Tethered was originally released for VR systems including the Playstation VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and OSVR. Now it has been given an update for those of you that are still enjoying games with the old school 2D screen method. VR is no longer required to play Tethered which opens it up to a wider audience to appreciate the colourful world of bliss and torment.
Tethered is a "God-Sim" style game where you play as an overseer, or the "god" of whom controls all that occurs within the given land. The game is played from a number of vantage points in the sky that hover over 13 different floating islands where you can build you worlds. While Tethered doesn't use VR in the traditional first person view, there are a couple of games coming through with this kind of VR integration which seems to work, giving the player ease of control over the in game camera, freeing up your hands for action rather than moving around the world with a static camera.
Early on in the game you are taken through a tutorial which introduces you to "Peeps". These Peeps (pictured below) are cute little creatures that exist to obey your commands and do your bidding. You are their God so they will do as you ask when you ask them to do it. This is where the games name Tethered becomes obvious. To direct your Peep's into action you must tether them to an action or activity with a point, click and drag style. You will have your Peeps tethered to jobs such as gathering food and supplies to begin the creation of your ecosystem that you will attempt to keep up and running. More Peeps will appear over time in the form of blue and brown eggs. You need to either use the sun's rays to incubate and hatch the blue eggs, or tether a Peep to give the brown ones sweet warm hugs to hatch them.
Your world will grow over time and the need for more resources and structures will come. Upgrading and promoting your Peeps is a how you can move through the game while creating buildings which with house your Peeps and their supplies. Like most games, with all this success you will undoubtedly be faced with some form of peril. Monsters will eventually attempt to invade your world and you must promptly send your Peeps to fight for their lives and land. Promoting your Peeps will assist with their fighting abilities and enable them to keep their supplies, friends and buildings safe.
Tethered is a beautiful looking game with charm coming out of every crack and crevice. If you have played the game Godus before, Tethered feels like the game that Godus tried to be but failed miserably. Tethered is fun and rewarding for those that like to control small, out of this world ecosystems and feel the pressures of being responsible for the entire existence of a species.
Lucas Aurelius
Aussie Gamers Express
18th April 2017
