I have played and three games but I don't feel like playing again because it's always the same more or less.
If a game can make me get into a genre, its a rare breed. Really not an RTS guy and definitely not a tower defense guy but love this. Made a video of early game tooling around if you feel like watching: http://youtu.be/5OOv7Fcey7w
Another player informed me, that besides the time constraint there even is a desgin-wise more sensible approach: Cancelled rooms go back into the queue later. So you can't just keep cycling all the time for the ones you want. While I don't think that's a perfect solution, it's certainly a valid one. Therefore I'll give the game a shot! By the way, I guess if the mechanic is there anyways (and I strongly assume it's the best strategy to use it at least sometimes), there should just be a "use later" button or "hold boxes" like in some newer Tetris versions. That would be far clearer and more convenient than having to go the odd "quick cancelling" route each time.
I played this game on Vita a few months ago: it's a lot of fun at first, but I beat all 3 missions in 2 hours and there was nothing to do after that. :\
After two playthroughs, and also almost two hours, I can see that point being valid already. I don't think the real problem are the missions, though. They seem more or less like a gimmick to me, like achievements... you know, because "today's games have these things". They are not inherent to the game's design. But the actual problem is that the game is just not incredibly deep. You can figure out the intricacies pretty quickly, and beyond that the thing that felt most challenging to me was actually the timing of "getting every minion on defense" and not screwing up with the fast forwarding (because there actually IS a lot of waiting in the game, especially during the first dozen waves). That said, the game is surely still more interesting than the huge majority of iOS (and any other digital) games. So, I'd say it's worth the money, if only to support one of the few actually designed games these days. But if you're looking for a robustly competitive and strategic system, that can teach you new things for months or even years... you'll probably not find it here.
This is a beautifully designed and executed indie game, but I'm afraid it has a short life as there is no content to play through! Smart gameplay, cool minimal graphics and sound design - but there's nothing to do! It's boring! It feels like after 4-5 games that I've seen everything and have uninstalled it. I mean if we have the achievement targets in the game to aim towards ( that offer no real rewards ) - why not have extra game content to unlock as we play more? Extra room shapes? New galaxy backgrounds? New enemies? How about a campaign story? Even randomly generated monoliths levels? Anything as long as it is more than the same 1 level to play over and over again... It's not difficult to think up new room types and upgrades that could be targeted in different ways. I need to feel that i am progressing and learning in the game or its unrewarding. It's called an 'incentive' to play... This feels like a demo to me, I'm glad that I bought it, but it seems like this is still in Beta phase and should have had another 6 months development time. Hopefully there will be a huge expansion update soon and I will reinstall it. In short, too short.
When I played last night, some of the pathfinding seemed weird. Specifically, I'd build gardens and kitchens near each other, and the minions would wander all the way across the station to grab food from a garden to put in the kitchen. Food was available in gardens closer by, so it was a little frustrating when resources got thin that the long pole was kitchen duty minions going walkabout. Similarly, they'd do things like distribute food across different quarters instead of two food in one quarter to get another minion sooner.
Game Impressions Great game but I agree with the other posters that it's too short. It takes an hour to win (or lose), and only took me 3 attempts to complete it. 3 enjoyable hours for $4.50 isn't bad. I'm more disappointed that a game I really enjoyed is over so quickly! It's certainly a game that could be extended with new galaxies and monoliths, but it remains to be seen whether it will be. LOL'd at this promotional quote from their website, (given that the game only has one level!) 'It is definitely my favorite game and I havent even beaten the first level yet'
Given that each game is over an hour long (unless you die early on) that's over 4 hours. I think that's OK for the price. Yes they do that. You need to have all your kitchens and gardens as close as possible. If the minions weren't as thick as they are, the game would be a lot easier and simpler, you wouldn't have to be as careful as you do now when laying out your base. I think they each get "assigned" to a different quarter that needs food, and if possible they will be assigned to one without another minion going to it. So if you have two minions and three quarters that need food, they will each separately fill up one of the quarters, then both work together on the other. Some more levels would be nice. I'd like to see a level where you have to move from one end to the other, so you'd have to keep destroying and rebuilding rooms to move.
Don't worry, you're not alone. I felt a similar sense of accomplishment when I managed to research all 4 monoliths for the first time, pants wetting and all. I'm not very good at strategy games but despite that I'm enjoying Rymdkapsel a lot. Thanks.
Game Impressions This would be my uncontested favorite game on iOS if only it were bigger. It's engaging, it's undeniably stylish, and the gameplay is extremely fun. I'd enjoy nothing more than to burn all my time on it, but I can't. As others have said here, it's short. Really short. The hour or two of unique content it provides is some of the best around, but the single map loses its lustre after only a few replays. After downloading, I completed the three objectives within about an hour and a half, expecting to be further challenged by more levels or different game modes. Instead I got a short animation followed by the words "The End". The (beautifully-designed) menu showed nothing new; all I found was the option to wipe out my progress in order to repeat what I had just done. So, if three or so hours of fun is enough value for your money, take the plunge. I fear, though, that its short runtime will prevent this game from retaining its legacy even a few months from now. rymdkapsel has a great base, dev, now run with it! I have a couple other gripes as well, which I'll list in case the dev is watching: - Minion AI! It does its job well enough for most tasks, but it's a bit unrefined at best. Coordination between minions doesn't exist, leading to time-wasting situations like eight minions carrying resources to a build tasks where only one is required, the remaining seven stopping in their tracks once the task is filled. Minions also seem to choose their destinations without logic. I built a weapons room way out near a monolith, figuring that the minions researching there would take shelter in it come defense time. Instead, those minions rushed off toward some other room while two others from the center of my mini empire trekked out to man the remote room. Time is precious and scarce in the later rounds, making this kind of thing frustrating to the player. - The resource wells/taps are too few and dry up quickly, leading to a harsh cap on the size of your empire once they're all depleted. From there, it's a matter of selling off existing rooms (at a loss) if you should ever need to build something new. - Waves past number 20 or so pretty much consist of shutting your minions in weapons rooms and waiting for the end to come. Very little can be done in the later rounds, leading to a sense that there's not much use replaying the game if it's physically impossible to last longer than wave 31 or 32. This wouldn't be a problem if there were additional levels, but there you go. Mostly it'd be nice if the dev was communicative about future updates so my reservations could be addressed.
A quick question on this game. I've read in a few reviews that it is basically unplayable on an iPhone due to the smaller screen. I am planning on getting it for my iPhone 4s. Has anyone played it on the 4s? Was it playable? Thanks
I tried it on my 4s after playing on an iPad mini. While I wouldn't call it unplayable, the text is extremely small and the gameplay feels cramped (lots of pinching and zooming). I'd say if an iPhone is yr only option, the game is playable but far from ideal.
So how is it that some people are happy plunging 20+ hours into this and some say they've "finished" after an hour and a half? Ignoring missions/achievements, is there some kind of scoring system? I mean, FTL is a game you can finish within an hour, but it's still immense fun replaying it over and over. There's gotta be something to draw people back here.
The inability to complete all achievements in 2/3 runs? Lack of better games? Dunno, I'm wondering the same. This game is not fun "to play over and over again" at all. It's probably the game with the least replay-ability. *note: I didn't say it's a bad game.
Your well-reasoned argument, which somehow puts the matter to rest by simply employing the word 'totally', has made me see the light. I stand corrected, Primooz.
