The Sapling on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information

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The Sapling is a short simulation game where you design your own plants and animals, and put them in a world together. Or you turn on random mutations, and see what evolution does to your ecosystem!

The Sapling is a life sim, sandbox and science game developed and published by Wessel Stoop.
Released on December 12th 2019 is available in English on Windows and Linux.

It has received 1,494 reviews of which 1,342 were positive and 152 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.5 out of 10. 😎

The game is currently priced at 17.99€ on Steam.

The Steam community has classified The Sapling into these genres:

Life Sim Sandbox Science God Game Nature Artificial Intelligence Procedural Generation Simulation Dinosaurs Aliens Education Relaxing Open World Casual Singleplayer Atmospheric Early Access Indie Short Survival

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at The Sapling through various videos and screenshots.

The Sapling screenshot
The Sapling screenshot
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The Sapling screenshot
The Sapling screenshot
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The Sapling screenshot

System requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows
  • OS *: Windows 7
  • Processor: A processor with SSE2 instruction set support
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Graphics card with DX10 (shader model 4.0) capabilities.
  • DirectX: Version 10
  • Storage: 150 MB available space
Linux
  • OS: Ubuntu 16 or newer
  • Processor: A processor with SSE2 instruction set support
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Graphics card with DX10 (shader model 4.0) capabilities.
  • Storage: 150 MB available space

User reviews & Ratings

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

Dec. 2025
Fun game, horribly optimized. Also doesn't support 3440x1440 resolution.
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Nov. 2025
the sapling is a good game but i have 50 ideas that can make the game 50 times better: 1. underground creatures and plants 2. worm body parts 3. plant parts that suck water from Neighboring plants 4. primitive colonies 5. human-like Instincts 6. parenting-family stuff 7. detailed cladograms 8. tree sizes 9. bigger creatures sizes 10. nests that are digged into trees and form holes 11. exploding fruit that lunch seeds far away inspired by real fruits 12. a seasonal sleep 13. jellyfish body parts 14. ink spraying 15. animals that hide or dig underground whenever they sleep 16. the sense of smell 17. a line in the details of a creature that shows hunger 18. a map that underground 19. honey 20. leaves that can sustain cold up to 50C 21. bigger fungus sizes 22. more animals that do not need eyes 23. more crab inspired body parts 24. animals will have instincts of running 25. hanging plants will hang on plants and dry them out inspired by real plants 26. animals that can hang from the side of plants 27. more legs that can grap branches for flying animals 28. animals that clean other animals mouth for food inspired by the cleaner fish 29. an exit button to the menu in the map editor 30. animals that can pick up food and drop them from the sky to crack them 31. a search button for the species overview 32. animal grouping for warmth inspired by penguins 33. tails 34. elephant inspired ears 35. i'm not sure if its in the game but poisonous parts not venom for animals 36. instant-camouflaging skin inspired by lizards 37. snake-like body part that can hang branches 38. inflating sack for attractiveness 39. bigger animals will have bigger meat and smaller ones will have small ones 40. animals can pick up food and store it in their nest 41. changing fur color during the seasons 42. some plants gather together to create moisture and warmth 43. hairy flowers to avoid losing warm 44. special shapes for flowers to avoid losing water 45. lillypads plant parts that animals can jump on 46. a fish mouth body part that can shoot water on animals and kill them 47. hydrophobic animals that die on water touch because they are too small 48. clam-like body parts 49. sea urchin and sea star-like body parts 50. and last but not least squirrel like body parts that can store food * you can write down in the comments the numbers you want to be added * sorry if i had any mistakes English is not my main language so i did a translate research * i'm super exited about the movement that will be released and btw thank you for reading this comment
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Sept. 2025
This game allows you to cause apocalypses on the planet that you spent hours growing. When you overutilize the apocalypse, you get an ecosystem that needs an apocalypse to survive. My favorite apocalypse is heating the planet up, eventually creating an equatorial deathzone where nothing can survive, causing the two hemispheres to seperate and evolve their own seperate way. Then when you reintroduce them to each other, it will be a true battle of the best adapted species of each hemisphere. At least until I get bored and drown everything. 10/10, would condemn millions of lifeforms to death again.
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April 2025
wow. just wow. I have no words to describe how amazing this game is. I have some suggestions: sponges and coral. sea-stars, maybe? bigger planet sizes for bigger animals so people can recreate subnautica
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Feb. 2025
This game is incredible, one can TELL that the developer has a burning passion for both evolution and this game. It is hard to put into words but I really love that even PLANTS are have simulated evolution (duh) which is unusual for this genre of games. This game has sooo much potential and has already caught me. THANK YOU DEVELOPER!
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Frequently Asked Questions

The Sapling is currently priced at 17.99€ on Steam.

The Sapling is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 17.99€ on Steam.

The Sapling received 1,342 positive votes out of a total of 1,494 achieving a rating of 8.54.
😎

The Sapling was developed and published by Wessel Stoop.

The Sapling is playable and fully supported on Windows.

The Sapling is not playable on MacOS.

The Sapling is playable and fully supported on Linux.

The Sapling is a single-player game.

There is a DLC available for The Sapling. Explore additional content available for The Sapling on Steam.

The Sapling does not support mods via Steam Workshop.

The Sapling does not support Steam Remote Play.

The Sapling is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.

You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for The Sapling.

Data sources

The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.

Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.

Last Updates
Steam data 22 January 2026 11:19
SteamSpy data 26 January 2026 20:32
Steam price 28 January 2026 20:29
Steam reviews 26 January 2026 19:46

If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about The Sapling, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.

  • SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about The Sapling
  • SteamCharts - Analysis of The Sapling concurrent players on Steam
  • ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck The Sapling compatibility
The Sapling
17.99€ Buy Now
Rating
8.5
1,342
152
Game modes
Features
Online players
34
Developer
Wessel Stoop
Publisher
Wessel Stoop
Release 12 Dec 2019
Platforms
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