Recent reviews by ☥ Docdra ☥

Sometimes you want a laidback game where you aren't spamming the dodge button, or looking at crazy particles flashing all over the screen. Sometimes you just want to sit back and challenge your brain, but not your eyes. Sometimes...you want a game like this to scratch that intellectual itch.

This is like playing Balatro, but with the base game based on Scrabble. Just like with Balatro, initially you won't have enough of anything unlocked and you'll struggle, but as you continue to play the mechanics begin to make more sense, and the unlocked items become available and open things up more. Sure, there's some RNG involved, but nothing that isn't insurmountable with time and play.

This has become my go-to in between Crimson Desert sessions...

It's interesting - if you've ever wished Satisfactory didn't have a static map, you might like this. Obviously the polish is not anywhere near that of Satisfactory, but this game utilizes a lot of the same mechanics and features.

The enemy (only one?) mob feels a bit lacking, as does the gunplay and melee combat, but that isn't the focus of the game.

Building is also very lacking and not at all intuitive - you can basically put down platforms, walls, columns, sloped platforms, etc., but not any actual structures. Also, putting down the platforms can be a pain due to odd snap points and collision with the ground - better to just elevate EVERYTHING off of the ground.

With proper development, this could be pretty good, and for lack of a "Meh" option, I'll give the thumbs up for now.

Remember the dog in the movie "Up" - that's what this game is like if you're playing it properly:

You go down a ravine, "Squirrel!"
You skydive from above and land in some new area, "Squirrel!!!"
You explore behind a waterfall, "Squirrel!!!!!!"
You climb a mountain, "Squirrel!!!!!!!!!!"

With that said, there really isn't a wrong way to play it, BUT you can lessen your enjoyment of it by trying to do it in a linear fashion, or by trying to speedrun it.

Now, where was...Squirrel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This game is like Planet Crafter meets Astroneer meets Eden Crafters - you're terraforming a planet (Mars), but you're mostly tethered to things while running around gathering resources to build the devices needed to accomplish your ultimate goal. Nothing really new here, but it scratches an itch.

The progression of the terraforming still needs some tweaks, as certain things seem to progress too fast in comparison to others. The storage system, to me, isn't optimal - didn't like Astroneer's system either - the snapping one resource into a holder just seems wasteful. Also, the world is a decent size, but feels smaller than the other games I've mentioned. Lastly, the game has that same awkward bouncy movement feel that Astroneer sort of has - you may or may not care for that, especially as the wonky camera is not something you'll easily get used to.

While the game is a full release, the dev seems to be very active and has already made some major changes to the game's storage system. It did introduce some bugs (EDIT: Apparently more than "some" bugs), but he's been pretty quick to respond, so those bugs and the other issues above may get fixed pretty quickly.

The game is a bit cute, but looks really polished compared to some indie games. It runs perfectly fine for me, and I've only encountered one crash, while saving, so far - no data lost. The game is also very chill - no dust storms, meteor showers, or anything that could harm your builds - about the only thing to look out for is running out of energy, which is pretty hard to do.

I hope the dev expands on the world (Mars), and perhaps adds other worlds with different challenges - we'll see.

Minecraft clone/killer - well, not exactly.
Hytale clone/killer - nah.
Vintage Story clone/killer - no.

What this is - a mostly lone dev passion project that's been in the works for years.

There are several advantages that this game has over Minecraft, with the main one being that it already has built-in systems that you'd normally need mods for. Want to use magic - it's in there. Want to build windmills, waterwheels, and use them to power things - yep, in there. Want electricity or nuclear power - got that too. Also, while it has these things, modding will still be supported in the future. Other things to still be added include a train/rail system, boats, and a bunch of other things.

Now, while that all sounds nice, there are obviously some caveats. Minecraft has been around for a very long time, and after MS purchased Mojang, they had quite a lot of money to "play" with, thus a larger group of coders, artists, etc. This game cannot match that, so the character models look a bit janky...well, janky af to be honest. Also, the biomes aren't quite as diverse as I'd like, and the spread between certain things appears too much, but he terrain generation (with rivers) isn't too bad.

They've got a built-in quest/campaign system too. You don't need to follow it, but it teaches you about the game and you earn coins. The coins can be used to purchase several things in-game, including blueprints for an automated builder. You feed the blueprint to the builder, and then feed in the required components, and soon you'll have a factory, or hovel, or tower. If it isn't already in the game, or planned, it would be cool to take your own existing structures and turn them into blueprints for reuse or sharing.

There are some rough spots like the map system, progression (needs more work), the rather empty feeling overworld, and some seriously weak mobs. However, I've only had one crash so far, and have encountered zero bugs - meanwhile Minecraft always gives me problems. It can't beat Minecraft in the looks and polish departments, but it is a work-in-progress.

