Empire-building re-envisaged as managing elaborate production chains, then re-re-envisaged as another 4X with repetitive micromanagement and weak, bland AI.
An atmospheric, bold attempt to reinvent its own society-moulding subgenre whose story and building features too often frustrate with too few options or distract with too many.
This is Scout Report, an irregular series of indie game recommendations from Sin Vega, offered first to RPS supporters.
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!
A fussy and demanding, but utterly singular and impossibly absorbing planning and logistical sim that other city builders can barely hope to match.
A few bugs and grumbles are utterly brushed aside by a charming and accessible modernisation of 80s RPG detail.
A colourful army building and smushing strategy game with clear rules and a heap of RPG levelling-powered possibilities.
A familiar yet solid revival of late 90s FPS action that brings back a few annoyances but still sticks the landing.
An underexplained but ultimately rewarding tactical RPG with a rich and broad character customisation system that grew on me the longer I played it.
An ambitious hybrid of RTS, management, and narrative history masterfully put together to represent a unique war story that easily smooths over some AI quirks.
An engaging zone-based city builder that balances simulation with ease of play, but offers little that feels substantially new or improved enough to warrant a sequel.
An undemanding but enjoyable large scale 4X, with an emphasis on exploration and remixing possibilities in a familiar but somewhat flexible setting.
A strong turn-based foundation and colourful setting held back by grind, blind chance, and a need for efficiency over tactical variety.
Another solid entry in a unique story-generator series that rewards a fascination with human cultures, but demands acceptance of failure and misfortune.
A detailed and moody setting wasted on a dull and repetitive RTS/management hybrid with the strengths of neither genre.
Physics and realism offer flavour rather than undermine the raw joy of flight and space hoovering. ΔV: Rings Of Saturn is a sim for players who didn't even know this was their niche.
UI niggles and a wincingly unfunny tone can't sink a strong hybrid of old and new design ideas.
More creative and cartoony than managerial, thus a bit of a treat for people less boring than me.
An accomplished fantasy 4X with RPG leanings and cleverly interlocking systems that plain hasn't grabbed me personally, despite some colourful ideas.
An accomplished interplay of tactical and strategic challenges with some dissatisfying but thematically appropriate compromises, and poor performance.