Starminer

Starminer is a cross between a space strategy and a simuation game. The game, originally known as ILL Space, was developed by an indie studio CoolAndGoodGames. It was developed by Paradox Arc; a subsidiary of Paradox Interactive which publishes promising indie games.

Mechanics

Starminer has us leading a space mining fleet. We start the game modestly, having only one ship with limited capabilities. Nevertheless, it's enough to start mining resources for a profit. We can also accept quests for various questgivers. By doing so, we can make a living, spending earned money to upgrade our first unit, create new ships and research new technologies. New tech grants us access to more distant corners of space and increases our efficiency.

It's up to us how our fleet will ultimately look like. We can opt for a single powerful vessel or a large number of smaller ships. Regardless, ships are created from scratch, as we choose their purpose (mining, defense, energy production) and select specific modules (ranging from solar panels, through residential, engineering and mining quarters, to defense and movement systems). When designing ships, we must keep an eye on their power, carrying capacity and size, as to not make an unusuable ship by accident.

One should not forget space is extremely dangerous. Movement itself can harm us, especially if we need to traverse massive asteroid fields. There are also hostile aliens around, drawn to our fleet's heat signature. When confronted by them, we must directly control our defense systems to fight them off. To succeed and gain an advantage over our foes, we must make sure our fleet's defensive capabilities are always up to snuff.

Technical aspects

Starminer features visuals of very high quality. The ships are particularly appealing, detailed down to every subsystem. The game also features an advanced, Newtonian physics system.