Out There: Omega Edition (2014)
Out There: Omega Edition (2014)
Seller: Mi-Clos Studio
Platform: iOS 6.0+
Size: 166 MB
Price: $5
Out There is a non-real-time space exploration game. You are an astronaut lost in space due to an accident. Millions of years later you wake up in your ship. An alien device gives you a hyperspace drive and sets you off to find your way back home.
Your ship has fuel, oxygen, hull and compartments/spaces. As you travel you use up fuel and oxygen and there are often hazards that do hull damage. You use up resources to replenish these and have to find the resources on planets.
When you reach a star system you can travel to the planets or the sun or, if you're lucky, some alien construct or abandoned ship.
Star system objects:
*Garden Planet- get oxygen and mine higher elements, meet aliens and maybe trade for tech or get a gift.
*Rocky Planet - mine it for lower elements, especially Iron used to repair your starting ship.
*Gas Giant - probe it for Hydrogen and Helium for fuel.
*Star (various colors, neutron stars, etc) - probe it for Hydrogen and Helium, requires extra tech.
*Alien Supply Station - refills one of fuel, oxygen, maybe hull.
*Abandoned Ship - strip it for stuff or take it over. It might have an advanced item installed. Many ships are bigger. Many ships use different fuels or require different element for repairs.
As you wander around you meet aliens and learn tech (20 different techs). Your ship has spaces and you can build tech in each space, though the spaces are also used for cargo (a space can hold up to 20 of one of the 15 elements).
Each tech requires certain elements, for example a Wormhole Generator requires 1 Thorium, 1 Gold, 1 Silicon and 1 Iron. Also tech can be damaged and repairing usually takes Iron though sometimes other elements too. Some tech requires other tech and it seems like it's more effective to build the second tech next to the first.
It's a careful balance of keeping filling up your ship with tech and cargo. You need elements for Fuel, Oxygen and Hull; to repair damaged tech; and to build new tech.
There's also a bit of a plot to the game as to what happened to humanity. You'll get two or three events that place additional objective star systems. Some of those objectives you learn more and some end the game with a specific ending. (There are four different endings.)
The universe is randomly created and chance plays a big role. it's really easy to run out of something and end up adrift in space or asphyxiated. I tried playing it on Easy and managed to get to an ending two out of five times so far. You need to play the game enough to understand what elements you need to stock and what tech to build (though for the later you're not far wrong building everything you can).
It's a fun game with no time pressure. You can explore, you can craft, there is a mystery. Overall I recommend it.
Monday, October 31, 2016