.' You then can talk, and you find that the only things you can say are new ways of putting together everything that's been said to you. Whatever you said then also goes into your mind, to build more things to say. That's just a great concept. It's saying something just by building the system that way and you as the player discovering how it works.
The strongest parts of the game are those, where the value comes from you thinking about what it's trying to say by building itself a certain way. That and the utter, mad scale of it. Everything else I could take or leave as far as quality goes, but I am glad even those parts were attempted.
Steam User 15
I urge you to play this game if the intertwining of philosophy and spirituality intrigues you.
With existentialism as the theme and guided by some of Alan Watts' ideas, this is a deep dive into meaning, cosmos, life, and our own condition as a species.
If you're able to abstract the graphics/mechanics and focus on the message, this could assist you with expanding your perspective on existence.
Steam User 20
This is a zen experience more than it is a game. If you’re a fan of Alan Watts or interested in concepts of spirituality and metaphysics then you might appreciate this one. Nothing challenging here, it’s just you and the universe. Actually, you are the universe.
Steam User 21
This destroyed me.
I'm not sure if I'm going to stop lying to myself, about myself, just to avoid feeling lost and afraid.
Even now I'm possessed with fear that anyone might connect these words with the real me.
See deeper than the mask I created to fit in, unknowingly created to hide in.
It's not even a good mask.