from-dust game sourced
From Dust
A god game in which the player carries sand, water, and lava across islands whose material simulation erodes, floods, and hardens terrain, protecting a tribe as it founds villages at totems.
parts
8 mechanics, as From Dust does themcore · 3
Hydrology
Water flows over the terrain, erodes it, and floods low ground and villages; tsunamis sweep across islands.
Material interactions
Lava cools into solid rock, water erodes soil, fire burns vegetation, and powers can jellify or remove water.
Terraforming
The Breath picks up and deposits sand, water, and lava in real time to build land bridges, dams, and barriers.
supporting · 5
Fire spread
Wildfires spread through vegetation and can be extinguished.
God powers
Powers such as jellifying water are granted by completing objectives; magical stones protect against water and fire.
Random disasters
Tsunamis and eruptions, announced shortly before by shamans.
Scenario objectives
Each map is cleared by settling every totem to open a portal.
Unit commands
Villagers are sent to totems to found villages.
core loop
carry sand, water, and lava with the Breath -> reshape terrain to open paths -> send villagers to totems to found villages -> vegetation spreads across soil -> divert tsunamis, floods, fires, and eruptions -> unlock powers and reach the portal
design notes
Designed by Eric Chahi and presented as a spiritual successor to Populous, it replaces discrete land raising with a continuous material simulation: water flows and erodes, lava cools into solid rock, and soil lets vegetation spread once a village is founded, fast enough that islands can be reshaped within minutes. The cursor, called the Breath, carries matter and changes appearance to match it, replacing a conventional HUD. Disasters are announced shortly before they hit, so each map alternates between building and short preparation windows.