This game has been sitting on my wishlist for a while, and I finally decided to pick it up during a sale. Reading through some of the other reviews, especially the negative ones, there are some valid claims. This game is all about high level management, and you will get frustrated because your colonists continue to load tomato after tomato into a vending machine, instead of a diverse group of vegetables. There is no way to prioritize how many bots of each you want made, just how many bots total. And it can get rather arduous to micromanage and try and get everything running like a well-oiled space base.

But the game still plays great. I've established bases on all four of the planet types, and it's a blast getting more colonists and managing base expansion. Overall, the game feels like a spiritual successor to Firefly Studios' Space Colony, but with a much broader scope. Your ship lands, a few colonists get off, and from there you string together a handful of solar panels and plastic domes in an attempt to turn a profit. It's a great way to spend a few hours, and while there are a few frustrating points, I don't think it comes close to overshadowing what Planetbase is and what it achieves. And with a little extra polish from the developers, they could really take the game that much further.

This game has been sitting on my wishlist for a while, and I finally decided to pick it up during a sale. Reading through some of the other reviews, especially the negative ones, there are some valid claims. This game is all about high level management, and you will get frustrated because your colonists continue to load tomato after tomato into a vending machine, instead of a diverse group of vegetables. There is no way to prioritize how many bots of each you want made, just how many bots total. And it can get rather arduous to micromanage and try and get everything running like a well-oiled space base. But the game still plays great. I've established bases on all four of the planet types, and it's a blast getting more colonists and managing base expansion. Overall, the game feels like a spiritual successor to Firefly Studios' Space Colony, but with a much broader scope. Your ship lands, a few colonists get off, and from there you string together a handful of solar panels and plastic domes in an attempt to turn a profit. It's a great way to spend a few hours, and while there are a few frustrating points, I don't think it comes close to overshadowing what Planetbase is and what it achieves. And with a little extra polish from the developers, they could really take the game that much further.