Escape from Nowhere
School project game, technically in a playable state but achievements don’t unlock. lol
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nonlinear Vehicular Combat Games.
Achievements don’t unlock.
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game
Starfighter Aces
Super basic. Doesn’t seem like there’s much to the tactics except “hold the fire button down until you die then click New Game”.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nonlinear Action Games.
Nominal
This is a neat game! The style of the ship and the ship manual are super flavorful and I had fun messing around with it. The one problem is that it’s a bit repetitive: most of the hazards you can see are handled in very similar ways and it feels like once you’ve played it for a few hours you could start to memorize most of the steps. Definitely once your Mission Control has gotten a feel for how to navigate the manual the missions become pretty easy.
That said, the aesthetic is great and if it interests you I definitely recommend it. Just know that you won’t be getting too much playtime out of it unless you regularly invite new players to be in charge of Mission Control. I’d love to see the game expanded in some way with either dual hazards or more variation in how you solve problems, but it’s a fun package as it is and I plan to keep showing it to friends.
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nonlinear Co-op Games.
As someone that has played a lot of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, and ALSO someone that loves all the movies/series about various NASA space programs, this game seemed right up my alley.
So my friends and I got into character and decided that we didn’t need to preview the manual, we just jumped in. Then we died, and died, and died again. Since it’s the first day the game came out, we couldn’t even look to search engines for help guides. Eventually, though, we read the manual correctly and things improved. (And by ‘we’ I mean my friend did. I’m still very confused.) – Hint, page 57 is a good page.
– Real player with 3.5 hrs in game
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw
Great game.
It brought me back to the times of Wing Commander Privateer, Privateer 2.
It is hard, yes, and I would never finish it on Old school playstyle without flightstick. But developers tried to make it easier with seetings like Aim assist or Pursuit for other playstyles.
I’ve seen some rewievs complaining about difficulty - but hey you can always get better equipment by trading or mining first before diving in to systems with more powerful enemies.
Thank you Double Damage Games, it was great adventure!
– Real player with 83.5 hrs in game
I’m writing this as I take a break from RGO after it’s hurt me, again, by crashing and losing my save file. Yet I’m still recommending the game because I think it’s just a great, fun, space shooting experience. The in-moment gameplay is fun. The combat has a visceral feel. It gets chaotic, and is at its core a good time shooting things in space. Just flying around is a joy. I love the very strong style. There seems to be a Firefly influence - a western in space - that comes through in the cheesy rock radio, the myriad grungy details added to the setting, and the drawling accents of the various NPCs. I like that the game gives you a lot of freedom. Right from the start you can go where you want and do what you want. That whole story thing sound boring? Grab a mining laser and go and make some money shooting at rocks for a while. This game feels to me something akin to GTA in space: there’s a heavily stylised and detailed setting, mini-games in the bar, constant voiced reactions from the player character, factions and reputation, and the radio station complete with in-universe adverts and jingles. But they clearly didn’t have a GTA-sized budget, so while there are such things, there’s nowhere near as much of them as you’d find in GTA. All things considered, there’s a lot to like in Rebel Galaxy Outlaw.
– Real player with 38.8 hrs in game
Universe Apart
A Journey in Space
Universe Apart is a twin-stick 2d horror space exploration shooter with rogue-like elements. You explore space ships, mining stations and asteroids and survive as long as you can. Venture out and scavenge weapons, resources, duct tape and new crew mates in an attempt to make your derelict generation ship hold together and reach a planet and seed it - or at least you will die trying.
You battle enemies in real time while unraveling the mysteries of a harsh and uncaring ancient Universe. You have to fight, explore, find loot and solve both simple and more existential puzzles to unlock your full potential.
You can play alone, collaborate in couch co-op or invite a friend to help via steam remote play.
Survive as long as you can, seed planets and solve mysteries to unlock new spaceships that open new possibilities and take you on different journeys.
CUBE-e 2
A demonstration of how to annoy player just for the heck of it.
– Real player with 0.1 hrs in game
Lucky me gets to write the first review for CUBE-e 2, which is a 2D retro pixel puzzle platformer/shooter from known asset flippers, Piece of Voxel. This is a basic retro pixel shooter/platformer game where you guide a robot over various platforms on some planet, dodging spinning blades and shooting robots that float from the sky before they can shoot you. Ho hum.
