WHAT’S THAT? Like Aaron and me, you like the likes of that Factorio thing but fancy something a little less hardcore – something a little bit different?
Well do we have the game for you…
I confess that this particular game doesn’t feature any profanity, bloodshed (sadistic or otherwise), sexual shenanigans or trite gender stereotyping. Nor does it feature sports, fencing, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love or miracles.
But what it does have by the gallon is little robots to build and boss about and make them play the game for you; anything you can do, they can do if you show them how to do it (you ‘program’ them through your actions not code words and numbers). The idea is to evolve and automate an entire civilisation from nothing.
We haven’t been making Autonauts for long but already it feels like it’s shaping up into something special. Yes, it’s not prechewed enough for casual players to digest. Yes, it has issues. Yes, it needs expanding and polishing. But if you don’t see the potential in this slice of joy as it stands then none of that matters unless (until?) you can be convinced otherwise.
Give it a sniff or a lick – perhaps even a gentle fondle – to see if it inspires you to share it (and your thoughts) with the wider world. There’s a playable version for PC, Mac or Linux here, plus a video of Aaron and me blathering away like adorable morons while playing it if you’d rather watch.
You can also check out our Autonauts presence at Reddit and Discord.💡
– Gary