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Niche - a genetics survival game
Niche - a genetics survival game is a turn-based strategy game combined with simulation and roguelike elements. Shape your own species of animals based on real genetics. Keep your species alive against all odds, such as predators, climate change and spreading sickness.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
56 of the 85 reviews raise this.
“A fun and unique game with an interesting genetics concept. Unfortunately not a great game for replayability and becomes repetitive very quickly. My biggest issue with the game was the fact that some of the achievements…”
11 of the 85 reviews raise this.
“I'm a bit split on if I should recommend the game or not. The graphics are charming, it has a unique gameplay loop, the premise is interesting and the price is very affordable. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy…”
“super fun! I love my little guys”
11 of the 85 reviews raise this.
“It’s a good choice if you’re looking for something relaxing. You can jump in from time to time and still enjoy it.. but I wouldn’t recommend paying the full price. The visuals aren’t very impressive, and the experience…”
“Every time I remember this game and go back for a replay, I'm always pleasantly surprised by how good it is. It's a pretty unique concept (at least, I personally haven't seen "genetics survival" done elsewhere), and…”
“A relaxing game with pretty interesting breeding because of all the genes and traits”
6 of the 85 reviews raise this.
“This was the first ever game I bought on Steam when I was 14. I love this game so much, I waited for it to come out when I saw my favorite youtubers playing it early access and it held me through COVID, I am 20 now and…”
“Every time I remember this game and go back for a replay, I'm always pleasantly surprised by how good it is. It's a pretty unique concept (at least, I personally haven't seen "genetics survival" done elsewhere), and…”
“I like playing this as a casual "im just wanting to play something" game. I always go back to this game. Its my cozy game.”
5 of the 85 reviews raise this.
“This game is absolutely delightful, I'd recommend it to any biology or evolutionary biology nerd, there's the fun element of creating your own species, and the challenge of keeping them alive, and fed, and safe from…”
“Pretty good and I love how many possibilities there is.”
“This is a really interesting game mechanic. You're aiming to breed different genetic traits while also trying to survive on various islands. Honestly, it's easy to fail. But failing isn't frustrating! It's really…”
10 of the 85 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“I have played this game for many, many hours. Not just on steam, but also on the switch and the mobile game. This game isn't actively updated like it once was. This game is too small for what it could be - not enough…”
“This "genetics survival game" doesn't have much "game" to it at all. It's really just a genetics sandbox experience with no real challenge and with a staggering amount of boring micromanagement.”
“Tedious busywork simulator. Have to control each animal each turn, mostly wandering through grass at 1 tile per action. Does not capture evolving at all: - if you have many members you must keep banishing them to not…”
10 of the 85 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“This "genetics survival game" doesn't have much "game" to it at all. It's really just a genetics sandbox experience with no real challenge and with a staggering amount of boring micromanagement.”
“Tedious busywork simulator. Have to control each animal each turn, mostly wandering through grass at 1 tile per action. Does not capture evolving at all: - if you have many members you must keep banishing them to not…”
“I'm a bit split on if I should recommend the game or not. The graphics are charming, it has a unique gameplay loop, the premise is interesting and the price is very affordable. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy…”
9 of the 85 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“I have played this game for many, many hours. Not just on steam, but also on the switch and the mobile game. This game isn't actively updated like it once was. This game is too small for what it could be - not enough…”
“This "genetics survival game" doesn't have much "game" to it at all. It's really just a genetics sandbox experience with no real challenge and with a staggering amount of boring micromanagement.”
“A fun and unique game with an interesting genetics concept. Unfortunately not a great game for replayability and becomes repetitive very quickly. My biggest issue with the game was the fact that some of the achievements…”
5 of the 85 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“A fun and unique game with an interesting genetics concept. Unfortunately not a great game for replayability and becomes repetitive very quickly. My biggest issue with the game was the fact that some of the achievements…”
“It’s a good choice if you’re looking for something relaxing. You can jump in from time to time and still enjoy it.. but I wouldn’t recommend paying the full price. The visuals aren’t very impressive, and the experience…”
“Fun for a few minutes. Then it is just wash and repeat...repeat....repeat same thing again...ok same thing...ok something new, oh wait no not really just the same thing again. I could see where a child under 9 could…”
4 of the 85 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“A fun and unique game with an interesting genetics concept. Unfortunately not a great game for replayability and becomes repetitive very quickly. My biggest issue with the game was the fact that some of the achievements…”
“It's a great game I have a lot of fun with, the only issue is it crashes my laptop a LOT. just about once every 15 minutes. My pc frequently has issues anyway, but it's a sharp uptick of issues when trying to run this…”
Counted across 85 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 86.2% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“Well...I feel I don't really need to say much about my knowledge on this game with the ungodly amount of hours I've spent on it. So now that my years of hyperfixation has washed away I feel I can finally give a fair and non-biased review on this game. So this game is all about…”
— a player, Steam review · 326 hrs played“In practice and origin, Niche began as a university project for educational purposes. Later transitioning into a full game successfully funded on Kickstarter, it delivers functional and entertaining gameplay. Although it might not be obvious at first glance, the mechanics are…”
— a player, Steam review · 128 hrs played“Childhood game, that allowed me to explore creativity with survival mechanics at my own pace. Will always hold a special place in my heart.”
— a player, Steam review · 306 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Hotfix
This is just a small hotfix to fix a security vulnerability of the unity engine.
Bearyena Plush
Dear pack It’s been a while and we hope you have been doing well :) We have some exciting news to share with you today 🎉 We teamed up with Makeship to produce more cute new Niche merch. Is it a bear?
Niche Plush & Merch Kickstarter
Dear pack We wanted to give you a quick heads-up that we launched a Kickstarter campaign for an Adam plush and lots of other Niche merch :D Many of the rewards have been created by Niche community mem
Out now: New game 'Niche - Breed and Evolve' on iOS/Android & Niche on Xbox
Dear pack We have two exciting news to share with you :D First: Niche has been released on Xbox One and Xbox Series S|X! You can check it out here . Second: Our first ever mobile game, Niche - Breed a
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Indie, Simulation, Strategy |
| Player tags | Turn-Based Strategy · Adventure · Puzzle · Singleplayer · Nature · Turn-Based · RPG · Education · Sandbox · Survival · Strategy · Simulation (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards · Camera Comfort · Custom Volume Controls · Adjustable Difficulty · Playable without Timed Input · Save Anytime |
| Languages | English * , German * , French * , Spanish - Spain * , Portuguese - Brazil * , Traditional Chinese * , Simplified Chinese * , Russian * , Japanese * , Polish * * |
| Achievements | 31 |
| Official site | http://niche-game.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows Vista®, Windows® 7, Windows® 8, Windows® 10 Processor: 2 GHz Dual Core Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: nVidia® 8800 GT / AMD® 4670 or faster DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 2 GB available space