They chose to use obsolete retro pixel “art” as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics. It’s unclear if this is due to lack of budget or talent, regardless, the overall visual quality of the game is extremely low as a result. Resolution and controls are locked. These flaws push this game far below minimum acceptable standards for PC. There’s also an insulting $10 USD price tag for this garbage. Yeah, $10, the same money that would get you one of hundreds of AAA games on sale. Or this trash.
– Real player with 0.1 hrs in game
Fractal Block World
I like this because it reminds me of Interphase which was technically the first ever FPS, exploration is fun and can be relaxing and at other times tense, I want to see more!
– Real player with 44.6 hrs in game
This is a unique game! It’s fun to shrink many times and explore the forests. The mazes were fun, and the 7x7x7 one was challenging. Definitely recommended for players who enjoy exploration.
– Real player with 5.1 hrs in game
Astrobase Command
Salvage the remnants of your civilization by starting anew in uncharted space, with a small crew and the beginnings of an Astrobase. Grow your base by constructing modules on all three axes, put out fires both literal and metaphorical, and send characters with real personalities and emotions on non-linear text-based adventures across a procedural galaxy.
The only mode is ironman and every section, module, deck and crew member added to your Astrobase comes with implicit risks and reward, so choices matter. How long can you keep from succumbing to the dangers of space?
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Grow - Expand your Astrobase in all three directions.
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Nurture - Build a home for your crew and their daily lives
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Design - Layout the Astrobase to counter crises such conduit leaks, compartment failures, explosions, fires, personnel issues, and more
The Astrobase can be constructed along three axes. Your crew can expand the base by building modules or contract it by salvaging them. They can add or remove functionality by building up or tearing down sections in the modules. They can even build ships that lets you explore the galaxy.
You choose what to build and when to build it. The crew needs to rest and they need to breathe, do you rush the construction of the Enlisted Quarters or the Air Pump first? What’s the optimal placement of the new module? Is it better to have the Plasma Reactor closer to storage or to the crew’s quarters? Keep the station well maintained and stocked with supplies or disastrous consequences may result.
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Characters - Your crew make their own decisions as they interact with each other and the world around them.
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Full AI lifecycle - They work, eat, sleep, use the bathroom, relax, and socialize all as part of their daily lives.
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Morale - Your crew can get exhausted, or suffer from low morale which affects the quality of their lives and how they perform tasks.
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Relationships - Your crew form personal, professional, and romantic relationships. The relationships can be either positive or negative based on how their personalities and actions align.
Your crew live their own lives on the Astrobase. They have things to do and people to meet. Exactly how well they perform depends on how good they fit into their job, what adventures they’ve had, and what horrors they have survived; even how well matched they are with their peers matters, some will become romantic partners while others become bitter work rivals.
You will run into stumbling blocks, maybe your crew is exhausted because you’ve pushed them too hard, or low morale makes slacking off more enticing, or maybe Jenkins and Rodriguez spend too much time arguing while the Fission Reactor goes critical. Figure out your problems and fix them!
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Explore - Build and dispatch ships across the galaxy to explore planets, fight killbots, extract resources, and interact with other civilizations.
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Delegate - The ranking officer of each ship will make decisions based on their personality, and take recommendations from their team.
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Overrule - Change the decisions in the logs they send back, or let them make their own mistakes.
The procedural adventures of the crew assigned to your ships can be read and interacted with in the logs they send back. Carefully handpick the crew for each ship you send out. Monitor their progress or leave them to their own fate. Whatever you choose to do, the outcomes of their adventures will be felt in what resources they get, what injuries they suffer, and in how it changes their emotional state.
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Assign - Choose the best person for each job based on their stats, personalities, and over 50 different skills.
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Manage - Prioritize tasks, clear task blockers, optimize the routes that the crew take during their day.
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Observe - Calculate resource depletion and stay on top of tasks to prevent the reactors from exploding, the conduits leaking, and compartments failing,
The desk is where you design the Astrobase into a functioning home for your crew, promote leaders, manage tasks, monitor resource consumption, read reports from your ships and give them your input.
Running the station means manning your desk. Be efficient, and use your time wisely or take a break and play some Asteroid Shooter.
