Neroli's Opinion: Gemini Lost is a real-time survival simulation game, like Virtual Villagers, that puts you in charge of a civilization of tiny people. It's not one of those games that grabs you straight away, but it gets more addictive as you play.

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Game Genre: Building, Simulation

Release Date: September 23, 2009

Platform/OS: Windows XP/Vista

Screenshot:

Game Review:

Gemini Lost is a survival simulation game, a lot like Virtual Villagers, that puts you in charge of a civilization of tiny people. It doesn't stray too much from the original Virtual Villagers formula, so you can expect a very similar experience when playing.

The story is a little confusing, but here's the gist – a bunch of little people were walking through a field when a solar eclipse occurred. The constellation Gemini appeared, and led them to a circle with zodiac symbols on it. They messed with it, and it teleported them to a strange new world. Then a natural disaster occurred and scattered everything. In order to get back home, they need to find all the pieces of the zodiac and rebuild the teleporter. Sounds easy, right? One has to wonder if they're smart enough to actually do the job, given that they can't seem to do much on their own. Nevertheless, that's your goal!

First things first. Your people need food to survive. They also need wood and rock to build. You can drag a villager over a spot to set them to work. If you spot a zodiac piece, you need to pick it up. Of course, getting those pieces means you need to advance and overcome all kinds of obstacles.

Characters have different preferences, and like specific types of work better than others. You can have them work in a lab to increase the science of the civilization, allowing you to unlock new advances and make work more efficient. You can even make potions, like a youth or speed potion, which can help you out of a jam.

Characters age, and they can get old. They can also get sick, and might need potions to cure them. These potions are made with different ingredients found around the playing area.

As you'd guess, it helps to have more villagers. You can drag anyone onto the wedding chapel, and ring the bell to help find them a mate. Everyone in the village will run over, and you will need to pick the right partner. They will only marry a compatible sign in the zodiac. Once married, they run off to the hut in a hurry with hearts floating everywhere. Then a second later, they run out of the hut, and poof – a baby is born! Well, they certainly don't waste any time...Children can't work, but they can gather stuff, and they all grow up eventually.

The graphics are beautiful! I wasn't impressed by the intro, but the actual game world is very pretty, with lots of animated butterflies floating around and plenty of bright vivid colors. The fantasy music does a good job of setting the atmosphere. You are zoomed in pretty close, unlike many sim games of this type.  The downside of this is that it can be a pain to navigate and find things, at least until you learn your way around. Here's a tip – you can click on the map to see where everything (and everyone) is located. You can also click on a villagers profile to go to him/her.

Villagers keep working, even when you're not playing. As you might have experienced from other games of this type, it can be a good or bad thing. On one hand, they can gather up resources and make it easier to win when you come back. On the other hand, it slows down the pace of the game. Whether you like it or not is a matter of opinion. I prefer a bit more control. 

The tutorial is rigid, and won't let you skip ahead if you can figure things out on your own. For example, I wanted to marry my characters, but the chapel kept saying I didn't have everything I needed. It turns out that all I had to do was wait until the tutorial got up to that point. You can skip the whole tutorial, if you choose. Even if you play the tutorial, there's a lot of things which you must figure out on your own. As such, there's a bit of a learning curve.

Gemini Lost is a good game to play if you have a lot of time on your hands, and don't mind a slower pace. It's not one of those games that grabs you straight away, but it gets more addictive as you play.

Where to get the game, or play the free demo:

DOWNLOAD TRIAL

Big Fish: $6.99

Disclaimer: Casual game companies change their prices like most people change socks! Always check before you buy.