Smoke and Sacrifice cover art

Smoke and Sacrifice

A survival RPG testing how you learn and exploit a rule-driven living ecosystem.

Here's the argument for where this game sits - disagree freely.
Match your experience?
EXECUTION4 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE4 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10

the cheat-test profile

The four axes - the argument

Each axis is rated on its own - how far one cheat would trivialize the game here. They don't trade off; low on all four means the game is an experience, not a contest.

  1. Execution

    cheat: Aimbot - perfect inputs

    4/10

    Real-time combat against wildlife needs moderate timing

  2. Reads

    cheat: Out-predict an adaptive opponent

    0/10

    The ecosystem reacts by rules, not by modelling you

  3. Variance

    cheat: See what's hidden / map the RNG

    4/10

    Ecology interactions and recipes are unknown until mapped

  4. Optimization

    cheat: A perfect solver / coach

    6/10

    Crafting chains and ecosystem manipulation are the solvable core

How to read this

Each axis is named by the cheat that would break the game along it. Execution is the hands. Reads is out-thinking an adaptive opponent. Variance is hidden information & RNG. Optimization is the solvable systems layer. A game's region is the top one or two axes.

These four aren't one rating split four ways - they're independent 0-10 questions. A 9 on one axis takes nothing from the others, and a game low on all four isn't missing data: it's telling you there's no skill here to cheat.

The basis is how the majority actually plays this game - not a niche mode or a personal run. For a game with very different modes (a story campaign versus ranked multiplayer), that's the version most people mean.

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Game details

Released
2018
Developer
Solar Sail Games
Platforms
PS4, PC, XONE, Switch
Modes
Single player
IGDB critics
70/100
IGDB users
70/100
Role-playing (RPG)AdventureIndieActionFantasySurvivalOpen worldMystery