The Space Game
Genre: Realtime 2D Space Mining Tactics
Platform: Browser (Flash)
Developed by: Casual Collective
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The Scoop: The Space Game is a simplistic but highly addicting strategy title. There are two types of “simplistic” games – those that are dumbed down & lack possibility or strategic depth, and those that intelligently strip away all the needless doo-dads that accumulate in a genre over time, and bring it back to its pure, brilliant roots. The Space game is absolutely the latter.
In a nutshell, gamers need to collect and manage two resources – energy, and minerals – and then spend those resources building and upgrading defensive structures to protect themselves from wave after wave of enemy space pirates. Minerals are collected via asteroids after building a mining orb near it. Energy is collected automatically over time, when a solar collector is built.
The hook, and what makes The Space Game so compelling, is that you’ll need to intelligently manage and expand supply lines to survive. All mining orbs need to be powered with energy, so you’ll need to snake energy relays throughout your little corner of space, connecting all your structures to your power generators.
By the end of a stage, a typical setup will have all your power generators at the heart of your operation, with energy relays and mining platforms snaking out into the asteroid belt, and then a ring of defensive buildings surrounding the entire operation, (hopefully) keeping you safe from pirate attack.
Different types of Space Pirate call for different defenses, keeping players on their toes and ensuring that there isn’t a single “surefire” setup that will get you through each stage. In addition to a mission-based campaign, various high-score bonus modes are also included (survival mode, etc.) to increase replay value.
Although it’s already a great product, The Space Game has a tremendous amount of potential to build on its solid foundation. I hope developer Casual Collective senses this potential, and has multiplayer and other variants in the pipeline.
(7 votes, average: 4.29 out of 5)
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Links:
Kongregate Mirror
JayIsGames Review
Indiegames.com Piece
Gameplay Video
Rock, Paper, Shotgun Post
Comments
4 Responses to “The Space Game”
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I assume you mean the “latter”. :)
I don’t know what you’re talking about…
*whistles*
You should also note that however good The Space Game is, it is essentially an exact copy of Oxeye Game Studio’s “Harvest”: http://oxeyegames.com/harvest/
I bet TSG is still a great choice for those who wouldn’t pay for this kind of game, anyway, but everyone else should really check out “Harvest”. It’s a pretty good game and Casual Collective’s ripping it off without giving Oxeye any kind of credit for their “inspiration”, at all, is really a shame.
Ha, just came across this game yesterday. I was thinking I should submit it here, but guess I don’t need to now!