Gameplay Stages

Thrive's gameplay is divided into 7 stages (plus a sandbox mode) across a species' entire progression from prokaryotic cell to galactic god.

Currently, only the Microbe Stage is implemented, and it's still in development. All the next stages descriptions are based on concepts.

Microbe Stage

Main article: Microbe Stage

Microbe stage is the game's first stage. The player controls a prokaryotic cell in the sea, the main objective is to collect nutrients to reproduce, the environment has a 2D perspective. In the Microbe editor, the player can edit the organism and move it into another patch. The stage ends when you become a multicellular organism with adhesion proteins. This is the only stage implemented and it's still in development.

Multicellular Stage

Multicellular stage is Thrive's second stage, coming after the microbe stage. It starts when the player cell become a multicellular organism. The stage will be divided into two parts: Early multicellular and Late multicellular. The early multicellular has 2d perspective with the same gameplay of the previous stage, it's possible to specialize cells of the colony, and later on divide the organisms into categories. Late multicellular has 3d perspective and the categories would turn into organs, the player is introduced to the Organism Editor. The stage ends when the player cell evolves a nervous system. It is still not implemented and is not currently being developed.

Aware Stage

Aware stage is Thrive's third stage, coming after the multicellular stage. It starts when the player's organism evolves a nervous system and ends with the player reaching a high level of sapience. It is still not implemented and is not currently being developed.

Awakening Stage

Awakening stage is Thrive's fourth stage, coming after the aware stage. It starts when the player species achieves sapience, first the gameplay will be the same as the previous stages, but there's no way to evolve, and you can interact and communicate with other members of the species, which is now a tribe. Later in the stage the player can unlock the Strategy mode, which turn the game into a RTS. The Tech Editor is introduced. The stage ends with the creation of a Society Center. It is still not implemented and is not currently being developed.

Society Stage

Society stage is Thrive's fifth stage, coming after the awakening stage. It begins when the player make his first Society Center. The stage is highlighted by researches, the ascension of religions and larger conflicts. It is still not implemented and is not currently being developed.

Industrial Stage

Industrial stage is Thrive's sixth stage, coming after the society stage. It is still not implemented and is not currently being developed.

Space Stage

Space stage is Thrive's seventh and final stage, coming after the industrial stage. It is still not implemented and is not currently being developed.