I think the following 3 points describe what to expect from the game pretty well.

1. The game is not even remotely rogue-like, it even has an auto-save function plus you can save/load at any time. Also there is not much replayability value.

2. It features a lot of story telling with some exploration, it plays more like a gamebook. So expect simple graphics and A LOT of text, especially tons of background infos and secondary character dialogs which don't change much in the end.

3. The game is playable although unfinished and hence rather short. I'm now 10hours into it and I think I've completed the main story and nearly all side quests. (The remaining one(s) require a lot of search which gets difficult towards the end of the game because of performance issues, a bug I guess.)

All in all I think it's worth the 5 Euros and although it not even comes close (yet) to the size and depth of Space Rangers 2, it feels a bit like that, minus the annoying realtime ground combat.

Each step is a turn, everything you do is a turn... this is a pixel turn-based space advanture game with little strategy element in it.

Earth is dying you are aurora project which is the the last hope for mankind to step out of earth and find new world so humanity can continue on. You meet new world, explore new Stars, make new friend, make new enemy and your real goal is to survive in the universe.

This is a really simple simulation game with really simple concept, graphics and music. My personal suggestion is take things slow, garther research, trade, do quest and be lucky. Learning curve for this game is actually really simple and I felt this game is just another "weird world, Return to infinite space". It's shorter and more simple but it's not neccessary bad. We do have to wait and see if this game improve from it's current earlly access state. Right now interface, text, plot are all pretty decent but we do need more content, more meat to make this game better.

7.5/10 for it's current state and keep up the good work.

1) Misleading title: Game is not a rogue-like.
2) Buggy as hell.
3) Developers have abandoned it.
4) Don't bother.

AuroraRL is a rather rough, yet very compelling space adventure. Tasked to explore space, establish alien relationships and discover the whereabouts of a missing craft, a considerable amount of time will be required to see everything this game has to offer.

Galaxy Exploration
Ordered to locate the disconnected Aurora 1, the Aurora 2 is deployed, taking heed that a successful journey through the Star Systems require resources, relationships, and information. A large galaxy map outfitted with a coordinate system contains many Star Systems, creating the world in which the Aurora 2 will navigate and explore.

Upon completing the extremely lacking “tutorial”, intel lead the crew of the Aurora 2 to the Klisk’s home world. As a race known for working as space merchants, with a very strict code of honor, the first step towards finding the missing craft is achieved with an exchange of favors. A quick escort quest rewards locational information of the major races’ home worlds. With no restriction on exploration, the player is then free to lead the Aurora 2.

Star System Exploration
When traversing the galaxy map, Star Systems provide locations of major interest. Inside are fully instanced, “galaxy maps” of a smaller scale. Star Systems are comprised of: gas giants, planets, moons, ships, etc. Each object of interest may be scanned or interacted with. Ships (if friendly) can sell goods or information. Planets, moons and other non-gas giant objects can be scouted using a Landing Party.

Scouting & Landing Party
If a planetary object allows for landing, a quick scan will allow the player to choose the location of landing. A small map will aid in determining whether landing is beneficial by marking resources (needed to repair the ship, etc.), life (for research purposes) or key points of interest. Upon landing, a terrain will be generated and the Landing Party will begin their exploration.

The Landing Party is comprised of variable crew members (Scientists, Engineers, and Military Personnel). Their weapons and inventory may be personalized before deployment. Unless the planet is oxygenated, a decaying oxygen meter will dictate how much oxygen is remaining before a return to the spacecraft is necessary for replenishment. The Landing Party is controlled as a singular unit. A numerical health indicator represents the life of a crew member. Once that number fully depletes, a crew member will die and the number will reset until all crew members are dead.

Each planetary object will have a different terrain/biome. Some will be inhabitable, eliminating the need to utilize an oxygen reserve. Others will have environmental hazards or creatures that will attack upon sight. A flat, rectangular map is provided to mark the relative locations of interest, including the shuttle. Although flat, the boundaries of the map do overlap to create a continuous seam. Regarding planetary exploration, a few minor grievances experienced are listed below.

Planetary Exploration Grievances:

• Portions of the terrain are un-crossable, yet are not distinguished in any way from places that can be crossed
  
• Meteor showers create an un-skippable animation that occurs every turn
  
• No motivation to promote physical exploration of the planet, as opposed to re-positioning the Landing Party

Battle System
If a hostile creature/ship is discovered, it can be defeated utilizing the crews’/ship’s weapons. The battle system is a hybrid between real-time and turn based systems. Upon encounter, pressing the “Fire” button will project a grid of the applicable range. If in range, enemy targets may be individually attacked. Running away (by physically moving the Landing Party/ship) may result in some free hits from the enemy.

Game Saves
If the ship happens to be destroyed, the game will end. To alleviate this burden, AuroraRL maintains an autosave feature, along with 4 dedicated save slots that can be used at any time. If a save is utilized during a dialogue option, the re-load will start the dialogue from the beginning.

