Times & Galaxy Reviews
Despite its mechanical flaws, Times & Galaxy is still a deeply resonant and incredibly thoughtful game about the world and the role of journalism in it, chock-full of characters to love and showcasing a galaxy ripe for exploration. I just wish that actually playing it wasn’t so frustrating.
If this year’s satiric but more aggressive New York Times Simulator is a less subtle game about the risks, responsibilities, and struggles of modern-day journalism, then Times & Galaxy takes the spoonful of sugar approach with sharp and funny writing that makes it endlessly entertaining—even if it stings a bit.
One of the classic draws to games as a medium is having a go at fictional jobs like wizard, space salvager, or landlord. This week I've been playing Times & Galaxy, a kinda silly but absorbing visual novel game about a sci fi concept called "journalism". It's good!
I appreciate that Times and Galaxy is a very different vision of what a game can attempt to do. It reminds me of the games I used to play on the Apple ][ in my school library, where the idea was to teach lateral thinking. But while I enjoy the weird idea, a new mechanic, time-wasting NPCs, and game-ending bugs simply make for a bad front page.
There are enough comedy and fun characters to pull the story along, but getting lost with the cast of characters is the true gem here.
Though it may err in aspects that can undermine the whole experience, Times & Galaxy is a game created to translate, even if in a simplified fashion, the daily circumstances in a newsroom and certain journalistic nuances to a sci-fi context accessible to a diverse public. With smart choices and a charismatic, colorful universe that feels alive, it's very hard not to immerse yourself in the journalist robot while looking for the best way to cover the facts.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Times & Galaxy turns the professional journalism experience into a charismatic space travel that delivers both the fascinating aspects of its fictional universe and some conditions that are easy to extrapolate to the real world. The result isn't perfect, but it's a thrilling adventure all the same.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Times & Galaxy feels like it blends what you’d expect from adventure games with a sort of newspaper management simulation.