Yesterday I decided to purchase Signs of Life on a whim. I mean, at $8.00'ish dollars it's not a tough sell, really. I have to say that Signs of Life has impressed me greatly so far. I definitely LOVE the very colorful, beautifully crafted world, and already I can't get enough of this game.

I loved discovering that I could bash stuff with a torch. I laughed when I found out that I could 'suck' an item towards me, and watch the item launch somewhere when I let off the 'suck' button too soon. I found that if I sucked up the Impaler Spikes and let the button off to quickly, it would actually impale me. Tell me that small pleasures are the sign of a small mind, but either way, sign me up. :) I love that the Pickaxe has a more realistic approach to swinging in a true arc than any other 2D miner, and using the right button gives you the ability to do the little tappy-tappy semi-swings that let you work in smaller areas. I am discovering silly little things all the time, and it's great!

I own and play Starbound, Edge of Space, Terraria and Craft the World. As I've noticed, a lot of people are comparing this game to Starbound, so I'll work from that common perspective. So far me (and my kids) have put 142 hours into Starbound. But it's missing something. Perhaps there is just SO much randomness to everything in Starbound that it's difficult to identify with anything in it. My kids grew bored quickly with it, and I was trying to figure out why. It may have to do with dated graphics, which seem very washed out, but that's the art style they are going for and it doesn't bother me a whole lot, especially after growing up on ASCII games. The only thing I can speculate at, is that there is so much to do in Starbound, but not much reason to do anything. Hunting for food is a chore, and killing the 4-5 monster types on a planet gives me high marks on the yawn scale. And 'treasure chests' often go ignored because I know it's just gonna contain another Tier 1 weapon, or a copy of Tech I've already received 5 other times.

Now with the few hours I've had with Signs of Life, everything is fascinating. I want to discover as many new things as possible to see what I can build. AGIS (Aegis?) has a low and wicked sense of humor for an AI, and the creatures of the world feel life-like. Chickens lay eggs (and even have the animation to prove it!). The bugs( insects) are so happy being in the game that they do flips. What more of an endorsement do you need?! The monsters begin to differ as you dig deeper into the world, and they get tougher too. Every time I stumble upon a new life-form, I think, "What little surprises do you have for me to discover, my pretty?" The only thing that truly rings false to me so far, is finding sheep and goats living down deep inside the supremely dark and oxygen deficient caves and caverns. Perhaps that is a bug that may be fixed later.

Anyway, to sum up this extremely long post, Signs of Life has some serious promise, and for the few hours I've played it, it has been very enjoyable, fun, funny and I can't wait to put some more time into this game, to see what other simple pleasures I can discover in this beautifully rendered game.

Keep up the great work!

Yesterday I decided to purchase Signs of Life on a whim. I mean, at $8.00'ish dollars it's not a tough sell, really. I have to say that Signs of Life has impressed me greatly so far. I definitely LOVE the very colorful, beautifully crafted world, and already I can't get enough of this game. I loved discovering that I could bash stuff with a torch. I laughed when I found out that I could 'suck' an item towards me, and watch the item launch somewhere when I let off the 'suck' button too soon. I found that if I sucked up the Impaler Spikes and let the button off to quickly, it would actually impale me. Tell me that small pleasures are the sign of a small mind, but either way, sign me up. :) I love that the Pickaxe has a more realistic approach to swinging in a true arc than any other 2D miner, and using the right button gives you the ability to do the little tappy-tappy semi-swings that let you work in smaller areas. I am discovering silly little things all the time, and it's great! I own and play Starbound, Edge of Space, Terraria and Craft the World. As I've noticed, a lot of people are comparing this game to Starbound, so I'll work from that common perspective. So far me (and my kids) have put 142 hours into Starbound. But it's missing something. Perhaps there is just SO much randomness to everything in Starbound that it's difficult to identify with anything in it. My kids grew bored quickly with it, and I was trying to figure out why. It may have to do with dated graphics, which seem very washed out, but that's the art style they are going for and it doesn't bother me a whole lot, especially after growing up on ASCII games. The only thing I can speculate at, is that there is so much to do in Starbound, but not much reason to do anything. Hunting for food is a chore, and killing the 4-5 monster types on a planet gives me high marks on the yawn scale. And 'treasure chests' often go ignored because I know it's just gonna contain another Tier 1 weapon, or a copy of Tech I've already received 5 other times. Now with the few hours I've had with Signs of Life, everything is fascinating. I want to discover as many new things as possible to see what I can build. AGIS (Aegis?) has a low and wicked sense of humor for an AI, and the creatures of the world feel life-like. Chickens lay eggs (and even have the animation to prove it!). The bugs( insects) are so happy being in the game that they do flips. What more of an endorsement do you need?! The monsters begin to differ as you dig deeper into the world, and they get tougher too. Every time I stumble upon a new life-form, I think, "What little surprises do you have for me to discover, my pretty?" The only thing that truly rings false to me so far, is finding sheep and goats living down deep inside the supremely dark and oxygen deficient caves and caverns. Perhaps that is a bug that may be fixed later. Anyway, to sum up this extremely long post, Signs of Life has some serious promise, and for the few hours I've played it, it has been very enjoyable, fun, funny and I can't wait to put some more time into this game, to see what other simple pleasures I can discover in this beautifully rendered game. Keep up the great work!