Fate of the World: Tipping Point

 PC
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Gamer Limit
    Nov 29, 2011
    90
    It's a must have for card game vets and it's worth a shot for those who have never touched a card game in their life.
  2. PC Gamer
    Feb 23, 2012
    69
    A wonderfully detailed and terrifying sim. Expanded and slightly improved, but still an opaque and cruel game. [Apr 2012, p.78]
  3. ZTGD
    Nov 7, 2011
    65
    Perhaps the most important educational achievement of Fate of the World: Tipping Point is to make players actively consider the next 200 years, rather than just the next election cycle, and show that we're already setting down paths which will channel our options for as long as we can foresee.
  5. XGN
    Feb 10, 2012
    60
    Fate of the World: Tipping Point offers a great learning experience but doesn't keep the player interested in it's gameplay for long. The look is good and you have a ton of possibilities, it's just a shame that the learning curve is so steep.
  6. Gaming Nexus
    Nov 15, 2011
    58
    Simple mechanics, tough difficulty curve, lack of feedback and a sophisticated simulation make for a mixed bag. Recommended for those with an interest in global politics, strictly optional otherwise. A better game than the original, but also more expensive, so it comes out in the wash.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 9
  3. Negative: 1 out of 9
  1. Superkeks
    Sep 17, 2012
    9
    It's a frustrating game...but it's worth giving it a try! You have to rescue the world as a leader of a natural agency. The soundtrack isIt's a frustrating game...but it's worth giving it a try! You have to rescue the world as a leader of a natural agency. The soundtrack is outstanding, the complexity is more than deep, so you can take a long time to play your turns. But I can understand: for those who don't want to think in a game and don't like serious topics it's cruel! I recommend this game for all who ever want to rescue the good things in the world - BUT: don't be frustrated; not often there is a good end!… Full Review »
  2. iseeall
    Jun 14, 2017
    6
    It's a management/simulation game where you control a fictional UN-like agency. The game is educational and teaches you about global worldIt's a management/simulation game where you control a fictional UN-like agency. The game is educational and teaches you about global world problems (environment, poverty, political stability), making it valuable in a sense of how a good documentary film is valuable. But as a game, it's ultimately not much fun to play.

    The good:
    - educational; also shows how difficult it is for the well-meaning green activists to fight with the short-sighted population and those "in denial" of the looming ecological catastrophy
    - it's difficult, you need to balance a lot of things

    The so-so:
    - graphics - functional, 2D but lack style
    - music - it's there, functional, but also lacks style

    The bad:
    - GUI is poorly designed. Selecting cards each turn is a pain because you need to scroll and scroll and scroll.. You can toggle filters but they don't help much. The clumsy GUI makes this game unnecessarily harder than it already is, and harder not in a fun way. Maybe the whole systems with "cards" was a design mistake. Simply having a vertical scrollable list of actions available for the selected region would work better.
    - the game puts just way too much data in front of you, and this data isn't clear or fun to operate with. E.g. you will have GDPs per capita, human development index, emissions and other things which will have values like 53,457 and growth rates like +3.8%. You can track all that across regions, and every turn all of this data changes. This is simply a **** of boring numbers. I know that's what economics looks like but it's simply not fun, at least to a normal person. No one enjoys reading UN's reports or statistics journals about poverty or unemployment in Africa. Good strategy games don't bog players with such unnecessary realism and instead present everything in whole numbers below 100. Just check how abstract and simplified economy is in such great strategy games as Civilization or Master of Orion. I'm pretty sure this game could simplify it's stats&data system a lot, with very little perceived reduction of realism and a large increase of accessibility and fun.

    You can try this game once, to get a closer look of what environmental issues feel like. But the boredom of the huge data sheets combined with clumsy GUI will scare you away pretty soon.    … Full Review »
  3. AdamR
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    Lets get the bad out of the way first. The UI is not good. I mean sure, making a useable UI to represent the factors that go into earthsLets get the bad out of the way first. The UI is not good. I mean sure, making a useable UI to represent the factors that go into earths economy, politics, energy, enviornment, population...it's a daunting task, but the overwhelming amount of information, the limited feedback of the consequences of your actions (Barring having a few PHds in a few fields), and the lack of meaningful representations in a few areas (Which is a more eco-friendly outlook, Green, Altruistic, or Communal? Yeah, I don't know either) compounds the limited and usually tangential in game wiki, and frustrating qualitative information when you really need something quantitative. It can be frustrating. But underneath is a true gem of a game, one that could be a tipping point for games as a medium. This, people, is how you make a educational game that's every bit as fun as an entertainment game. It feels like a true sim, and hippie haters rejoice, blindly pursueing the greenest of policies will do the enviornment more long term harm then good, on top of an economic collapse. And above all...This game is HARD. The easy mode is welcome, because you will be challenged. But the game needs to be hard: The underlying hypothesis is that making things work in the next century to keep out earth liveable and prosperous will require a lot of hard work and sacrifice is an invaluable lesson, and the breathtaking detail that goes into climate models and fossil fuel harvest adds as much realism as you want.

    Oh, and when you play Oil Fix it, don't worry: We all hate India.    … Full Review »
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