Many Acts advance the ultimate goal of constructing the doomsday device. These Acts can be used to obtain loot to adorn the lair (increasing minion statuses), capture civilian hostages (to interrogate them), and to garner "Notoriety". The "World Domination screen" comprises an interactive map of the world divided into regions to which the player is able to send minions from their lair to steal money or to commit "Acts of Infamy". Henchmen are stronger than conventional minions, obtainable only at certain stages throughout the game, and can be upgraded with two special moves after gaining experience.
Like the Evil Genius, the player has direct control over Henchmen. Initially these higher branches are unlocked by acquiring and interrogating civilian hostages, after which their skills can be passed on to other minions via training equipment. Each field has three successive minion levels, with the third level having two specialized branches. Construction workers are the basic minion type and can be trained to specialize in one of three fields: military, scientific, or social. Players have no direct control over the minions they employ, but can interact with them using "Tags" and the Evil Genius.
New objects can eventually be unlocked through the Laboratory via combining already-existing items with pieces of equipment. Trap results vary from simple confusion and movement impairment to stat reduction and death, and catching agents within a combination of traps will reward the player with money. Corridors connect the rooms within the lair and can also contain traps, which serve as one of several ways to deter agents of justice and their attempts to enter the base and gather evidence, steal money, or sabotage equipment. the Power Plant room contains objects that generate power and allow the lair to function). objects in the Mess Hall restore endurance) or to provide a function (e.g. The lair comprises various rooms, each of which contains objects for use by minions, either for the replenishment of certain "stats" (e.g. During the course of the game the player relocates to a larger, tropical island, the extinct volcano at the centre of which is used as the foundation for a rocket silo. The first lair is constructed within the base of a mountain on a desert island. This figure is selected at the beginning of the game from one of three choices-Maximilan, Alexis or Shen Yu-and acts as the player's avatar if killed, the game ends. Evil Genius consists of a single game mode wherein the ultimate goal is to build a doomsday device and force the capitulation of the world to the player's "Evil Genius". The game is set in a non-specific time period, with the use of historic regions (the Eastern Bloc) and events (the Cuban Missile Crisis) suggestive of the 1960s and 70s, albeit in an alternate timeline furthermore, the styling of the game is reminiscent of the 1960s Atomic Age designs. Gameplay is split between managing a lair, together with the "minions" that populate it, and the "World Domination screen". The game has stylish, cartoon-like visuals and contains a great deal of tongue-in-cheek humour, particularly playing to clichés of the spy genre.Įvil Genius contains a mixture of real-time strategy and simulation elements, and is described by Rebellion Developments as a "real-time mad scientist lair management strategic simulation". Most closely resembling Dungeon Keeper, players act as a villainous force attempting to achieve global domination whilst fending off the forces of justice to this end the gameplay is split between management of a base and the completion of "acts of infamy" in the rest of the world.
The game is inspired by the spy thriller genre (notably the James Bond film series), and is set in an alternative 1960s–70s era. Since 2 March 2006, the intellectual property rights of the game have been owned by Rebellion Developments. Evil Genius is a single player real-time strategy and simulation video game developed by Elixir Studios and published by Sierra Entertainment, released on 28 September 2004.