From Dust

GAME OF THE WEEK: 12 cert, Ubisoft, Xbox Live (also PSN, PC OnLive) ****

And lo, the prophesy foresaw, a gamer would manipulate nature itself and bring prosperity and life to a budding tribe . . . From Dustisn't the first game that asks you to play God, but it is distinctive and unique.

The small tribe you protect is following in the footsteps of ancestors, establishing communities at the base of totem poles left there before them. You must provide safe passage for them on these journeys. As the tribe arrives in a new area, your task is to manipulate sand, dirt, water, lava and other elements.

Essentially, you are a breeze, and you pick up elements and deposit them where necessary. Place molten rock on a mountain to provide shelter from a tidal wave; move sand and dirt over a river to build a bridge; transport water to help soil, and so on.

From Dustoffers something that most God-like games do not – immediacy. Unlike, say, Civilisation, the fruits of your labour become instantly apparent. Villages and foliage grow in seconds, and sometimes (when natural disasters loom) you're up against a strict time limit.

As any god will tell you, humans are a needy bunch, and these guys pray for salvation at the slightest hint of danger. And just as it’s beautiful and gratifying to help a community blossom, it can be terribly harrowing to see them fall foul of a tsunami or volcanic eruption.

This addictive and fulfilling gameplay is packaged gracefully, with epic music and elegant graphics. There are also a number of neat creative decisions. The people are rendered in an appealingly neutral way (part Native American, part Aborigine). And I like how it uses subtitles instead of silly-a-foreign- accent-a.

From Dustis a beguiling game and its thrills are instantaneous, which might make you reconsider what you've thought of cerebral strategy games up to now. Whether it'll make panpipe music cool again is another story.