Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy

Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy

TL,DR: It is rough around the edges, but it is a worthy implementation of the board game and does scratch the itch for playing it, when you can’t get a real game going. It takes some getting used to.

Longer:

So, I have been waiting for a way to play this game ever since I first came across the boardgame. I have so far only tried the single player version.

The good:

  • It is a mostly faithful adaption of the board game’s base game version

  • AI is competent enough to make for some interesting games, especially if you are still on the low or middle part of the learning curve

Real player with 47.7 hrs in game


Read More: Best Asynchronous Multiplayer 4X Games.


While the game is mostly implemented correctly I can’t recommend the video game version of this over the boardgame exception as a single player training tool to learn how the different alien races play. I’ve played multiple games online in real time while voice chatting with my friends and we’ve lost count of the number of times the game will locally desync. This leaves the players on the line unsure if their friend is just thinking critically about his next move, or unaware that it’s even their move. The usual fix is that you can just close and reopen the game to rejoin the game session. However, twice now the game has kicked a player out after round 7 and they’ve been unable to see the private game listed in the game lobby. Obviously, whether a game can be completed or not is a huge turn off from even thinking about starting an online game.

Real player with 42.2 hrs in game

Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy on Steam

Astraeus

Astraeus

The next generation game for fans of Eufloria. While more abstract, gameplay consists of missions resembling Homeworld’s tactical map. A true, addictive crack gem. 4X whittled to the bone. A virtuoso use of VR.

Real player with 408.1 hrs in game


Read More: Best Asynchronous Multiplayer 4X Games.


Pretty fun game concept, not too hard, not too easy. The campaign is really just a tutorial and ends after about 2 hours which you can keep going if you want. All in all it’s an interesting concept

Real player with 2.1 hrs in game

Astraeus on Steam

Rockets are Super Hard

Rockets are Super Hard

This has been a great game to play with a group of friends. Working together to successfully launch a rocket into orbit using the highly detailed manual and communication skills not to miss any timed events or which button to correctly press. The manual may seem daunting at first, but the PDF is very well organized and put together that we have had no issues navigating through it to find the different modules for each mission. The sense of achievement is very high after each successful launch, and makes us want to keep playing once we finally do achieve mission success. Highly recommend this game for anyone that likes group puzzle games.

Real player with 12.1 hrs in game


Read More: Best Asynchronous Multiplayer Science Games.


This game is already shaping up to be really special. This is helped tremendously by devs who are extremely active in the community and receptive to suggestions. They work quickly and respond in the forum. I made a list of typos and suggestions for the manual and it was a fairly long list. They did every single thing on the list in the same day that I posted it.

From a gameplay perspective, this obviously is inspired by Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, but I think this game stands up extremely well on its own. Being in the control room is significantly more fun than being the defuser in KTaNE, and the game itself feels more cohesive. The manual is also over 100 pages even though the game is in early access. The ktane manual is 23 pages. I’ve played it quite a bit already and I still feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface. The single player campaign helps to teach the game, and even puts the manual pages inside the game to make it easier to look things up, but playing multiplayer is certainly more fun.

Real player with 11.3 hrs in game

Rockets are Super Hard on Steam

Barnard’s Star

Barnard’s Star

In the 25th century, humanity began to travel the stars. Barnard’s Star, a mere 6 light-years away and home to the closest habitable exoplanet, was first to be colonized. However, even with the blindingly fast velocity of half the speed of light, the trip takes 12 Earth years. So when the colonists ran into trouble, they were on their own.

The trouble they faced took two main forms. First, their robot companions who served as butlers and guardians staged a rebellion and broke free of their human masters. It got ugly quickly – blood and bolts covered many a space station floor. The second was the Critters: weird, otherworldly brutes from the other side of the galaxy who arrived on the scene shortly after the colonists from a nearby wormhole. The colonists were able to estalish contact them and even tried to enlist their help against the mechanical threat, but negotiations were cut short when the Critter ambassadors ate all the humans they were supposed to be talking to.

These three factions – Humans, Robots, and Critters – are locked in a vicious struggle for control of the galaxy. Now is the time to rise up, lead your faction, and fight for your life. The fate of the universe is in your hands.

Features

  • 3 factions (Humans, Robots, and Critters) with 7 character classes per faction

  • Each character has unique attacks and abilities

  • 2 maps, each with unique tactical opportunities such as teleporters and destructible cover

  • 3 layouts for each map, for a total of 6 different playable fields

  • Play offline vs. AI or a friend (or even pit two AI’s against each other, if you just want to watch)

  • Challenge friends and strangers with online multiplayer

For a comprehensive list of all the fighters in the game and their abilities, see the wiki .

