All of the Creatures games are available for purchase from GOG.com. These versions work on most newer Windows operating systems and are available at very reasonable prices. Creatures: The Albian Years includes Creatures 1 and Creatures 2, while Creatures Exodus includes Creatures 3 and Docking Station. Creatures Village includes Creatures Adventures and Creatures Playground. There are often discounts on the Creatures games every few months.

You can find all downloads and original assets at Gameware Development and the Creatures Development Network. Many page links and download links still point to old and incorrect domains, though. Use this guide to locate working links to all of the official downloads and information.

Creatures is a unique series of games that allows each player to choose a playing style. Some people enjoy keeping a close watch on their Norns, Grendels, and Ettins, so they constantly interact with them and care for them. Others take a more detached approach and let their Creatures live on their own, often in a Feral Run or Wolfling Run. There are no set goals in Creatures, which makes the games very open.

Some players make their own goals, often related to breeding for a certain number of generations or achieving a certain mixed breed appearance, while others simply let their worlds continue indefinitely. Note that Creatures 1 is more suited to players who enjoy interacting with their Creatures, while Creatures 3/Docking Station is more suited to feral runs and wolfling runs. However, every game in the Creatures series offers a different experience and customizable options that allow each player to tailor the game’s parameters.

In many cases, a player can estimate a Creature’s age based on his or her appearance and size. However, there are instances when knowing the exact age is important, particularly for breeding. Each game has at least one unique method to determine how old a Creature is. Use the following methods to correctly determine the age of a Norn, Grendel, or Ettin.

Creatures 1
– Observation Kit: This kit shows the age of every Norn in the world, displayed in hours and minutes. Note that this only works for Norns.
– Owner’s Kit: The “Register the birth” tab in this kit shows the age of the currently selected Creature in hours and minutes.
– Breeder’s Kit: The “Fertility page” tab in this kit shows activity for estrogen or testosterone if the currently selected Creature is mature.

Creatures 2
– Observation Kit: This kit shows the age of every Creature in the world, displayed in hours and minutes.
– Owner’s Kit: The “Owner” tab in this kit shows the age of the currently selected Creature in hours and minutes.
– Breeder’s Kit: The “Reproductive” tab in this kit shows the age, life stage, and estimated fertility of the currently selected Creature.

Creatures 3/Docking Station
– Creature History: This pop-up shows the age and life stage of the currently selected Creature in hours and minutes.
– HoverDoc (DS): The “Fertility and breeding” tab in this agent shows activity for estrogen or testosterone if the Creature is mature.

Only one world may be played at a time in Creatures 1, but there is a way to create switchable worlds similar to what C2 and C3/DS offer. Use the following instructions to have multiple C1 worlds.

I. Locate the original world.sfc file, which will typically be found in Program Files\GOG.com\Creatures Albian Years\Creatures 1. Make sure that this is not the current world: It should have a date of 07-11-1997.
II. Make a copy of the world.sfc file.
III. Navigate to the main directory for Creatures 1, which will typically be found in Documents\Creatures\Creatures 1.
IV. Rename the world.sfc file located in this directory. It will be the current world, and should have a recent date. This name is just to make room for the new world, so be sure to give it a name that will be remembered.
V. Paste the world.sfc file from the second step in this directory. The next time Creatures 1 is opened, there will be a brand new world.
VI. Worlds can then be switched by renaming the active world file to world.sfc, and renaming any others. Just remember that whichever world is called world.sfc will be the one the game opens.

Run Creatures 1 as an administrator. To do this, right-click the game icon and choose the option to “Run as administrator.” This should solve the Health Kit problem in most Windows operating systems.

Normally, eggs laid naturally must be fully grown before they can be moved by the player. If you keep an eye on it, you will see a moving shadow inside as soon as it can be picked up. Remember that picking up an egg pauses its hatching cycle, so that it must be placed in the incubator in order to hatch. If you notice that an egg either stays the same small size or appears in the sky, this is a somewhat common glitch. There is no way to salvage the egg, although a baby can be hatched by creating a new egg with the same genome via the Genetics Kit.

The genomes included with Creatures 1 are actually missing the very important “die of old age” gene. Norns can still die of other causes, such as illness and starvation, but they will otherwise be immortal. For a more realistic approach, download Kezune’s Updated C1 Genetics which also removes the antioxidant gene. There are other C1 breeds available with this update, but if you would like a basic set of Norns, Kezune’s update easily solves the problem.

