Cry Me a Cosmos

Plant humans. Water them. Make them cry. You are a low-ranking god assigned to a small universe. Raise humans in a 5×5 garden, harvest their Tears, and satisfy the demands of the gods above you. Survive twelve increasingly demanding tributes. Then harvest 666 Tears in the final Apocalypse Stage and bring the universe to an end. MAKE EVERY WATERING COUNT Humans begin as Seeds and grow through infancy, childhood, adulthood, and old age. But your Waterings—and your space—are limited. Every Watering advances the entire garden at once. Humans may cry, grow, attack, reproduce, or die. Arrange them carefully and make every Watering count before your chances to harvest Tears run out. BUILD A GARDEN OF SYNERGIES Every human has a temperament that changes how they behave. Gloomy humans accumulate sorrow. Cranky humans hinder nearby children. Happy humans thrive around others, while Lonely humans prefer isolation. Combine their traits and positions to create chain reactions of growth, violence, reproduction, death, and Tears. CHANGE THE RULES OF YOUR UNIVERSE Choose and upgrade your Soil to reshape the garden itself. Turn deaths into new Seeds, earn Tears from growth, make injured humans retaliate, or fill empty spaces with Fanatics. Then intervene directly. Install Sprinklers and Wells, build walls, administer treatments, alter temperaments, or remove humans who have outlived their usefulness. PERFORM THEIR MIRACLES Despite everything you do to them, humans still pray to you. Fulfill their Miracles—bring children into the world, help humans grow, prevent deaths, or fill the garden—and they will weep in gratitude. Use their faith as part of your strategy. BRING ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE Build a garden capable of surviving twelve tributes, then enter the final Apocalypse Stage. Harvest 666 Tears, and the Apocalypse will descend. The humans will call it a miracle. You will know it was always the plan.