Barnard's Star on Steam

Spuds Unearthed

Spuds Unearthed

Played with Samsung Odyssey wmr headset

Spuds Unearthed is a strategy/defense game where you have to keep the spuds from the other side from getting to your base and destroying it.

In order to do this you first need to prepare for every battle by mixmatching different tokens to make different turrets and spud upgrades and vehicles .

You can make a plane put a spud in it and throw it on the battlefield and watch it fly around shooting and bombing enemy spuds.

You have to use your hands for everything witch is great in vr, example is manning your turrets throwing spuds into tanks and planes and throwing them onto the battlefield.

Real player with 8.7 hrs in game

Spuds:Unearthed is so frustrating because I want to love this game so badly. It’s like someone made my favorite VR game ever, then scrambled it up, hid some of it, and took away all the directions and clarity.

This game is horribly broken in a very unique way. Most games are broken because of a technical flaw or poor performance (especially with VR games). Spuds:Unearthed actually runs reasonably well. I get GPU frame drops on a 2080ti in the planet system view, and its crashed mid-battle a couple of times, but both these issues are relatively minor. The art is cute and original. The mechanics are polished and fun (other than a couple useless and frustrating firing mechanisms for the turrets). The heroes are varied, and the turret types would be great if I knew what the differences between them are. But I just have no idea what the hell is going on in the game as a whole, what the purpose is, what different statuses and victories mean, and so forth.

Real player with 4.7 hrs in game

Spuds Unearthed on Steam

Battle for the Galaxy

Battle for the Galaxy

The only way that I can reliably play this game is through a Steam account. If you play any other way, if you have to reinstall your web browser, you lose your account and have to start over again from scratch. I have restarted this game 5 times. The other at the end of January 2021, the game reset and I was sent back to the beginning again. I started sending messages through social media and they suddenly repaired the game to where I was before the program change.

This is a free to play game, but you really need to pay for enough gems to purchase the maximum number of Drones, which is about $10. So, I have spent $50 on this game so far.

Real player with 4845.8 hrs in game

What have you done to the game dear devs, this VERSION is faster and has a better quality, but the game seems incomplete. It is either buggy or the devs deliberitetly mess up certain aspects of the game. Right now it is better to play it on battleforthegalaxy.com or though facebook. And you can later trasfer the account to steam (not tried it).

Also i could not get any infantry modules on the Operation (you can get access to the Operation by upgrading the HQ to lvl4), i don´t know if that is a bug or the devs trying to make the Operation harder again. How about you make it easier istead, like increasing the time to 3 days instead of 2. I would like to get more sleep. :)

Real player with 1605.8 hrs in game

Battle for the Galaxy on Steam

Tempo

Tempo

⡴⠑⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⣀⣀⣤⣤⣤⣀⡀

⠸⡇⠀⠿⡀⠀⠀⠀⣀⡴⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣦⡀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠑⢄⣠⠾⠁⣀⣄⡈⠙⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣆ play it

⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡀⠁⠀⠀⠈⠙⠛⠂⠈⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⡿⢿⣆

⠀⠀⠀⢀⡾⣁⣀⠀⠴⠂⠙⣗⡀⠀⢻⣿⣿⠭⢤⣴⣦⣤⣹⠀⠀⠀⢀⢴⣶⣆

⠀⠀⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣷⣮⣽⣾⣿⣥⣴⣿⣿⡿⢂⠔⢚⡿⢿⣿⣦⣴⣾⠸⣼⡿

⠀⢀⡞⠁⠙⠻⠿⠟⠉⠀⠛⢹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣌⢤⣼⣿⣾⣿⡟⠉

⠀⣾⣷⣶⠇⠀⠀⣤⣄⣀⡀⠈⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇It’s good

⠀⠉⠈⠉⠀⠀⢦⡈⢻⣿⣿⣿⣶⣶⣶⣶⣤⣽⡹⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠲⣽⡻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣜⣿⣿⣿⡇

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⣷⣶⣮⣭⣽⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣀⣈⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿

Real player with 9.7 hrs in game

A somewhat decent game, the idea has been done a million times.

Going for high scores and a fast bpm can be frustrating! I recommend it if you like rhythm games.

-first impressions video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vas2Vyu4NMg&ab_channel=LilGrizz

Real player with 2.0 hrs in game

Tempo on Steam

Light Trail Rush

Light Trail Rush

D.O.A

Real player with 1.6 hrs in game

A rushed title that needs a lot more development time

Overview

Light Trail Rush is a racing game where players fly in anti-gravitational spaceships, trying to get the lead. The leader of the race is called “tracer”, because it traces the path where are all other contestant race on. This is the main twist of Light Trail Rush: point-based matches where points are usually gained by being the tracer or launching other players off the track. This interesting idea also makes for different circuits every match, an interesting feature that, if implemented correctly, could give an incredible boost to the game replayability.

