Obbe Vermeij, the former Rockstar technical director behind the PS2 Grand Theft Auto trilogy and GTA 4, has launched his solo sandbox project Plentiful on Steam Early Access after three years of development. The catch? He's already having to explain to people that it has absolutely nothing to do with Minecraft.
From Liberty City to hexagon tiles
Vermeij announced the May 5 launch on Twitter with a characteristically understated message: "After 3 years of work, it's finally here. My new game Plentiful launched in Early Access today. It's a sandbox where every change has consequences – too many trees drain the water, one spark can burn everything. It's a bit different – we'll see what people make of it."
Here's the thing: Plentiful is not a crafting survival game. There's no inventory, no hunger bar, no punching trees to gather wood. The game is a god game in the tradition of Populous, where you shape a world built entirely from hexagonal terrain tiles, managing ecosystems, water tables, fire spread, and human tribes. You don't control a character at all. You are the cursor.
Vermeij has been direct about where the inspiration comes from, confirming on Twitter that the similarities to Populous are "not a coincidence" because it is his "favourite game of all time." That lineage is worth paying attention to. Populous more or less invented the god game genre back in 1989, and genuine successors to it have been rare ever since.
No Steve, no problem
The Minecraft comparisons started rolling in almost immediately after launch. Multiple people in Vermeij's replies described Plentiful as "Minecraft with hexagons," which is a bit like calling GTA a racing game because it has cars.
Vermeij has been patient about it, responding with variations of the same line: "Hexagons yes. Minecraft no. The game's completely different. For starters, no Steve."
The "no Steve" point is genuinely the key here. Plentiful has no player avatar. You reshape terrain, plant forests, redirect water, and watch the consequences ripple outward. Plant too many trees and the water table drops. Let a fire start in the wrong place and it spreads. Human tribes that settle in your world respond to what you build around them. The whole thing is about systemic cause and effect, not resource collection and crafting.
A free demo for Plentiful is available on Steam if you want to try the game before committing to the Early Access purchase.
What Vermeij built and why it matters
Vermeij spent years as a technical director at Rockstar, contributing to some of the most technically demanding open worlds ever built. GTA: San Andreas, Vice City, GTA 3, and GTA 4 all had his fingerprints on them. Leaving that behind to build a solo god game that looks like a digital board game is quite a pivot.
Plentiful sits in an interesting space right now. The survival sandbox genre is absolutely packed, with games like Valheim, Enshrouded, and a dozen others competing for the same players. But a proper Populous-style god game with modern systemic depth? That shelf is nearly empty. You'll want to keep an eye on how the Early Access community responds to the ecosystem mechanics specifically, because that's where Plentiful either separates itself from everything else or struggles to explain its identity.
For players who grew up with Bullfrog's classics and have been waiting for something to scratch that itch, Plentiful is worth checking out. For everyone else, check out our gaming guides and game reviews to find your next obsession while Vermeij continues building out the Early Access version.
