Evil Genius

Evil Genius is a single-player real-time strategy and simulation video game developed by Elixir Studios and published by Sierra Entertainment, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal Games. It was released on September 28, 2004. The game is inspired by the spy thriller genre (notably the James Bond film series), and is set in an alternative 1960s–70s era. Most closely resembling Dungeon Keeper, the gameplay puts players in charge of 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 has stylish, cartoon-like visuals and contains a great deal of tongue-in-cheek humour, particularly playing to clichés of the spy genre. Elixir once worked on a sequel, but it was cancelled following the studio's closure. Since March 2, 2006, the intellectual property rights of the game have been owned by Rebellion Developments. Rebellion released a sequel, Evil Genius 2: World Domination, on March 30, 2021. Gameplay Evil 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". Gameplay is split between managing a lair, together with the "minions" that populate it, and the "World Domination screen". 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. 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". This figure is selected at the beginning of the game from one of three choices—Maximilian, Alexis or Shen Yu—and acts as the player's avatar; if killed, the game ends. The first lair is constructed within the base of a mountain on a desert island. During the course of the game the player relocates to a larger, tropical island, the extinct volcano at the center of which is used as the foundation for a rocket silo. The lair comprises various rooms, each of which contains objects for use by minions, either for the replenishment of certain "stats" (e.g. objects in the Mess Hall restore endurance) or to provide a function (e.g.