Real player with 1.1 hrs in game

Light Trail Rush on Steam

Star Realms

Star Realms

I used to really enjoy the online version of this game. Saddly that is no longer true. While I would HIGHLY reccomend this game for the Campaign Mode, the Online Mode is another matter ENTIRELY!!!! Once you reach level 5, you must win a number of sucsessfull wins to advance onwords, but each loss counts you backwords on that total. THIS, is not a problem. THE PROBLEM, is that many players have found a way to “HACK” either the timeclock, or the game itself! I have found myself ready to acquire a good card, only to have my game freeze. Then reload. Not only do I lose precious time during this reloaded “Glitch”. But often it will undo my card purchases or even worse, my bases will be destroyed or my health slashed in half. All of which being impossible with the card’s the opponet had availible to play. Now, I KNOW I’m not the best player. I admit that freely. But after almost 500 games, I STILL CAN’T GET EVEN HALFWAY THROUGH TO LEVEL 7! This means With the losses counting against me, I have only managed to go up 1 LEVEL in almost 500 games!!!

Real player with 561.4 hrs in game

I’ve enjoyed Star Realms for many year. It is an entertaining deckbuilder game, which is easy to learn. A huge number of cards have been added to this game over the years, and the core sets (5€) are definitely worth the value, while a lot of the smaller dlc (2-4€) is a bit pricey. Although skill does play a part in winning, I would definitely say that a large part of winning comes down to the luck of the draw. And the expansions increase the luck factor quite a bit. I would still say that it is quite enjoyable, and I take it as a challenge, when my opponent start out quite a bit better off than me. Sadly I will not be giving this game my recommendation, based on the recent addition to this game, in the form of Star Realms Arena, which is a particular nasty way of introducing gambling into a kid friendly game.

Real player with 516.5 hrs in game

Star Realms on Steam

StarPicker

StarPicker

Landing on mysterious planets, you have to quickly identify your location and find the best way to collect lost stars. Show your agility and strategy skills to accomplish your mission. Don’t panic, even when you face the unknown and its unexpected challenges. Then don’t forget to check your route review with players from all over the world and be the one who will save the universe!

Key features:

  • Discover unknown territories through original land navigation gameplay.

  • Explore 60+ levels in 5 unique environments.

  • Unlimited original hand drawn maps with regularly updated contents.

  • 3 exciting game modes adapted for different challenge-seekers.

  • Attractive cosmic soundtrack in late 60’s style tailored for each game level.

  • Engaging online community : ranking and replay analysis. Compare your route choices with players worldwide and improve your performances.

Story:

Well, it all begins with an unexpected “disaster” … All the stars are falling down from the sky. Is this the end of the world?

The youngest Nobel Prize winner Minna Vellamo is assigned with the mission of finding back lost stars. She chose to be accompanied by a robot named Harvey for him being a …robot. Little does she know, Harvey is the clumsiest and most talkative robot ever.

One day before departure, Minna was told that “Electric Eel” Janus White will also be joining the team. Being depressed for a very long time since retirement, the former footballer signed himself up to the project. He believed that this is the only opportunity to find back his old-day glory and to prove to the public that he is still a hero.

Will Janus achieve what he is looking for? Often described as bold, independent and determined, will Minna get along well with Janus?

Gameplay:

Start a navigation adventure in space with only a map and a compass in hands. Whether you’re a curious traveler, a challenge-seeker or a speedrunner, there is always a game mode waiting for you in StarPicker.

3 game modes:

  • The Main Race mode is the most relaxing experience. You can be a traveler, embracing fantastic landscapes, gaining satisfaction in your map reading skills, meeting curious animals and uncovering the mysterious history on each planet.

  • In the Electric Eel mode : win the challenge with your impressive observation and incomparable precision. Fearless of taking risks even on unknown territories. It’s the perfect mode if you are looking for challenges without worrying about time.

  • Maybe you are an orienteer, a traceur or a speedrunner who “flies” in a complex environment! StarPicker’s Berserk mode suits you the best! Reveal stars one by one in a limited time, avoid obstacles by acting cool like a Light Speed Racer.

From novice to expert:

Adjust the game options to your capacities and improve your navigational skills.

Use compass and learn map reading with International Standard for Orienteering Maps.

StarPicker on Steam