Chucklefish’s Starmancer is coming to Steam on Early Access, with the space station sim coming this August as a gorgeous isometric 2D pixel game.
The publisher that helped Stardew Valley become big has another game in its midst. Chucklefish’s Starmancer is coming soon, with a target release date of August 2021.
Amidst the bevy of space sims like Star Citizen and Starfield, Starmancer can be a more relaxing 2D sim.
Starmancer plays like 2001: A Space Odyssey
Chucklefish is among the most well-known indie publishers out there. Stardew Valley is their biggest success, but their work did not stop there. Some of the games they published include Inmost, Risk of Rain, and Witchbrook.
In Starmancer, players take over the role of a space station AI, not too dissimilar to HAL-9000 of 2001: A Space Odyssey. As the AI, players have total control of the entire ship. Players have a few tasks to do and they have choices on routes to take.
Most of the ship’s crew are quite squishy and can die in many different ways. They’re even squishier than Sims characters, so they can die by turning into goo or even become cannibals.
Depending on their decisions, players can be a benevolent, helpful AI. Players can also go full HAL-9000 and a go psycho on everyone, but that’s not the optimal route.
Starship sim made by two-man team
Chucklefish’s Starmancer has a lot of potential to it. Players can play callous or perfectionist, and there’s almost no right way to do it. Players would need to manage every aspect of the station, including crew health and comfort.
“Our plan has always been to release Starmancer and continue adding new, free content for a long time (until way after it’s responsible),” note the devs in their blog. “We have high-level plans for post-launch (weapons, livestock, bots, genetic augmentation), but our most important goal is to be as flexible as possible and address the least fun areas of the game.
“The element of fun adds a constant, unknowable cost. It’s not easy to play your own game and figure out what’s fun and not fun. We need players to help.”
The devs at Ominux Games comprise of a two-man team, so Early Access is a crucial way to solicit player feedback. The devs are clear that they need the community to tell them what they want.
Chucklefish’s Starmancer is coming out this August 5, which is around a month and half away. More details will come out soon as the game will come out for Steam first-hand.
Featured image courtesy of Chucklefish/Youtube Screenshot