Redshirt

Meh. It's ok. Redshirt brings a lot of potential and offerings to the table, but with little to show for its promises. It reminds me of the career aspect of the Sims games, where to advance in your job, you had to have a certain level of friends and skills. Same thing here, only in space... spacebook, that is. You learn new skills, throw parties, and try to impress your 6 armed purple alien boss. It has some funny moments and lots of potential, but ultimately you'll end up playing it for a few hours and suddenly realizing that there really isn't much to do other than level grind your generic avatar up to 'space toilet maintenance manager.' Yay.

This game caught my eye when it first came out, but I had difficulty bringing myself to pay the (at-the-time) $20 price tag, especially given such mixed reviews. In fact, nearly every review teetered from one extreme or the other. Love or Hate, with no in between. This is a great, fun, 4 and a half star game on it's first play, (if you can get it at the right price,) and a 1 star game if you expect to get an immediate 2nd use of it. I finally bought it on sale for only $1.99 and it was a great investment. It provided 2 nights of great fun. (About 8-10 hours of play.) It's extremely campy (in a good way) and there are a few minor bugs and some missing depth that should have been attended to before its release. But after your first full engagement with the game, it will likely go unattended for years until you decide to pull it back out for another run through. I would not advise paying full price on this game. Anything more than $5 is absurd. But if you're looking for a fun time-killer on a bored night, and the price is right, then it's definitely the right game for you.

For an independently-made life/relationship simulation, this is actually pretty fun. Once you get the hang of what you're supposed to do during the course of the game, managing your time, resources and relationships gets to be somewhat involving. So, let's start with a few good points. The humor in the game is actually quite good, especially if you're a science fiction fan. The game's background music is really quite good and I haven't actually come across any real "bugs" in the game so far. The premise is fairly simple and it's easy to pick up and enjoy. However, player customization isn't incredibly elaborate or unique. Once you've played for a few hours and gotten halfway into the game, you might get that nagging feeling that you're just going through the motions to add more points to your score. If you play this game and start to feel that way before too long, just stick with it. Another issue I had with the game was the price. I have nothing against the developer making money--and I really have enjoyed the game--, but I don't think this is a $20 game. This is not a bad game by any means, either. I've chuckled aloud at the silly situations and parody that this game doles out. It's not the most padded or complex or varied game on the site, but if you can find it on sale(preferably under ten dollars American), do yourself a favor and get it.

This game is actually pretty decent. It has some decent complexity, and the gameplay is pretty fun. It's emotional (when friends die horribly), and pretty funny. its a social strategy game, where you try to rise up in the ranks (career wise or socially) to escape the space station where you reside. It's sort of like Long Live the Queen, you can spend the day learning skills for job advancement, and social interactions. Social interactions/gatherings play well, and social interactions are important, as people who really like you can get you hired for them. You can also get into relationships, which, well, this game has the most accurate simulation of relationships ever. That brings me to the cons, near the end of the game, when you are just blindly trying to achieve last minute goals. It then really stops being personal. Also, the game itself is pretty easy to win if you're not dumb or have really bad luck. The game is short too, and once you beat it, there's not really any reason to play again anytime in the near future (again, like Long Live the Queen). Lastly, there really needs to be a tutorial or something, I still don't know how to do some things. Still, while I don't think that this is worth 10 dollars, I would definitely recommend it if its on sale. It really is a quite good and interesting game, and the team has demonstrated that they can make some interesting systems.

I will admit that the premise of the game is right up my alley. I love the "blue stripe" take on science fiction, where the protagonists aren't larger than life heroes (that probably still exist, and may cause problems for the protagonists), but rather blue collar workers and the like. Space Colony, Red Dwarf, etc. Redshirt isn't all I hoped it would be, but I did put several hours into it. The game is basically a Facebook simulator with a science fiction skin. You play a menial worker recently transferred to the station, and must make and maintain relationships while managing your career. You can shop for items or perform activities that will boosts your stats, which will help with both career and friendships, but you can skip that portion of the game too. The game isn't difficult enough that it's ever required. Speaking of that. Redshirt's difficulty curve isn't particularly good. Hard to learn, easy to master. At first the game will seem very complex with all things to balance at once, but after a while you will learn how to progress in an effortless manner. At that point, the game loses some of its allure. There is naturally still things to do. You can fill your character's home with vanity items, become a social butterfly, become a highly skilled worker, or be a troll and make everyone hate each other. It just seems as though there isn't much point to it. It all seems hollow, aided by the game's flippant descriptions. In a way, I can't fault the game for that. It's no doubt MEANT to give that empty feeling. Your character is wasting her life on Facebook (or Spacebook), when she isn't pursuing shallow relationships or performing largely pointless work. To make it all meta, the player is wasting her life wasting the character's life, which is darkly amusing if nothing else. To summarize: The good: Concept Visuals (nice and vibrant, well in tune with the setting) The bad: The mechanics Low replay value The ennui that the game inflicts. I need a drink.