Hello, minions! Rich Edwards here, Lead Designer on Evil Genius 2, here to lift the lid on another Development Blog. Does a blog have a lid? No matter.

Let’s talk about World Domination. In the last blog, we talked a little bit about the differences between each Evil Genius’ campaigns, but that was just a tease. The full World Domination mode is so much more.

World Domination

In the last blog we talked about your place as a Genius in the world. We were talking metaphorically. It’s time to talk literally.

Pick your Genius, pick a tropical Lair location, and get ready to build the ultimate in evil organizations.

Over the course of the campaign you’ll be spreading your influence through Global Operations – establishing Criminal Networks in all the regions of the world, then utilizing your minions to earn gold, advancing the progress of Global Objectives, and generally reaching out across the world stage to exploit every dastardly opportunity you can.

Naturally, the world doesn’t start dominated. As we hinted at last time, it was once, but things have slowly slipped back to something approaching normal. The Forces of Justice have reasserted themselves as self-appointed global protectors. They watch over their territory closely, fiercely guarding it against… well, against people like you.

Send some minions into a Region and they’ll establish a Criminal Network, exposing all manner of Schemes for you to run. Bolster your Networks and they’ll find even bigger and better opportunities.

However, there’s two sides to every coin, something you should know after you’ve stolen enough of them. The flipside here is that people tend to hate it when you commit a crime. Run too many schemes in a Region and you’ll trigger the wrath of the local “Good Guys”. I don’t want to spend too much time on this, but safe to say it’s unlikely to end well for you.

And that’s before we even start talking about their champions, the so-called “Super Agents.”

 We designed World Domination to have a lot of different scenarios regardless of what Evil Genius you start out as – so how you spread your criminal empire across the globe is up to you! With all the content we’ve packed into it, it’s going to have plenty of replayability.

Talking of a criminal empire, every Genius needs a good Lair to base their operations from. At the start of a campaign, you’ll get to pick your island from a selection of pre-built tropical paradises. There are three islands in the game, and each one has a different layout and character to it, which in turn will influence how you lay out your Lair. You might even be able to spot a couple of classic spy genre influences in some of our Island designs.

Naturally, all three are unlocked from the start, and each provides its own specific advantage, from richer Gold seams to a larger Cover Operation, so you can really tailor your Lair to your playstyle. Once you’ve chosen your island you’ll be there until you either conquer the world or die in the attempt.

On the topic of building your Lair, we should talk about Loot. There’s a whole bunch of weird, wonderful and unique items of Loot in Evil Genius 2, and via a series of side-stories, you can acquire one of those Loot Items for yourself to display in your Lair. Now, these items aren’t just for show – they’ll have unique effects when placed. Throughout the campaign, you’ll have plenty of chances to decorate your Lair with the spoils of your adventures…and let’s get into one of those right now.

Enter The Dodo

Yes, you read that right. Let’s talk about The Dodo, if that’s ok with you. Sometimes, a picture says more than I could ever hope to describe through words alone, so here is The Dodo.

As you can see, he has a Mortarboard. That’s because what you’re looking at here is the world’s smartest Dodo. Smarts are essential if you intend to survive for as long as this bird has. At some point in your campaign, your Evil Genius is going to realize that this one of a kind Dodo exists out in the world. When you compare your minions’ own tenacity and intelligence to that of this bird, your Genius will begin to notice that their minions could stand to learn a lot from this Dodo.

As the player, you’ll spend some time sending minions into the world on Schemes, with the goal of capturing this intelligent bird! Each Loot Item in Evil Genius 2 has a variety of tasks you have to perform before you can get your maniacal mitts on them, because why would anything be easy?

Eventually, you’ll be able to bring the Dodo back to your Lair, where it will act as a Science Trainer. Minions will be able to study the Dodo, and skill up in Science faster than they would normally be able to. Here’s what that looks like.

So, as you can see – Loot Items are fantastic. We have a staggering number of them in the game (Lady Liberty’s Torch, anyone?), and I personally can’t wait to see how you put them to use. The Dodo also helps set the tone, in my mind, for a lot of the Loot items in the game. They’re silly, fun and just plain great to look at. Our Artists and Animators have done a fantastic job bringing them to life. Every time we got a new one into the game it’s been a genuine delight.

There’s so much more in Evil Genius 2’s World Domination mode – this blog was only intended to scratch the surface and give you all something to salivate over. We’ve hidden a lot within this mode, I’m excited to watch you discover the many weird and wonderful ways you’re going to expand your empire.

We’ll be back soon with another Development Blog, but until then make sure you’re in the Evil Genius 2 Discord Channel!

Rich Edwards

Lead Designer