GODUS

 iOS
User Score
3.0

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 43 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 43
  3. Negative: 30 out of 43
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  1. GamingWeasel
    Aug 13, 2014
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am a fan of Peter Molyneaux, Populous, Black and White, and Dungeonkeeper, but Godus is simply dreadfully boring. The game is mostly about waiting for things to happen, while the player does little or nothing. It is a game world without drama, passion, suspense, or any feeling of achievement. Even on an iPad, the primary action the player does (bulldozing land) is imprecise and aggravating. The end result is unsatisfying, as the best land for your followers is a flat plain. Followers get blocked from moving to a destination even when the route is clearly open. The "Voyage of Discovery" event consists of playing mini-puzzle games, something like Loderunner or Lemmings. This game does not make you feel like a god, but instead inspires a feeling most like waiting at the airport for a delayed flight that finally gets cancelled in the end. As you get further into the game, it gets progressively slower, which can be remedied by getting out your credit card. The one good aspect of the game is that it looks reasonably pleasant...but then you turn it into a flat ugly plain. Hurray?

    Deleting this game from my iPad now.    … Expand
  2. Oxcart
    Aug 10, 2014
    3
    Godus unfortunately falls into the category of games with so much potential, but forfeit that on bad business model choices. First, the good news. Godus is a true god-game, where you, the player, have the power to reshape the world (well, bit by bit), and your followers look to you for guidance and help. If you enjoy nurturing little followers and making their little lives better, then theGodus unfortunately falls into the category of games with so much potential, but forfeit that on bad business model choices. First, the good news. Godus is a true god-game, where you, the player, have the power to reshape the world (well, bit by bit), and your followers look to you for guidance and help. If you enjoy nurturing little followers and making their little lives better, then the game design of Godus is tailor-made for you. Graphics are weak but passable (barely), sound is nothing noteworthy. However, the bad elements of the game totally wreck it, and I mean thoroughly. First of all, the developers make no mention of it, but you need to be online at all times. Why? It's not an MMO game, so why the online requirement? Because you need to use 22cans' ridiculous social service to continue play once the tutorial is over. This is an arbitrary decision that takes what could be a very pleasant commuter or lunch break game and turns it into something unplayable. Even laying that aside, Godus is beset with some serious faults, not the least of which is a highly erratic control scheme. Rather than the finger-paint controls that are the most common for sweeping adjustments to the game world, Godus uses a radial model that sets the initial touch as a focal point and the subsequent drags as action. The result is a highly unreliable control design that often undoes work just completed because the game decided that's what you were trying to do. Finally, while graphics are "passable," that should not be construed as "good." The graphics of Godus are reminiscent of a childish version of Kingdom of Keflings: very cartoonish and extremely primitive. Overall, it's a game with an outstanding concept, but crippled by poor execution, bad decisions by the distributor (and the inexplicable agreement of gamemaking titan Peter Molyneux with those decisions), and a lack of polish take what could've been the Next Big Thing and make it Yet Another Example of Game Developers Caring Only About Secondary Income. Such a total disappointment.… Expand
  3. Agarwel
    Aug 11, 2014
    0
    Standart pay2play model with diamonds and zero gameplay. Basically what this game is about is building settlements to increase population. Once you achieve the goal, you will unlock better settlements, bigger population goal and longer waiting times. And so on. Over time you unlock few new features, that are not to incease amount of stragety, but to slow you down and provide moreStandart pay2play model with diamonds and zero gameplay. Basically what this game is about is building settlements to increase population. Once you achieve the goal, you will unlock better settlements, bigger population goal and longer waiting times. And so on. Over time you unlock few new features, that are not to incease amount of stragety, but to slow you down and provide more incentives to pay. So for example you unlock farming. From that time each house requires one piece of wheat. And one piece of wheat takes six hours to grow. Or the game starts tracking happiness of the people. And the best way to increase it is to buy few status with diamonts that are in very short supply.
    So the only way to advance is to way (few hours at a time) or pay. But if you pay, you will just get faster to the longer waiting times and you will need to pay more :-D
    Considering there is absolutelly no strategy in this game (all you need to progress is wait/pay for the timer to reach zero) there is nothign for me to reccomend about this game.
    Im very interested how people who invested money on the kickstarter are feeling now.    … Expand
  4. chanandler
    Aug 15, 2014
    0
    It's really not good, it looks pretty but is dull, dull, dull to play and riddled with constant prompts to spend real money, all the time! This is worse than Dungeon Keeper mobile, the game the Molyneux slammed for it's shameless monetising and then he goes and releases an identical abomination with Godus! At least it costs nothing to download and it's easy to delete if you do make the mistake.
  5. Masterhummel
    Aug 14, 2014
    4
    Godus makes me sad. It makes me sad because it wasnt forced to be, what it is. The project itself was kickstartet and the pc version was sold via Steam Early Access. Enough money flow to free the developers from being forced to implement timers, an overpriced shop or obfuscated rating popups. Godus did it anyway. Did Molyneux do it because if greed? I don't think so. Instead, i think heGodus makes me sad. It makes me sad because it wasnt forced to be, what it is. The project itself was kickstartet and the pc version was sold via Steam Early Access. Enough money flow to free the developers from being forced to implement timers, an overpriced shop or obfuscated rating popups. Godus did it anyway. Did Molyneux do it because if greed? I don't think so. Instead, i think he did it because he really thinks this is was people want. Being able to buy progress, wait for timers and less gameplay and context over all. And this, ladies and gentlemen, makes me very, very sad.… Expand
  6. slkslkslk
    Aug 26, 2014
    1
    This is a unfinished game? No text whatsoever, no tutorial, no objectives. What am i supposed to do? It is strange that this product was accepted in the app store, but being promoted frontpage?! Maybe a bug? I gave a 1 because of the cool graphics, but beyond that....
  7. Gamermum
    Jul 29, 2015
    9
    Aesthetically a very satisfying game. I got quite addicted for a while - enjoyed uncovering stuff and building communities. I think sometimes people are just looking for the wrong things in a game like this - just chillax into it I say.
  8. Redbone0201
    May 1, 2020
    2
    I played through a bit of the game and started recieving an error code saying I couldn’t connect, meanwhile my friend played alongside me with no issues. You need to fix this before I post a worse review based on ppl being kicked out of the game for no reason other than getting far in the game.
  9. TheBestOpinion
    Aug 13, 2014
    2
    Like other professional writers have stated. This ham-fisted attempt at resuscitating a disheveled Populous on iOS devices is as off-putting as the terrible use of IAP's. If you enjoy being slapped in the face after your first 20 minutes of play with a huge timer driven pay-wall, that continue ad nausium, then this game is for you. Would not recommend.
  10. quood
    Aug 18, 2014
    8
    i) hit paywall
    ii) go to settings
    iii) go to date and time iv) turn off "set automatically" v) scroll forward N hours / days. Et voila. This is a very enjoyable, rendered more enjoyable by the complete avoidability of the paywall. I'm now running out of enjoyment, but I've had a good >25hrs of play, far more than I get out of most iOS titles. I've now hit the point where    i) hit paywall
    ii) go to settings
    iii) go to date and time
    iv) turn off "set automatically"
    v) scroll forward N hours / days.

