While some aspects of the game could use some better explanations or instructions like for example - what effect does the perception stat even have on the foraging - the game’s so simple that trial and error will suffice for figuring out much of the mechanics even if all is not entirely clear. The game itself is simple yet has a super fun gameplay loop free of any in-app purchases where you breed to get the traits you want using the principles of real genetics and then you send your nichlings out to gather food by themselves or help them in a cool strategic minigame where you control your entire party of nichlings to gather as much food as possible and make it to the end goal in as little turns as possible. There’s a surprising amount of locations to explore, but I feel a bit underwhelmed on how many genes there are and would love to see even more locations and genes added even if the genes are only cosmetic. Another feature I’d like to see is a notebook feature where we can mark our predictions and conclusions on whether we think a specific gene is dominant, recessive, or co-dominant so that we can compile this information ourselves during gameplay and can easily reference it again for our breeding projects. Highly recommended and worth the price! This game has given me hours of fun and it reminds me of an addictive free-to-play game in it’s appealing gameplay mechanics and ease to pick up and play but without all the horrible in-app purchases that will drain you dry. If you like or find appealing breeding, genetics, simple turn based strategy games or puzzles where you need to optimize, or management games, you’ll probably enjoy this game too!

i have problems with petting my nichelings so much, especially when im selectively breeding them so much especially when finding new genes that theyll end up thrown out or retired before they could start benefiting me, that and i just have arthritis..so… yeah.You can also get abit soft locked if you level up an area too much that your nichelings cant even get food from it, like i managed to get level 20+ nichlings going on the first island, i have the frost island now but now i just have my forest island nichlings running through level 0 island area for food because its just more profitable than the high level biomes but, all that aside ive been opening the app and breeding more and all for days since i bought the app, and it had me revisit the pc version that is just far superior quite abit. Unrelated but im also a big fan of wandering village too lol, i hope if you guys made a mobile version for it aswell after finishing its development that itll be more true to the original if not just a nice direct port unlike this app, which is still nice atleast, and i hope it can get some tlc some day

I hate to be critical, because it’s clear the team behind this game worked hard on it. That being said, they shouldn’t market this as the mobile version of their computer game. It’s not the same game. The original has sandbox elements and focused more on the genetics and strategy of the game. This version is a pet simulator, in a market with a bunch of pet simulators. The bright side is they kept the genetics aspect of the game, but it’s really watered down. This feels like a kiddie version of the original game, and I don’t mean that to be disparaging, but everything from the art style to the cutesy focus on bonding really does feel like it’s for grand schoolers. I wouldn’t be as critical, except they force you to start with Adam and Eve. I don’t want Adam and Eve. I want a random pair of sandbox characters so the world feels unique instead of like a preset. What set the original apart was that it felt like it treated it’s audience like they were intelligent. This just feels like Nintendogz with decent explanations about how breeding works. Not the worst game ever, and probably fun for a first timer, but if you’re getting this because you like the original then please save your money.

Let me just start by saying I love nieche and it's creators. I spend a lot of time on their PC game which happens to also be named nieche, and even though I bought this game a little less than a week ago I have been playing it non-stop. As a new game, it's got some small nitpicky things that I find confusing, but over all I think it is doing very very well. Having said that, I have a couple requests that I feel would make the game just a lick more addicting than it already is: * Add a feature that helps influence genetics when breeding* Add an extra mission that takes longer and rewards more on each islandHere are some extra requests for already implemented features. * Make mutagens a little more common, or make a mutated feature more likely to pass down* Make a loop option for each mission so you can keep sending niechlings over and over again with out having to select them every time or Slow down the increase of needed attributes for each missionsDisclaimer: I'm not making this post to try and make the developers change the game to another design, I am simply putting out my personal opinions that I express while playing the game. In my specific situation these requests would only serve to strengthen my enjoyment of this game. -chieph

To start off, I love this game so much! I don’t have steam so I saw this and HAD to buy it. I read that it focuses more on breeding, and less on strategy and fighting. (and whatever else it said) I appreciate that you made it that way but I truly like the PC game more. Though I can’t play it on PC I do watch other people play it. I must say my favorite part of the PC game is that it is 3D, let’s you have a sandbox mode, and has so many islands you get to choose from! But this version of the game does not have that. It is more childish and watered down then the PC one. I loved that the original game had to make you use your mind and much more. Perhaps you should add a button where it makes you go to a more strategized version of the game. With another button to go into more of a breeding version, like this one now.

I love this game, it’s a great time waster! There’s no ads that I’ve encountered yet, I’ve never been prompted to spend more money, and all the features of the game are included with purchase. That’s a huge plus for me. The progression is solid, if a tiny bit grindy. But it’s still not a chore to progress, because while you’re grinding levels, you can also be breeding your nichelings. I personally had a very hard time finishing the Creek level because for some reason none of my babies seemed to inherit fishing genes despite my best efforts. I haven’t played much of the original game yet (just bought it during the steam sale) so I feel a bit confused? The dominant/recessive trait system is so much fun to play with, but I don’t understand the genetics. Theres no clear indication of what traits ARE dominant or recessive in regards to each other. There’s an encyclopedia of the traits you’ve discovered, but all that tells you is the stat it boosts. I can’t reduce the star rating for something I’m just personally unable to figure out, but it is a little frustrating breeding nichelings only for the traits you bred for to never appear.

The game is not the same as the PC game but that is to be expected. One thing that I do find disappointing however is the lack of color within the Nichelings. I feel like everyone I've bred is just a variation of brown. I think improving this function and allowing for more diverse colors would make the game a lot better! I look forward to future updates and hope that new colors will be included! Until then I’m pretty much played out with the game.Response to Developer:I think a huge variety of colors would be fun. Any color in the rainbow would be great! I would be cool to see tons of colors implemented in the base coat, patterns, horns, eyes, etc. Reds,Yellows,Oranges,Greens,Blues,Purples,Pinks,Black,White and other variations of these colors! It would make breeding a lot more fun because the genes could throw out so many more options and variations!

This game is really fun. You breed your nichelings to be able to gather food successfully from the food mini game. The difficulty slowly rises forever and you just keep breeding stronger and stronger nichelings to compensate. I now try to breed for specific colors and patterns while continuing to breed their stats higher.I just pop in anytime and set up the next breeding or gather some food with the mini game. I like how respectful the game is of my time.The only downside is the devs have not released new content for it in a long time. Since it is pay once I think they are not financially motivated! However I would gladly give them my money if they offered an expansion with some additional islands and new genetic traits.

This is a really fun game about managing your creatures genetics, but right now it is a bit buggy and feels very unbalanced. You have to do a lot of selective breeding in order to get the stats to progress, which costs a lot of food. The problem is that it takes a long time to get food because you can only really farm the starting area when you get star-locked out of the other areas. This starting area only gives a small amount of food and doesn’t increase despite your breeding costs increasing. As a result, the game feels very Grindy and that grind just gets worse the higher you progress as breeding costs rise faster than you are able to gather food and unlock new areas.

So, I love this little app. The gameplay is super relaxing and cute, the nichelings are just gorgeous, and the genetics are super fun to work with! I for one love genetics, so this game is one of my favorite. I must say: this game is NOT supposed to be like the original Niche game, you do need to actually use your brain with the genes or else you won’t be able to keep up with the biomes, and it’s not for people who want super fast paced, exciting games. One tip to the developers is to add more islands. I think they might be working on this, but I could be wrong. Ideas: jungle island, rocky/mountain island, maybe even a volcano island!