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Individuality - Characters maintain emotional memory, and experience psychological growth over time depending on how results align with expectations.
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Expression - Each character’s personality is expressed in their conversations, thoughts, and ship log entries
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Story - Over 100 personality traits and 42 intertwined emotions combine to author narratives that reflect how the crew are actually thinking and feeling.
The Astrobase’s crew will have conversations with each other, or insights about their lives. Crew members join the Astrobase with revealed personality traits that drive the emotions that effect their job suitability, choices and actions. More traits become unlocked as they experience emotional growth.
Ensure that your crew’s psychological needs are met and they have the ability to grow as people. When you’re processing recruit applications you’ll want to keep an eye out for personalities that might clash with your existing crew, or will be compatible and create lasting friendships.
Lilith Odyssey
I’ve been having a harder time enjoying new games… something interesting will come out and it will pique my interest, only to realize it’s not what I had imagined. Although I have been getting more and more of these Hentai games, but am I at fault for thinking the gameplay would be on par with the graphics and art work? Not in this game, it might not have cat girls or dominating succubi, but this game has a lot more. How much more? A whole galaxy. And by the way, these questions are rhetorical for the sake of this writing prompt of a review, if I ask a question I’m probably asking that to myself while writing and don’t expect anyone to message me with the answer to the question I provided.
– Real player with 30.1 hrs in game
Lilith Odyssey is a bold undertaking for a small indie dev team but the concept is well executed although not without some expected bugs (that from what I can tell the dev team is actively working through).
The game play is a mix between the Oregon Trail (get to your destination), flight sim, open world exploration/adventure, with a Fallout/GTA esque radio station thrown in for kicks. Ultimately this is a risk and resource management game where you gather resources to (safely) get from your starting home world to Lilith.
– Real player with 10.6 hrs in game
Space Wreck
Inspired by classic western isometric RPGs (Fallout, Fallout 2, Arcanum), this is hardcore role playing game set in space 20 years post major conflict over asteroid mining.
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Built on classic RPG fundaments
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Post-apocalyptic space exploration.
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Focus on role-playing (…sometimes to the extreme!).
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It’s ok to fail - because there are many ways to solve every problem.
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Completely optional combat.
Role playing
This is the most important part of the game - you can play whatever character you wish, play however you want to. You can be smooth talker, sneaky hacker or brawling bully; or something else - it’s your choice: distribute the points in character creation and make decisions when playing.
But once the character has been created, be ready for not only abilities but also limitations.
For example, characters with low CHARM value will find that often NPCs won’t even talk to them because of how repulsive they are; or speech - if low, that means you are a shy introvert, unable to initiate the dialog yourself. Lacking computer skills (scitec)? You accidentally crash terminals when trying to use them. Low tinker? Tools might break in your inept hands. Sometimes even too much is not good - too strong (PHYSICAL) and you cannot squeeze into vents thus unable to make use of some shortcuts. And so on - your character stats will signifcantly affect your gameplay style.
Multiple solutions
There are always multiple ways to solve problems (quests), usually tied to your character skills and abilities - play to your character’s strengths, work around its weaknesses. For example, if you cannot convince someone to help you, hack his computer and blackmail him. Or just straight-up pickpocket the guy - all items are always realistically placed in NPC inventories.
Note: there are usually 3-8 ways to complete a quest in the game. They can trigger related events in near future or lead to a different ending in the end slides.
Choice & Consequence
Your actions, your decisions matter to the game world. Make an enemy, you may need him/her later on. Opt for an easier solution to the current problem and you might have to deal with a bigger problem later. And in the end, you will get a unique game ending showing you the future fate of your character and those who he/she impacted through gameplay.
Non-linear world
You have an objective but how you approach it - it’s up to you; the game map is as open to you as reasonably possible (it’s a stranded spaceship after all) and there is no single true path to the end. If you know where to go, what to do - you can try to sequence break the game. Combine that with multiple solutions to every quest and you’ve got freedom to spare.
Optional but unlimited violence
You can complete the game without killing anyone. In fact, combat is completely optional. But if you want to fight - there are no immortal or “essential” NPCs - everyone everywhere has finite amount of HP and is fair game.
Turn-based combat
Game features old-school tactical turn-based combat with grid based movement, action points and dice rolls.