Even with the GOG.com version of Creatures 2, the kits sometimes have problems. A known solution for this problem is to change the compatibility settings for each individual kit. Use the following instructions to fix crashing kits in C2.

I. Navigate to the main directory for Creatures 2, which will typically found at Program Files\GOG.com\Creatures Albian Years\Creatures 2.
II. Right-click on any of the kits and choose Properties.
III. Go to the Compatibility tab, check the box to “Run this program in compatibility mode for:”, and choose a version of Windows.
IV. Apply the new settings and open up Creatures 2.
V. If the kit now works without crashing, use the same compatibility setting for all kits. If not, continue testing with different options.
VI. Consider running the kits as an administrator if the problem persists.

This is a condition commonly referred to as One Hour Stupidity Syndrome (OHSS) which affects the original C2 Norns. An updated genome is included with some newer versions of C2, although several third-party genomes created vastly improved Norns. There are multiple genomes that can replace the originals to fix this problem. The two most common and useful are the Akamai Canny Norns and Nova Subterra Norns.

A Norn, Grendel, or Ettin with spinning stars around his or her head is actually unconscious and in serious trouble. Without intervention, death is imminent. The quickest way to save a Creature with this condition is to open up the Science Kit, inject a full dose of Metabolism Transplant, and inject a full dose of Defibrillant. A common cause of unconsciousness is lack of oxygen, particularly from drowning. If the cause is unknown, check for the presence of any toxins. Sadly, there are some genetic mutations that cause C2 Creatures to fall unconscious and pass away quite quickly. In these cases, constant injections might not be the most humane option.

The original C2 Ettins and Grendels were not meant to breed. There are two aspects to consider: First, the genome must include breeding genes; and second, a COB must be installed. The Breedable Ettin and Grendels Packs solve both of these concerns and allow these species to breed. There are also many different C2 Ettin and Grendel breeds that include the ability to breed, such as the C2 Updated Canny Ettins or Hive Mind Ettins. Note that the Boney Grendels include a separate COB called the Boney Grendel Update that makes them breedable.

The updater is an obsolete feature within the game. Choosing to install it may cause your game to have problems, although a reinstall should solve any issues. To get rid of the message for good, use the following instructions.

I. Right-click the C3/DS game icon or shortcut and choose “Properties“.
II. Find the line for the “Target” which is usually on the opening screen.
III. Scroll all the way to end of the target path, which should end in “InstallBlast.exe“.
IV. Change the end of the path to “engine.exe“.
V. The path should look something like “Creatures\Creatures Exodus\Docking Station\engine.exe“.
VI. Click “OK” and the game should now start up without the update message.

Unfortunately, new registrations for the warp feature of Creatures DS have been closed for years. This feature of the game has not been fully working for some time. Luckily, there is a solution to play the game offline. Download the DS Offline Option and follow the installation instructions. Any newly created world can then be played offline.

The Creatures Mall went down years ago, along with the ability to purchase the Banshee Grendel, Bondi Norn, Hardman Norn, Toxic Norn, and Treehugger Norn breed packs. It is illegal to post them up for public download, although there are some members in the community who may share them privately. Until there is an official statement regarding their distribution, there is no easy way to find them.

Most breeds require an egg to be laid within the game to complete the installation of all sprite and body data files. Try creating an egg from the new breed, and see if the new baby uses the correct sprites. If you are still experiencing issues, make sure that the Creatures Remastered Patch has been properly installed. Finally, if the breed is still not working, make sure that no other breed occupies the same breed slot.

In a docked world (C3/DS), you should be able to toggle screen modes by clicking the “Windowed Screen” choice in the Options menu in-game. For undocked worlds, the keyboard shortcut Alt+Shift+Enter will toggle between full screen and windowed mode when in-game. A final option is to edit the user.cfg file using the following instructions. Make sure to back up the file ahead of time.

I. Locate the user.cfg file for either Creatures 3 or Docking Station. It should be located in the main Creatures Exodus\Creatures 3 or Creatures Exodus\Docking Station directory.
II. Open user.cfg in a word editor, such as Notepad.
III. Find the line labeled “FullScreen 0“.
IV. Change the value from 0 to 1 and save the file.
V. This can be changed to always open the game in fullscreen (0) or windowed mode (1).

Exported Creatures in C3/DS will typically be found in Documents\Creatures\Creatures Docking Station\My Creatures. Depending on the installation, there may also be a similar folder located under Documents\Creatures\Creatures Exodus\Docking Station\My Creatures. If in doubt, export a test Creature to find out which folder he or she ends up in. Exported files can then be copied or shared.