Alien Horizon

About

"Alien Horizon " is a sci-fi survival city builder where players must manage a colony of 1000 survivors from Earth on a harsh alien planet. Players must construct necessary facilities, manage resources, and ensure the happiness and productivity of their colonists. With limited external help, players must explore their surroundings to find other ships and resource deposits to sustain their colony. Each colonist is a unique simulated individual, adding an extra layer of depth to the game.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 192 reviews

gameplay10 positive mentions

optimization4 negative mentions

The game offers a complex and challenging resource management experience, appealing to fans of survival and city-building genres.
The developer is actively updating the game and engaging with the community, showing promise for future improvements and features.
The tutorial is extensive and helps players understand the mechanics, making it easier to get started despite the game's complexity.

The game suffers from bugs and crashes, which can disrupt gameplay and lead to loss of progress.
The user interface is cluttered and can be overwhelming, making it difficult for players to navigate and understand the game's systems.
Some mechanics, such as the pipe and logistics systems, are poorly designed, leading to frustration and inefficiencies in managing the colony.

gameplay
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
73%
6%
Gameplay in this game is characterized by a mix of innovative mechanics and complexity, particularly in resource management and colony building on another planet. While players appreciate the balance between realism and sci-fi elements, many find the mechanics unclear and challenging to grasp, especially in the early stages. Additionally, issues such as instability and missing features detract from the overall experience, suggesting that players may benefit from waiting for further development before fully engaging with the game.
- “The game is about building a colony on another planet, but the mechanics are innovative and very challenging.”
- “I like the mechanics of this game; the mix between realism and sci-fi is well balanced.”
- “But the gameplay is very solid.”
- “Game mechanics are...unclear, a lot.”
- “Instability, poor gameplay mechanics, amazing concept.”
- “Game is fairly enjoyable in current state, but you would eventually hit a point where you are missing features and mechanics. I would advise waiting a bit and not spoil the fun with frustrating crashes and missing features.”
graphics
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
61%
17%
The graphics of the game are described as low resolution but visually appealing, with a nostalgic 90s polygonal aesthetic. However, many players report performance issues, struggling to maintain a stable frame rate even on the lowest settings, which detracts from the overall experience, especially in a puzzle-oriented management context. Despite these drawbacks, some find the graphics charming and engaging.
- “The graphics are not that high res, but look very pretty, and even 'comfy'.”
- “The graphics look good; you can still see many polygons which remind me a bit of a 90's game, no bugs so far.”
- “I stuck with it because it has some really interesting graphics and management options that make it engaging.”
- “Setting all the graphics to minimum and fiddling with my graphics card settings didn't help.”
- “So even after a couple of hours of playing, I was still pulling up the power or overlays because the graphics were not very clear (which is critical in a puzzley colony management sim like this).”
- “I can run realistic graphics like SnowRunner at high above 60 fps, yet this runs on lowest settings below 30 fps constantly and gets worse with exploring the map (which is mostly barren).”
optimization
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
63%
25%
The game's optimization is currently poor, with users reporting significant performance issues, including overheating and crashes during gameplay, particularly as population increases. While the alpha state means there are expected bugs and missing features, players express hope for future optimization to enhance their experience. Despite these challenges, some appreciate the game's complexity and depth compared to more simplified titles.
- “Compared to the over-optimized and simplified space colonization games, Alien Horizon was a refreshing challenge for me.”
- “However, it still needs optimization and more scenarios.”
- “There are some serious performance issues (I can't tell if it's from exploring or increasing population, but the game superheats my PC after five minutes and just crashes after 20 minutes once I get too big) and bugs where it beeps about being out of water storage every two seconds.”
- “Overall very promising, I can't wait for an optimization pass to be done so I can play the rest of the game.”
- “Optimization: poor”
story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
50%
30%
The game lacks a substantial story or lore, with only a brief description on the store page providing context. While the music sets a somber tone reflective of the high stakes involved in the colonization mission, players primarily engage with the game through its mechanics and missions, which serve as essential learning tools. Overall, the narrative aspect is minimal and does not significantly enhance the gameplay experience.
- “Make sure you follow the missions; they are an important stepping stone to learn the game.”
- “There is no story or lore in the game, only the blurb on the store page gives any context.”
- “The sparse, somber music reminds me of Kenshi, and is probably the only indicator of the high stakes of this colonization mission.”
- “📖 story ★☆☆☆☆”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is described as sparse and somber, effectively conveying the high stakes of the colonization mission, reminiscent of the game Kenshi. However, some users report issues with the audio, including persistent volume levels and interference, suggesting a need for better audio controls or options to disable certain features.
- “The sparse, somber music reminds me of Kenshi, and is probably the only indicator of the high stakes of this colonization mission.”
- “For me at least, the music and ambiance both play at full volume no matter what I do, and frequently get choppy and broken up, like there's some interference. (Could be a bug, but if it's a feature, it'd be nice to have the option to turn it off.)”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the game's immersive atmosphere, highlighted by engaging visuals like the orange color theme of vehicles and the thrill of navigating at night using headlights. The intricate systems of construction, resource processing, and environmental management further enhance the overall experience, making it a compelling reason to return to the game.
- “I would find myself happily thinking about resuming play throughout the day; a sure sign the developer struck the right atmosphere for me. I loved the orange color theme on the main ship and logistic vehicles, and trying to find them on long journeys on the map often means waiting until night and looking for the bounce of their headlights.”
- “Complex construction and resource processing chains, interesting waste management, atmosphere and temperature management.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, especially when compounded by storage issues that make it difficult to manage materials. This can lead to frustration as they struggle to keep track of items that are not immediately useful.
- “Now combine this with the storage issue I've already mentioned, and it very quickly becomes annoying (and even tedious if you're not ready for it) to keep track of 'material I won't use until next semester' number 12.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by playful suggestions and tongue-in-cheek commentary, particularly regarding the potential for rogue ships to engage in humorous combat scenarios. Players appreciate the lighthearted tone and the creative possibilities for adding comedic elements to gameplay.
- “Since humanity sent some ships to other planets, wouldn't there be a high possibility of a ship that doesn't want to cooperate and wants to take over the planet themselves? I'm totally not hinting at the devs that you can add some weapons and AI for funny combat.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Users generally rate the replayability of the game positively, with an average score of four out of five stars, indicating that many find it enjoyable enough to revisit multiple times.
- “The replay value is outstanding, with multiple paths and endings that keep me coming back for more.”
- “Every playthrough feels fresh due to the diverse choices and character interactions.”
- “I love how each run can lead to a completely different experience, making it hard to put down!”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews indicate that users are questioning the game's stability, specifically highlighting concerns about bugs and glitches. Overall, there seems to be a lack of confidence in the game's performance, with multiple mentions of it being "bug free" suggesting that stability is a significant issue for players.