Recent reviews by Scrogdog

This is simply an amazing game! However, there is no single reason that is the case.

It is just that the game's outstanding mechanics intermingle to create wonderful emergent situations. The game also features outstanding level design in my opinion. Nothing is too hard to figure out but you do have to pay attention.

It is also a very CHILL game. You have to get quite close to aggro anything so combat is easily avoided unless you get surprised. There is zero time pressure to do anything at all, including any quest you take. There's a main quest but you can ignore it if you like.

There is also a rather large focus on crafting. Your ship is not only your home but also your mobile crafting base. You can hunt, fish and gather. You can also swim and dive in to underwater caves.

I think what is most impressive though is that it seems like I've played dozens of games that tried to do something quite like this, but none were as good. This is a hidden gem in all respects. Do NOT wait for the Steam sale.

I've been playing Sea Dogs games for over 20 years now. This game has gone through about 5 iterations that I can think of.

This one is simply more of the same. Difficulty raises by iteration number. Players complain about game systems only to see ham-fisted fixes implemented. Instead of fixing pirates to act historically, for example, they simply nerf the number of spawns. All well and good, but the spawns that do happen still act in a quite a-historical fashion zooming in on the player ship as if guided by radar and satellites from space.

If you're a fan of the series so far and tend toward min-maxing... you will like this game. Apparently the devs now and historically support only that style of play in my opinion. Role players, adventure gamers and historians should give this one a pass. A shame really. This template in imaginative hands could be quite an experience.

The game does have a special charm to it that can't be denied, but it is also a very flawed product that will never be fixed by devs who can't admit their own shortcomings.

A very nice game for the price!

"An Interstellar Dungeon Crawler" is a fair description of the game. As you explore and find (and scan) new planets, you'll land on the ones in which your space suit will protect you. You may find things like alien ruins on the surface and also possibly chests which contain valuable loot. As you'd expect, loot means better suits and weapons and upgrades.

You'll especially need to find caves to explore and there is where you'll find various resources to craft new items (if you have the blueprints for them). They are also where you'll find the all-important fuel crystals you'll need to keep exploring.

Your "base" is a large space station that can travel called the Mothership. You can buy items from the various shops there and even obtain missions. If you should happen to find fuel crystals on a planet you can drop a beacon there that the mothership will move to even if you've collected all of the available fuel.

You will also possibly meet alien entities both in space and on planets. Some are friendly, some not. Unfriendly aliens might shoot on sight or they may simply say that you are not worth their time and that humankind will eventually be destroyed by them. If they have the time. :) This means also that you might be attacked in space by alien ships. If you win, you can board the ship to potentially find loot. You can also board friendly ships that don't attack and speak to the aliens. However, as you might expect, should you take loot from their ship they will turn hostile.

You also have the ability to mine mineral resources by shooting asteriods. This can be a life-saver if you are having trouble finding fuel as you can take these resources and sell them on the mothership where you may also purchase fuel if you have the funds.

Each play through will be different as all star systems are randomly generated. So, nice re-play value.

That said, the game can be a bit quirky at times though nothing that's a showstopper. One thing that, to me, is especially immersion breaking are the sounds of creatures that wander about planets. They make sounds but there is no logic to how far away the sounds are. If they sound far away, creatures can actually be quite close. And if they sound like they are right on top of you there may not even be one in sight.

The other thing that I'd like to see addressed at some point is the anti-climatic nature of completing the main objective of finding a new "Earth". This is accomplished both too easily and too soon, and it would be nice if after you call the mothership to this planet that there is some indication of colonization after the fact. You can keep playing even after you find "New Earth" but it feels pointless. Some of the neat artifacts that you find and can build take longer than finding New Earth, so they can also feel pointless unfortunately.

Even so, this game is well worth the money even if the dev never does another thing to it. But that's another thing to like, at least for now; because he does still work on it even 5 years after release.

TLDR: If you are interested in space flight, check out Buzz Aldrin's Race to the Moon.

First, the good. Game play is actually pretty fun and so is the management and base building aspect. I wanted to like the game. However, the frustrations, particularly if you are knowledgeable about the subject, were just too much.

This game was supposed to have been developed with experts. Still, they don't appear to understand launch windows or it's a lazy design in my view. Take your pick. One does not need a launch window to launch a sounding rocket or many other missions in the game.

