Recent reviews by SpawnXe

Such a delightful game. While it shares a similar tone to the likes of the Two Point games, Evil Genius, War for the Overworld (and therefor Dungeon Keeper), it is however a different and layered experience.

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My favorite elements are:
The UI is so fun, its all physical as if some goblins bashed it together and are holding it infront of your face.. Its very fun to interact with and adds so much character.
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Animations and interactions. Ok whoever animated this game is a slightly unhinged nutcase. Everything is animated with such detail that its almost overdone... and i love it. Hats off sir.
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The RPG elements of the storybook voiceovers are a treat. The voice actor (Steven Pacey) really threw himself the role and never disappoints. The story beats can offer a calm respite from whatever chaos has unraveled in your tavern.
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The design mode is very impressive, though somewhat overwhelming at points. Its easy to use though and finnicky in all the right ways (its certainly not as joyful an experience as building in something like Tiny Glade).

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Incomplete feeling experience. A few things feel missing right now, like:
Limited and very basic food recipes.
Employee progression/traits/skills are really simplistic.
Taverns feel too small (a second level would be perfect, especially for lodging. But i dont think they'll ever add that).
Sorely missing an in-game community asset browser. People have already made some amazing things but the whole code sharing thing is too cumbersome.
Flooring cant be changed and is locked to room type. Also there is very restricted outdoor building (cant really build a beer garden)

Overall, the team have clearly poured their entire being into this game. The passion its crafted with is very apparent. I've no doubt it'll be a richer, more complete experience in the future but is still a fun experience at this early stage.

The most accurate description i can find for this game would be "Kurzgesagt licenced mobile-esque factorio-super-light". Its chill, the art style is everything you could hope for, music is delightful and game performance is stable.

It does feel somewhat narrow in mechanics "mine a thing, then refine or combine that thing to build a thing that allows you to mine/refine/combine another thing". Thats it. that's the game. It runs out of road fairly quickly and if it didnt have this Kurzgesagt artstyle and fanbase behind it, I don't think it'd receive much attention.

My biggest gripes are, and why i cant recommend it:
It looks like a Kurzgesagt game, and even has a voiced intro video. But thats it. No educational or scientifically informative elements at all.. which is not critical but just a disapointing missed opportunity when considering their apparent values, mission and video tone. It just appears to be a borrowed artstyle.
Sound design seems largely absent. Rocket launches are the same weak fart and buildings are one-tone. There's also no voice over at any other point.
Its rogue-like in that you move from sector to sector, starting over. But with little overall goal, the space station can be "upgraded" but it's inconsequential and basically just some badges (cant interact with it in any way, so another missed opportunity since having a base to upgrade is what made games like Cult of the Lamb so much fun after everything run).

I've only played an hour and im not sure theres much more to the game that what I've already encountered. I can't foresee any grand elements of any kind (black holes? dyson spheres? strange alien life? all the things they typically talk about in their videos). Which would be really cool and "on brand", but hey, maybe i'm wrong and theres something more interesting in the late game.

Fun, unique game that is well made, great graphics, voice acting, interesting plot and setting. Almost gives me "Control" vibes with it's pseudo-meta-science and gritty tone.

It's very 11bitStudios with the emotional and mental baggage needing to be carried and considered throughout ,w hich really elevates it from a typical survival base-building sim. Recommended

It's Homeworld.. nothing like it.