adminThe Seed game is designed as a persistent society simulator set on the planet Avesta. Players create Seedlings, give them activities to pursue, and watch them live and interact even when their owners are offline. The ambitious project from Berlin-based Klang Games aims to make the world feel populated at all times, with its economy, communities, and rules shaped by the people playing.
Image credit: Klang Games
How the Seed game aims to build a living society
Seedlings are not simply characters waiting for direct instructions. Players can help them find work, build relationships, and take part in communities. Other players may establish businesses, create jobs, organize settlements, or make laws that affect larger groups. The goal is for the society to develop through the choices and cooperation of its residents.
Klang Games co-founders Oddur Snær Magnússon and Ívar Emilsson previously worked at CCP Games, the studio behind Eve Online. CEO Mundi Vondi, whose background was in the arts and filmmaking, brought the concept of an expansive, all-encompassing simulation to the founding team. Their early discussions focused on how an online world might remain active even when most players were logged out.
Developing a simulation with tens of thousands of persistent AI characters presented major technical and financial challenges. Klang began preproduction in 2018 after making progress on the technology and attracting investment. The metaverse boom also helped bring attention and funding to projects exploring large, connected virtual worlds.
Different ways to take part in Seed
Klang describes three broad player roles. Governors can shape laws and help direct society, while entrepreneurs run businesses that make goods, provide services, and offer jobs. Caretakers focus on looking after their Seedlings and finding suitable work for them.
Seedlings have needs, including shelter and hygiene. If those needs are neglected for too long, a Seedling can die. Players who want to create a settlement from the beginning should also expect a gradual process: early progress involves cooperating to gather resources, build basic shelter, and advance through a technology tree. A practical starting point is to coordinate with other players, since establishing a settlement involves several shared tasks.
Not every player is expected to build a town from scratch. Many can instead join a developed society and take part through their own Seedling. Activities can be scheduled in a calendar, such as going to work or crafting items, so players can check in periodically rather than directing every action in real time.
Image credit: Klang Games
Seedlings, mobile check-ins, and generative AI
The experience is intended to combine a large online society with the personal attention of caring for an individual character. A companion mobile app is designed to let players check on a Seedling, adjust settings, and receive updates about what has happened. This approach may suit players who prefer occasional check-ins, although the world’s pace and ongoing needs are different from a traditional single-player life simulation.
Players can also message Seedlings, who can respond and interact with other characters. Klang has used generative AI to support these conversations, while working through challenges such as interruptions, continuity, and remembering earlier details. The team has also had to address AI responses that suggest activities not yet supported by the game. In some cases, those suggestions have highlighted features the developers could consider adding.
Image credit: Klang Games
Running a persistent world and its business model
In Seed, characters are intended to continue their routines beyond the player’s immediate view. A Seedling who leaves one location is meant to carry on to their destination and follow ordinary routines there. Maintaining that level of activity requires substantial server infrastructure, and adding generative AI brings further technical and operating costs.
Vondi said the initial plan was a premium purchase that lets players keep playing. The game was also expected to offer optional Seedling slots, a subscription, and cosmetic items. Each player would receive one Seedling, with a free replacement if that character died; additional Seedlings could also be earned through play. These were the plans described during development and may be subject to change.
A persistent online simulation depends on having enough people to make its communities and economy work. That makes both player participation and the balance between casual caretaking and more involved management important considerations for anyone interested in the game.
What to know about the Seed game
The Seed game sets out to create a player-shaped society where characters, businesses, and communities continue to develop over time. Its scale and autonomous characters make it an unusual concept, but they also bring challenges: newcomers may need time to learn the systems, and the world needs an active community to thrive. At the time of the original announcement, early access was planned for that summer, followed by a Steam release later in the year. The game’s official site is seed.game.
Klang Games paid for the author’s travel and accommodation for their visit to the Berlin studio.
