BioEden from Focus Entertainment and Broken Arms Games is a cozy management sim on PlayStation 5. Learn more about it in our BioEden review!
BioEden from Focus Entertainment and Broken Arms Games is a cozy management sim on PlayStation 5. It places you in the role of the Keeper, and you’re a specialist who has been entrusted by the Cosmic Collective to hopefully bring life back to a world that is in great need of some healing. You’ll be in charge of nurturing and evolving a living ecosystem of interconnected domes, balancing resources to meet the Collective’s demands. Take on this experience at your own pace, as you find the best way to maximize your resources and boost the rate at which life returns under your watch.
You will need to plan what steps you’ll take to help each biome recover, since there’s a need to balance the power and water expenditure as you connect your domes and manage all energy, so that you can have a sustainable location. As you purify lakes and make the most of older structures that can be put to better use, you’ll also be working on unlocking nodes on the progress tree – more on this in a bit.
I previously had a chance to work on reviews for a pair of projects from Broken Arms Games. The first one was Hundred Days, a lovely winemaking sim experience on Nintendo Switch that I took for a spin back in 2022. I then got to do an Under Par Golf Architect review, and I had fun with its cozy and chill golfing paradise management journey, so I was definitely up for checking out BioEden.
Before you jump into the deep end and get to really work on bringing a new biome back to life, you’ll definitely need to take care of sorting out the game’s tutorial alongside Charles. Charles – full name Charles 12021809 – is the robot from the Training Guild who will be in charge of teaching you the gameplay mechanics, so that you can see what the overall gameplay loop is going to be like.
Once you start to listen to Charles, you’ll be using the left analog stick to move the camera around, as you use the right analog stick to rotate the camera horizontally and vertically by pressing left and right, or up and down, respectively. You can zoom in and zoom out by using the R2 and L2 buttons. Interact by pressing the X button. Pressing in on the right analog stick can increase the speed at which things happen on the screen, even allowing you to pause everything.
Open up the radial menu by pressing the Square button. From the radial menu, you’ll be able to pick between the building menu, help menu, Codex menu, Collective menu, biome knowledge tree menu, bestiary menu, and info menu. You’ll need to build incubators within each dome to be able to add the DNA of each of the new animals. The adaptation of an animal species within a dome will be split into 3 stages, and will progress from one stage to the next once specific requirements are met. Each animal will have its own territory, and only the elements within said territory will be counted toward the adaptation stage requirements.
Another important part of this journey is which Guild you end up selecting. Your options will be the ones for Technology, Nature, Exploration, Restoration, and Mystic Guilds. The Technology Guild offers a balanced experience with a focus on upgrading buildings and lowering their overall costs. The Exploration Guild is focused on uncovering every corner of the planet by using self-sustained antennas.
The Nature Guild, as expected, has a bigger focus on nature, driven by a fascination with the flora and fauna. The Restauration Guild is one best suited for more experienced players, since it can transform dead matter into life. As for the Mystic Guild, it’s one that offers a slower and more methodical path for bringing everything back to life.
Each of the maps that you’ll be working on will have five different types of biomes, each one with its own specific environmental conditions for you to consider – things such as humidity and temperature. You’ll need to keep this in mind when you work inside of each of the many domes under your control, so that you can bring back life from the DNA you obtain, nurturing each creature as you go.
DNA is at the center of it all, and you’ll need to unlock more and more by making the most of the progression tree for each biome. Your creatures will eventually begin to reproduce, which will make it a whole lot easier to repopulate the land through your efforts. Be sure to keep your animals happy and healthy by providing them with the food they need and like. And, you know, don’t place carnivores near herbivores if the carnivores are not properly fed… or else!
Buildings will require energy to function, which must be supplied through the energy network, which must be connected to a power source to remain active. Some buildings also require water to function, which you can transport there thanks to the same infrastructure that you’ve built for the energy network.
How can you obtain the resources needed for building new stuff? You can get them either by locating them and picking them up as you scan the debris in each biome, or by making the most of the recycling option. Want to be able to secure more resources? Then you’ll need to expand your operation and boost your overall storage capacity by building more depots. There’s also a cap on the max storage capacity for each resource type, and that means that the Collective will take any surplus and store it elsewhere, returning it to you at a later time.
You should also build as many research centers as possible, since they will generate research points, which are needed for studying and improving each of the different biomes. You can also collect biotech points by studying natural sanctuaries, as well as tech points from analyzing and recycling any of the ruins that you find in each of the environments.
Trophy-wise, this one has a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to add to your collection. The list is split into 12 Bronze trophies, 9 Silver trophies, and 6 Gold trophies for you to work on. What will you need to do for this shiny Platinum trophy? Some of the objectives to complete include attracting your first animal, reaching Collective level 3, unlocking 5 shiny animals in a single playthrough, collecting 3 relics from the ruins, completely restoring each of the biomes on the planet, and completing the game with each of the different guilds, to name some examples.
BioEden is a cozy management sim on PlayStation 5. It places you in the role of the Keeper, and you’re a specialist who has been entrusted by the Cosmic Collective to hopefully bring life back to a world that is in great need of some healing. You’ll be in charge of nurturing and evolving a living ecosystem of interconnected domes, balancing resources to meet the Collective’s demands. Take on this experience at your own pace, as you find the best way to maximize your resources and boost the rate at which life returns under your watch.
It all takes place in a distant future in which the Earth has become inhospitable, and it’s now up to you to use the knowledge of the Guilds to find a way to restore the lost flora and fauna to heal the scars from the Great Unraveling. BioEden launches today on PlayStation 5 with a $21.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This BioEden review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Focus Entertainment.
