Lionhead Studios didn’t get everything right in its brief, bright existence but there’s one game it absolutely nailed: Black and White. Putting you in the disembodied hand of a god as you coaxed your people to power your miracles while looking after your giant, city-crushing pet, Black and White is a game of almost monumental ambition. There haven’t been many attempts to recapture it in the intervening years but if there’s one game that looks like it could take up the mantle, it’s new god game Fata Deum.
In this game you’ll have godhood placed upon you as you shepherd your people to glory. Like Black and White before it, how you do so in Fata Deum is entirely up to you. You can choose to be a benevolent beard in the sky, or you can do what I always end up doing in god games; crush everything with fire and blood. By day you’ll influence your worshippers and by night you’ll slip into management mode as you work on your settlement itself.
That choice between good and evil – black and white, perhaps – is at the core of Fata Deum. Every moment you’ll be deciding whether or not to rule your people in a kind manner – respecting their free will and helping them live long lives – or summoning fireballs from the sky and ruling over a land of frightened, cowed mortals.
To put some pressure on your decision making, you’re not alone in the world. You’ll have to compete with other gods over resources and influence, trying to get as many followers into your temples as possible to out-god the other gods. You’ll be able to beguile new worshipers into praising you as their ruler, or you can conquer new areas to force people to follow your flag.
Out of all the god games that have sprung up over the last couple decades, Fata Deum is the one that definitely looks to capture something I didn’t know I was needing. Black and White remains an elusive classic – one you can’t buy on any online store – so Fata Deum may not just inherit its crown, it may take it and wear it proudly.
There’s no launch date for Fata Deum yet but it’s scheduled for a 2024 release. Head over to Steam to add it to your wishlists.
You can also take a look at our guide to the best city building games you can play, as well as our picks for the best simulation games out there right now.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.