Maintenance & Research
The ship hull starts with 10 pips of health by default. If damaged by an enemy ship, repair is performed by assigning Engineers to repair the hull, along with utilizing resources (bought or discovered from planetary landings). Research, which rewards the player with new weapons, maps, etc. are progressed by assigning Scientists to a particular task. There are only a finite number of Scientists/Engineers, and if deployed on a task, they may not be used in a Landing Party.

Graphics
The graphics are somewhat lacking in regards to the planetary terrain and outer space. The screenshots in the Store description will help provide some insight. During important discussions/plot-related events, or dialogue, higher quality retro style images will be used. Although the graphics leave a lot to desire, it is a far cry from being bad, just sufficient for immersion and plot progression.

HUD
The HUD needs to be reworked to improve the quality of gameplay. During space exploration, it is a bit tedious to continually hunt down the information needed from a quest log, or to assign crew members to a task. During planetary exploration, the HUD will sometimes block the view of a creature in line of sight, creating an opportunity for ranged damage if the player continues moving the party. An auto-hide feature would remedy this particular problem.

Every screen in AuroraRL, with the exception of the space background, is presented through a window (similar to a computer screen window). It would be more immersive if the dialogue and menus would be more incorporated into the background/game. Also, not allowing “Esc” to exit a window also adds tedium to the gameplay.

Early Access
For those that are not aware of the Early Access concept, it is perfectly acceptable for bugs to be present (only minor ones observed) and game mechanics to be missing. AuroraRL is still relatively new, and a developer update was released last month.

Verdict
With everything taken into consideration, AuroraRL is definitely recommended to those that are fans of space adventures. Although there are minor bugs and a lacking UI, the compelling storyline and exploration easily makes up for it.

I have no idea how much complete game will be better implemented than current version. Definitely it reminds Star Control title, though without tactical combats in real-time. And too much time passed for me to be able to compare these two better. So I'm not sure if this game makes sense for those who can play Star Control 2, at least in its current state.

Also, currently Stardock is working on Star Control remake. What makes future of this game even less clear.

Still, there is something here to surprise. For example, during my first planetary landing I lost one soldier and upon returning back to Earth, among congratulations for galactic wonders I brought back, I got also a letter from mother of that dead soldier. She hated me, my ship, whole project and all Earth governments for that. Or after I brought new energy technology back to Earth many people hated me because they lost their jobs.

Officially a dead and failed game. Dev will not be finishing the game.

This game is the worst of all worlds.
It's not a roguelike or even a roguelite, don't be decieved by the title.
The gameplay is extremely simple and very accessible, which aren't inerhently bad things, but there is little motivation for the player to keep clicking through the game other than to see more of the godawful writing, and there is a LOT of it. There are tons of memes and references thrown in, so it also doesn't take itself seriously at all, which can be perfectly fine by me as long as it's actually funny and not 'randomness humor'. Your ships engineer is literally Gordon Freeman, and when you talk to him privately for the first time he has a flashback about Half-Life 3 being cancelled. If you are a Redditor, you will probably enjoy this game. Pretty much every trope about space travel and aliens is in this game. I'm sure there are Doctor Who references aswell but I won't be playing anymore to find out. I quit after my second encounter with aliens who were extremely boring and obsessed with trade. My first encounter with aliens was equally frustrating as I was able to understand what they were trying to convey to me, but the character you play as is too stupid to read between the lines, so you're stuck being just as dumb as him.
The only saving grace is I only had spent 49 cents on it, but even then I feel like maybe that was 10 cents too much.

This game had some potential, but as others have noted it is now abandonware. The devs have officially given up and announced it, so I wouldn't waste the time or money to pick it up when the whole thing is free now.

I bought it for $0.74 so you might argue that I got my money's worth. But if you enjoy the roguelike genre for the depth of the game systems, simulations, and emergent gameplay - you're not going to find any of that here.

The UI is a nightmare. Look at the screenshots showing the 'Prev', 'Next', 'Fire!' and 'Cancel' buttons. That's your combat depth, folks.

I just noticed that they're also selling the original sound track. My literal first thought when I launched the game was "Wow, this music is terrible, make it stop"

Save your dollar for the vending machine and buy a bag of Skittles.

Looks and feels like a much less competent clone of ProspectorRL (which, by the way, is completely free).

The writing is very bad, and there is a lot of dialog boxes to click through. Very little of it is relevant or interesting, and the dialog loops back on itself a lot. I understand that the devs are russian, but I suspect even in its native language it's kinda bad.

Gameplay mechanics are very simplistic or not implemented at all. Awkward controls and UI. Resource gathering seems mostly pointless. Research is repetitive, tedious and not automated at all. Combat consists entirely of you clicking on enemies and them 'clicking' you back. Did I mention bad writing? I'm talking non-native speaker 14-yo writing fanfiction kind of bad.


At 5 euros I can't recommend it at all. I bought it in a bundle for one dollar, and still felt like it wasn't worth it. Prospector is free, Ur-Quan Masters is free. Iron Seed is free.

I know it's very early access, but honestly, I can't see this ever being good.