Evolve — free online Open Source game
Grow from a single protoplasm into a star-faring civilization.
Evolve is a free online idle game about the whole history of a species. Start as a speck of protoplasm gathering RNA and DNA, evolve the traits of your race, then found a city: assign citizens to jobs, research technologies, trade, wage war and push your people into space. Every reset lets you pick a new species and carries prestige resources into the next run, so the game keeps opening up over weeks of play. Evolve is open-source software by pmotschmann; play it in your browser with no download and no sign-up.
Open-source credits
Evolve is an open-source game made by its authors on GitHub, not by this site. We host a copy under its original license; the copyright stays with the authors of the GitHub repository below.
- Copyright
- © the authors of pmotschmann/Evolve on GitHub
- Source code
- github.com/pmotschmann/Evolve
- License
- MPL-2.0
- Hosted version
3436358
Bug reports, feature requests and the full source code belong to the upstream repository.
Quick start
- Press start and click the RNA and DNA buttons to gather genetic material.
- Spend it on evolution upgrades until you can pick the traits and species of your race.
- Found your city: gather food, lumber and stone, build housing and put your citizens to work.
How to play Evolve
- The protoplasm stage is short: gather RNA, turn it into DNA and buy organelles that produce both automatically.
- Each evolution step you buy shapes your species, and the last steps let you choose what kind of creature you become.
- In the civilization stage resources come from jobs. Build homes to grow your population, then assign citizens as farmers, lumberjacks, quarry workers and more.
- Research at your libraries and labs unlocks new buildings, government types, trade, banking, military and eventually space travel.
- A reset ends the current run and pays out prestige resources that make every later run stronger and open new paths through the game.
Controls
- Everything is played with the mouse: click buttons to gather, build and research.
- Tabs along the top switch between your city, research, civics, the market and later stages.
- Hover over a building or upgrade to see its cost and effect.
Frequently asked questions
Who made Evolve?
Evolve is an open-source game by the authors of the GitHub repository pmotschmann/Evolve (github.com/pmotschmann/Evolve), released under the MPL-2.0 license. This site hosts a copy of it under that license and does not own it; bug reports and the full source code belong to the original repository.
Is Evolve free?
Yes. Evolve is free to play in your browser, with no download, no account and no purchases.
Is my progress saved?
Your progress is saved in your browser on this device, so you can close the page and come back later. Clearing this site's data deletes it. If you sign in, cloud saves can keep a copy of it on your account. The game's settings also let you export your save as text as a backup.
Why do some parts take a while to load?
Evolve loads its interface libraries and fonts from public CDNs the first time you open it, so it needs an internet connection.