Give it a shot, but realize what you are purchasing - this isn't AAA and is far from finished, so it could be a long time before the big ticket features are added.

Look, it isn't horrible, but it is missing a bunch of QoL stuff that you find in many of the mobile match 3 games. For example, in Candy Crush, at the end of the level you can skip all of the "bonus" stuff, however in this game you have to sit there and wait for it all to play out. Because of that, and other issues, there just isn't enough incentive for me to justify playing such a game on PC, even if I had it on my Steam Deck I'd be wondering why I'm wasting the battery playing what appears to be a mobile game on it.

Sure, there's some light crafting, some light base building, etc., and if this were on my cell phone I'd likely be tempted. However, this isn't on my cell phone and it is lacking some QoL things, so I wouldn't actually bother. This is BEFORE you add in all of the time-gating mechanics built into this, mechanics designed to slow you down and tempt you to spend actual money.

I get that some people don't mind these types of games, and I'm not against them when they're well done, but this just seems like it needs a tad more polish. However, with that said, it still wouldn't be for me.

Know thyself...

Not quite two hours yet, but I'll keep it. It isn't Satisfactory, a game I love, but it also isn't 3D Factorio, a game I love a tad bit less than Satisfactory. It does remind me of both of those games, and several others, such as The Planet Crafter just to pick one.

Yes, it is Early Access, and yes, the game has some issues - building jank, slight performance issues, lacking QoL stuff, etc. You can read all about that in the other reviews though. I personally am not having any major issues so far though.

As of right now, I'm enjoying the game, which is really all anyone needs to know. Already it is better than many others I've purchased, only to see them abandoned or development taking a turn for the worse, and for $15.99, I can't really do much more than hope they continue to improve it going forward.

I'd love to wholeheartedly recommend this game, but sadly I can only somewhat recommend it at this time. There's two reasons for this:

1) Apparently the latest update broke some things that impact quite a lot
2) The ever-present danger of an EA game never being finished

Hopefully, the latter won't be an issue, while the game-breaking update is something else entirely. Complaints have ranged from worse optimization, to items disappearing, to fully broken games where people couldn't progress.

Obviously, if you purchase an EA game, you essentially signed up for all the bumps and warts, but if you're unsure at this time, I'd say hold off. The game has some serious atmosphere going for it, the progression isn't hasty, and who doesn't love solving a mystery (what happened and why). I did restart, as the demo save wasn't compatible with the update that pushed, but there is a LOT you could miss, so a second playthrough of the beginning wasn't a bad thing.

Also, I've seen some people complain that there's a bit too much in the way of horror in the game for them, and they're not overjoyed about that. Yes, there are some "jumpscares" and some enemies that aren't your typical mobs, so just be awere of that.

I'm personally enjoying the game, but haven't encountered any of the bugs so far - however, the one bug (disappearing items) I'm looking out for only appears to happen after you've left the starting dock, which I'm just about to do now. Guess we'll see what happens, but either way I expect the devs to fix that soon.

The demo allows you to play until you set sail from the starting dock, and go a certain distance away. Give it a go!

Beat this way back in the day before there were achievements for it, also back when completing a game was easy to do because there weren't as many games to play...and the backlog was smaller.

Keep in mind that the original was released in 2011, and it doesn't seem that they've done much to this remaster other than optimize it for newer hardware - no new maps, no new fx, no new enemy behavior, etc. If you're looking for a modern remake - this ain't that.

Essentially, there are only two reasons to buy/play this - nostalgia and achievements. Well, if you've never played it, there are some things that were novel at the time that I'd like to see in a more modern game, but good luck with that...

To start with, I initially tried the demo and didn't like it because of the janky physics. I hadn't read the store page description, thus didn't understand that janky physics was a "feature" and not an accident. Then, the game launched. I saw the reviews, read the store description, and changed my expectations...and good thing too.

Despite the static map, limited area, and some lacking QoL things, the game IS fun. Again, the map seems rather small for this type of game, but when you consider the options you have (i.e. verticality), and everything else, it is quite expansive. I do still hope they expand it though.

I could say the same about the tech tree - initially it doesn't seem impressive, but it all boils down to how you use what's available to you. However, once again, I hope they expand on it.

As for the physics that I didn't initially like - well, it's like a puzzle. Once you get to the point where things start to get tossed around because of the volume of materials being moved/processed, you'll have to figure out how to minimize the chaos. In games like Satisfactory, you're worried about throughput and trying to min/max things based on transport speed, processing speed, etc. In THIS game, you're trying to limit crap just getting tossed around before it reaches where it needs to go. It's a different "automation" game, which is always welcomed.

Is the game perfect? No, I could think of several things I'd like to see improved, added, or changed. However, it is a good start for an Early Access game.

Try the demo, but realize that the janky physics are part of the charm - don't be like me...