Next would be the constant launch delays due to poor weather. It happens quite a bit, however I decided that it might represent all types of launch delays, so I may have decided to live with it. Except that the real issue is that the player is constantly frustrated by this, but not his opponents. Their launch dates never move while yours certainly will. Sometimes right past theirs losing your shot at the milestone you were supposedly competing fairly for.

Finally, the straw that broke the camel's back; unsolvable puzzles. Each time you want to, say, achieve orbit or perform an EVA, you attempt to solve a puzzle. At first these are quite fun and one of the things about the game I liked. But I have run in to this several times. In fact, before I wrote this review, I went looking for a forum post I saw that described the issue and posted screen shots showing the problem, but it was gone. That tells me that they have no idea what is wrong or how to fix it. So, let's just remove it.

Once I saw that, I'd say I won't be looking at Auroch games a second time.

I don't usually give reviews. But here goes.

This game is a good concept. You manage assets on your aircraft carrier. Even if F16's don't belong on carriers, it's ok because it's simply a cosmetic thing.

So, you play one of 15 scenarios that increase in difficulty and whose enemies change when you replay it. The map does not change, however. Still, not a bad replay value. So far, so good.

As for game play it's mostly what you'd expect. You launch your assets to fight the enemies that come at you. Part of your response is also how to spend your earned (by destroying enemies and such) cash to meet the threat. Not exactly a sim but I like this.

Nonetheless, I feel the game lacks engagement by the player because you can't give aircraft orders, such as CAP, air superiority or ASW. You also can't switch the cam to other units as it remains focused on the carrier with no way to switch to the views of other active units.

I have communicated these issues with the dev and he agrees with most of it. Also, when I commented on the apparent ineffectiveness of torpedoes vs subs on the forums, he produced a patch to address it within 24 hours. Not bad.

Right now, if you like games about carrier operations, which may be surprisingly more numerous than you may think they are, I'd give it a go. For me, I'm happy with the purchase and look forward to where this one might go.

I've tried most but not all of the ftp games by these guys and this is the best one, by far. Because you can beat the pants off of this one without spending a red cent. As one might expect, it will require a bit of a grind and some patience to do so.

I disagree with the earlier review that claimed that because bombers were weaker than the WWII version, that one has to pay. That is false. The player simply got frustrated and did not explore all possibilities.

So far there is no real guide for the game so I'm working on it. But, it is a puzzle one can figure out with some patience. I promise.

However, doing so will also require that one 'plays well'. I believe it's called 'git gud' these days; lol.

Also, The WWII one is somewhat similar, but I'm old and it's a bit too fast for my taste. :) Worth a shot for free though.

This game is somewhat like the Buzz Aldrin games albeit a bit simplified. However, it still delivers the drama of managing space flight. It also has a bit more of a tycoon game feel to it.

The amount of EA content for the price is worth it. A few hours of game play.

The dev is also very active in the forums.

The graphics are a bit minecrafty, but the underlying game play is satisfying. You quite properly agonize over losing a high-value payload even though the vehicle was researched to its max reliability level.

Such is the nature of space flight.

If you like space games or tycoon style games, I'd recommend this one. I like the plans for the future as well.

This is an old school style spaghetti western romp that I found to be quite humorous. While the plot is about what you'd expect, it is very well executed.

Old school means keyboard input only so you're going to have to put that mouse down pardner; real nice and slow like. I didn't find this to be a problem whatsoever, in fact I felt like I was playing an awesome title back on my old C64!

This game also has a lot of atmosphere as the music and other elements keep things light and fun!

You will have a party that travels with you and you can pause at any time to issue orders to your characters. So, a bit of a strategy element there. There is also crafting and weapons improvement in the game.

The only two things I didn't like was that enemies spawn instantly when you enter an area even if you just left it. However, this was addressed in the next chapter which features timed respawns instead. Also, unless you make your own map, sometimes things like cave networks can get confusing.

All in all though, I had a lot of fun with this title and it is well worth the money in my opinion, even if it is a bit short (which is another thing addressed in the next game).

I really want to humbly thank the designers of this wonderful game. For without them, I never would have discovered my life's Super Power.

Here it is; when spending a fate point to redo a die roll, I roll the exact same thing!

10/10 Would turn in to a toad again (and again... and again... and again).