Startopia

Some games sell millions and don't really deserve it; other games somehow never actually get enough attention to sell even though they should. This game is in the latter category. Created by the talented loonies at Mucky Foot, it was terribly marketed by their "partner" at the time, Eidos, with the result that it sold a mere 110,000 copies. DId you enjoy Dungeon Keeper 1 & 2? Do you like imaginative simulations? Do you like British humor (because this definitely has a Brit sensibility to it, emphasized by WIlliam Franklyn's voice acting talents)? Buy this game!

This is a great game that lets you hire/fire/promote employees, build, and research your space station. The only downside that i found is that it moves way too fast and i can't slow it down. After a while you give up on reading the messages or listening to them, and you just click/close, while trying to finish whatever else you were working on. The trade frequency is so frequent that it can get hard to build all these building you're buying, etc.

as so often on GOG, I bought that game without ever having heard of it in the first place. It is a pretty enjoyable game in the "management tradition", but with a fresh angle. However, it is not easily accessible. For example energy consumption and acquisition, while mentioned in the manual, leaves a lot of things open for experimentation. What also put me off in the beginning was a lack of statistics, for example about the very important, but underrepresented, energy management. However, having played through the first 15 missions or so, I find you can do just fine without. That's why the game still gets 5 stars from me. If you stick with it for a while, the game offers a lot of different areas to manage, like the nicely "tuneable" bio-deck. So it is anything but stale.

There is no other space-station building game with such charm. The combat is bland and a tad bit boring, but the characters and buildings are varied and interesting enought to make this a must for all those interested in space and building sims.

A well thought out management sim, set on a derelict space station given new life as a transit hub. You unlock segments of the station ring, then fill the empty floor with station infrastructure and all the amenities your visitors need. The art and music is first rate. It's a perfect blend between retro sci-fi, goofy cuteness, and non-intrusive realism. Even the life-threatening crises don't take away from the overall upbeat atmosphere. There are 3 floors to toggle between, covering infrastructure, recreation, and garden. Zoom out far enough and you'll see the stars outside and the rest of the station curving around in a loop. The aliens all have a large array of behavior animations. Once the station is built up from nothing, it's fun to just sit back and watch all the aliens interact. There's a lot to do beyond placing rooms and hiring workers. Many of the station's rooms are interactive in some fashion. Boxes need moving, components need tweaking, and crises arise on a regular basis, from disease outbreaks to bombs planted randomly around the station. There are also rival factions sharing the station with you. Breaching the wall separating you will send your security forces into a mad battle with the enemy in an attempt to claim their segment for your station empire. The game isn't perfect. Bombs are too micromanagement, and other times there isn't enough to do as masses of workers and guests go about their imaginary lives. Enemy attacks can wreck hours of careful building. When station floors get too crowded, they blend into a mass of pixels that makes it difficult to select what you need. It's hard to recover from critically low power, since power is also your only currency. But it's a fun virtual world despite that. With so many things going on at any time, it's easy to find something entertaining or unexpected. I don't have the GOG release, so I can't comment on stability.