    Et voila.

    This is a very enjoyable, rendered more enjoyable by the complete avoidability of the paywall. I'm now running out of enjoyment, but I've had a good >25hrs of play, far more than I get out of most iOS titles.

    I've now hit the point where there's nowt left to explore, and not much to do bar harvest resources to sculpt more plateaux to build more b*stard huge resource producers. Which is fine, like. But begins to get a bit samey.

    Controls, as others detail in greater depth, are also a bit wonky.    … Expand
  11. Jonno_scout
    Aug 20, 2014
    5
    Mediocre at best. Pay to play (not even pay to win) or wait around for hours at a time. Not in the same league as Dungeon Keeper, but not exactly worth spending much time on. Download it, play for a bit, then delete it - thats what I did.
  12. Overanalytical
    Aug 13, 2014
    10
    Please only read the comments of the critics this game is not as bad as everybody else seems to make it out to be it does not deserve a zero or 3 frankly this is a good idea with standard pay to play ideas and the whole you have to wait a long time is a legitimate complaints but despite that it's far more enjoyable than most people make it out to be the graphics while simply passable canPlease only read the comments of the critics this game is not as bad as everybody else seems to make it out to be it does not deserve a zero or 3 frankly this is a good idea with standard pay to play ideas and the whole you have to wait a long time is a legitimate complaints but despite that it's far more enjoyable than most people make it out to be the graphics while simply passable can actually be interesting once you start to play the game more and more the game has an unlimited playing mechanic if AND ONLY IF you are incredibly skilled The time takes for you to actually be able to do something new and to keep playing is actually very small something a lot of people have neglected to mention (it takes literally 30 seconds before you can actually do something small and minor but it's better to just wait it out of whole day) The gameplay can be a bit hard to control and this can screw you over in some of the quote unquote puzzle sections and while that was an extremely annoying experience that I had it hasn't exactly ruined the entire game for me yes you have to wait a lot and yes the design simplistic and yes the gameplay is simplistic but even still there is quite a bit to enjoy and go through the game to your own pace and the fact that it's a fee to play game means that it's also something you can quit very easily it's a game where you can stop at any point in time without feeling really guilty that you haven't visited your followers for and such and such time or you haven't gone through some of the puzzle sections in a long time there isn't really a daily login bonus yet or at least as far as I have gotten now for the people backed up the game this can actually be a very very very annoying game to go through as you do you have to wait and you do have to take a long time with this and it is available for mobile platforms which will probably get the biggest chunk of attention But dang it this is a review for the iOS version and you should take that as a positive note you will find The occasional ai walking bug that can really screw you over and while that does provide a giant piece of frustration you can overlook that so long as you can find a way around it here's the thing though most of the time you can't for one simple reason the camera doesn't turn out around and you're always going to be looking things through one way now you can zoom in and you can zoom out but you can't turn the camera around the game uses this design a very frustrating way at some point and there is requirement to turn the camera I'm not kidding this is what you will say dear readers and dear devs I want fixed immediately I know you're not going to do that because you've taken the lazy route to making this game but still major issue please fix it also for the love of God take out some of the mechanics all they do is just increase the loading times seriously that's not what we want to do we want to feel like we're making progress rather than just increasing the loading time we are investing in some upgrade because we are in fact building big your houses or doing different things make us feel like we can be rewarded for our actions because we actually invested in something that we would want rather than invest In something because the game did not have enough loading times I imagine this will get more and more frustrating but I want updates to help this issue rather than updates that make it worse now putting that aside you could've done a better job with audio you could have done a better job with the graphics let's not kid ourselves here it would've also been nice if you actually randomized the map so that online players can play with each other (curiosity was popular because of that) I know it could be a lot to implement but maybe as a future update or a completely separate game that is paid now I understand this my 10 is not a 10 this game deserves a max score of 5 but it's better than 1.5/10 (seriously guys) now I expect to edit this review heavily but I also expect to be vastly disappointed for future updates if you can surprise me great but you have lost plenty of interest in my eyes and I'm sure in everyone else's

