History VideoGame / Darwinia

* LateToThePunchline: One of the intros in the game features a parody of an intro to a cracked Amiga game. It looked so genuine that Valve thought it was real. As a result, the game's UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} release got delayed an hour until Introversion said they put that there deliberately.

* RandomizedTitleScreen: There are multiple opening sequences, playing a different one each time the game is loaded. These include things like a faux-UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum LoadingScreen and one that passes the game off as a cracked UsefulNotes/Amiga game.

* ShoutOut: Damn near everything in the game is a shout out to something or other; ''VideoGame/CannonFodder'', ''Franchise/{{Tron}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Centipede}}'', ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' and the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum to name but a few. Hell, Dr Sepulveda even looks like Clive Sinclair.

[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DarwiniaCoverartCrop_2169.png]]''Darwinia'' is an award-winning ActionAdventure / RealTimeStrategy game developed by Creator/IntroversionSoftware. The game centers ont a MagicalComputer that runs a simulated world, the titular Darwinia. The inhabitants of the world, called Darwinians, are docile green stick figures that each have their own unique digital soul. This is all part of a research project on artificial intelligence.

* {{Cameo}}: The nuclear submarines from ''{{VideoGame/DEFCON}}'' appear in ''Multiwinia''.

* AGodIAmNot: Dr Sepulveda regrets the accident where his face showed up in the sky of Darwinia. Because of this they worship him as their God. Which they are actually quite right in that he did create them and their entire world.

Introversion Software has since made a multi-player sequel called ''Multiwinia''. It has also been released on Xbox Live Arcade as ''Darwinia+'', combining the basic game, the rocket level that served as the second game demo (now considered an epilogue), and Multiwinia.

* DummiedOut: Tripods. These were intended to be a ground-based version of the Spore Generators (Jellyfish).

* RandommizedTitleScreen: There are multiple opening sequences, playing a different one each time the game is loaded. These include things like a faux-UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum LoadingScreen and one that passes the game off as a cracked UsefulNotes/Amiga game.

!! '''This game provides examples of:'''

[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DarwiniaCoverartCrop_2169.png]]''Darwinia'' is an award-winning ActionAdventure / RealTimeStrategy game about a MagicalComputer that runs a simulated world called Darwinia. The inhabitants of the world, called Darwinians, are docile green stick figures that each have their own unique digital soul. This is all part of a research project on artificial intelligence.

* CouchGag: Starting up the game after the first time treats the player to a multitude of different opening sequences.

* ShoutOut: Damn near everything in the game is a shout out to something or other; ''VideoGame/CannonFodder'', ''{{Tron}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Centipede}}'', ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' and the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum to name but a few. Hell, Dr Sepulveda even looks like Clive Sinclair.

* {{Sequel}}: to ''{{Uplink}}''. Various news stories in the first game hint towards the plot of the second, and you're implied to be a hacker, much like the ones featured in ''{{Uplink}}'', at the beginning of ''Darwinia''.
** [[spoiler: Also it serves as a Prequel as well. The Virus that infects Darwinia? Heavily implied to be the Revelation virus from Uplink. So the Virus was upgraded using [[HumanResources Darwinians' souls.]] ]]

** Futurwinians from ''Multiwinia'', too. Opening a box will occasionally call in a FlyingSaucer (theorized by fans to be an {{Uplink}} hacker's connection) that will abduct any Darwinians nearby and convert them into a new, silver-colored faction on the game board. These Futuwinians are created with the Mind Control Ray Mk. 2, which converts their opponents into new Futurwinians...who thanks to the mechanics of the game, also possess Mind Control Ray Mk. 2. [[DemonicSpiders Not fun]]. Curiously, the ''actual'' remnants of the Virus, while annoying if you trigger it, are just a little more powerful than beginning players.

* ShoutOut: Damn near everything in the game is a shout out to something or other; ''VideoGame/CannonFodder'', ''{{Tron}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Centipede}}'', ''SpaceInvaders'' and the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum to name but a few. Hell, Dr Sepulveda even looks like Clive Sinclair.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Though the player and Sepulveda are able to fight off the virus and save Darwinia, Sepulveda muses that having to fight and kill their own BrainwashedAndCrazy kin and experience true death for the first time at the hands of the Soul Destroyers has resulted in a loss of innocence for the Darwinians.]]

* TheDreaded: The Soul Destroyers are this to the Darwinians, being the only thing in Darwinia that can...well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin destroy souls]], breaking the cycle of reincarnation and possibly subjecting its victims to a FateWorseThanDeath.

* CoughGag: Starting up the game after the first time treats the player to a multitude of different opening sequences.

* DugTooDeep: TheVirus came to Darwinia when the Darwinians rigged a trunk port to access Dr. Sepulveda's computer in an attempt to communicate with him. Among the files they downloaded were some of his research data...and some infected spam mail.

* AfterTheEnd: The game is effectively this for Darwinia. The viral outbreak has wreaked havoc on the virtual world, all of the key facilities are completely infested and the Darwinians are close to complete extinction before you showup.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Rockets are somewhere between this and DifficultButAwesome. They explode much faster than grenades and airstrikes, but travel in a straight line, so you either have to be on flat terrain or have the high ground. They also start out with absolutely pitiful range, almost exploding right in your face, meaning until you increase the range you have to be extremely careful of where your squad is moving when you're firing it. All in all, you have to be super careful or else you're far more likely to just blow up your own squad than you are to actually hit what you want to hit.