Substrate: Emergence
Grow colonies of fluorescent cells that mutate, swarm, and devour each other in a petri dish arena. Propagate a unique biology of your own as you compete against rival labs in a detailed artificial life simulation.
92.3Rating
0Content
0Achievements
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About This Game
Substrate: Emergence is a indie/simulation game designed for single-player, developed by Petri Dish Games LLC and released in 2026. With an estimated 4,000 copies sold, it is considered a niche release on Steam. Community ratings across Steam average 92.3/100 — a exceptional reception overall. Players commonly describe it as Early Access, Exploration, Creature Collector, Roguelite and Colony Sim.
Media
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User Reviews
92.3
Overall Score / 100
9.2/10
Steam (39 reviews)
DLCs (1)
Substrate: Emergence Demo
Free
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Game Information
Release Date
September 24, 2026
Developer
Petri Dish Games LLC
Publisher
Petri Dish Games LLC
Platforms
Windows, Linux
Price
$12.99
Analytics & Metrics
Copies Sold (VISE)
Low Data
VRI ScoreLearning
N/A
VRI (Vorythic Recommendation Index) a single number indicating whether the game is worth your time. Built from game data, putting real players' opinions above progressive 'critics'.
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System Requirements
🪟 Windows
🐧 Linux
Minimum
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Processor: 64-bit quad-core CPU (Intel Core i5 / AMD Ryzen 3 or better)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: DirectX 12 GPU with compute shader support and 2 GB VRAM (AMD Radeon 780M, Intel Iris Xe, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or better)
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- Additional Notes: The simulation runs on GPU compute shaders. Integrated graphics run at the Low quality preset.
Recommended
- OS: Windows 11 64-bit
- Processor: 64-bit six-core CPU (Intel Core i5-12400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600 or better)
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: Dedicated DirectX 12 GPU with 6 GB VRAM (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT or better)
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Additional Notes: A dedicated GPU allows larger cultures at the High and Ultra quality presets.
Minimum
- OS: SteamOS 3 / Ubuntu 22.04 64-bit or newer
- Processor: 64-bit quad-core CPU (Intel Core i5 / AMD Ryzen 3 or better)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Vulkan 1.1 GPU with compute shader support and 2 GB VRAM (Steam Deck, AMD Radeon 780M or better)
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Vulkan is required. OpenGL cannot load the simulation shaders.
Recommended
- OS: SteamOS 3 / Ubuntu 24.04 64-bit or newer
- Processor: 64-bit six-core CPU (Intel Core i5-12400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600 or better)
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: Dedicated Vulkan GPU with 6 GB VRAM (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT or better)
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Vulkan is required. OpenGL cannot load the simulation shaders.
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