    P.S.
    Thanks everyone for reading my grammatically flawed review (Siri will do that) and I'm only giving this a ten from other reader reviews when I was writing this it was a 1.5 so I hope this didn't trick you into thinking this was acceptable    … Expand
  13. Type4101
    Apr 20, 2015
    0
    Another in a long line of video game thefts that will go unpunished by law enforcement or business regulating entities everywhere. The creators took customers' money by promising them a host of features and describing a totally different game. After taking millions of dollars, they whipped up this absurdly terrible phone app and ran with the rest of the money. The developer admittedAnother in a long line of video game thefts that will go unpunished by law enforcement or business regulating entities everywhere. The creators took customers' money by promising them a host of features and describing a totally different game. After taking millions of dollars, they whipped up this absurdly terrible phone app and ran with the rest of the money. The developer admitted lying to boost revenue, then bragged that he was going to do it again! They have already started working on their next heist, a totally new game, although many in the company are quitting left and right. Gameplay-wise, Godus is a credit card payment simulator, only it isn't a simulation....you actually pay on your card, over and over and over again. Otherwise, the game is held hostage by an arbitrary timer. This is the classic (and despised) "pay-wall" method of money extraction. It preys on a type of person who has a mental illness and is addicted to games, or has a compulsion to complete things. Enough such people exist to make a game like this profitable, but it is predatory like pay-day loans. For regular folk, who want to pay a price then play a game, it is a type of awful that the English language has no word for. Think vomit, dipped in feces, and forced into your mouth. Its worse than that. But if you enjoyed EA's recent "reboot" of the Dungeon Keeper franchise on mobile phones, you will absolutely adore this game, and should get it right away!… Expand
  14. mdelolmo
    Apr 23, 2016
    5
    To be honest I spent some hours of fun with this game. I think the concept wasn't bad.
    On the other hand, this has been probably one of the buggiest games I have ever played. There were all kinds of issues...
    Also, I can't forgive the fact that the game is totally unfinished, and they still make the players pay for the stupid gems.
  15. gbrown
    Aug 25, 2014
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Brought astari to 0 propulation with one swamp between the houses and the little people are too dumb to go around it... the astari seem to be the only challenge in the game pretty worthless the fun disapears very quickly.… Expand
  16. deathsgrips
    May 28, 2021
    1
    This annoyed the hell out of me because I kept losing my f* progress!!!!! I wanted to enjoy it but either bug or something made me keep having to restart super annoying

Awards & Rankings

15
#15 Most Discussed iOS Game of 2014
99
#99 Most Shared iOS Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 12
  3. Negative: 2 out of 12
  1. Grab It Magazine
    Jan 10, 2015
    50
    So two weeks into my Godus adventure I took stock of what I was doing and realised it was nothing more than checking into the game a couple of times a day to click on various things and collect my resources with a view to having enough currency - termed Belief - to knock down a mountain that was in my way. It turns out God can move mountains, but man is it expensive.
    Read full review
  2. Games Master UK
    Sep 19, 2014
    38
    Play this on mobile and prepare to feel robbed. [Nov 2014, p.80]
  3. IGN Italia
    Aug 25, 2014
    60
    Godus is no more and no less than a freemium civilization game, marked by long waits and few interesting ideas, like the lemming-style minigame and the earth-shape feature. It’s very nice to watch, but not so much to play.
    Read full review
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