Ancient Frontier

About

Ancient Frontier is a cinematic turn-based strategy game set in deep space, where players explore, conquer, and plan strategic battles. Two free DLCs are available: "Quests and Events" offers a quest system, random events, quality of life improvements, and balance tweaks, while "The Crew" introduces dynamic crew members, new missions, rewards, and optional deployments. Equip your ships and prepare for an interstellar adventure.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

64%

Audience ScoreBased on 210 reviews

story32 positive mentions

grinding8 negative mentions

The game features nice graphics with detailed ship models and charming special effects.
It offers a solid turn-based tactical gameplay experience with a variety of ship types and customization options.
The developers are responsive to community feedback and have released free DLC that adds value to the game.

The gameplay can be repetitive and grindy, with a lack of meaningful choices and variety in missions.
The voice acting and dialogue are often criticized as cheesy and poorly executed, detracting from the overall experience.
There are significant issues with the AI and mission design, leading to frustrating gameplay moments and a lack of challenge.

story
446 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
87%
6%
The story in the game is generally considered average, with many reviewers noting that it starts weak but improves as the campaign progresses, offering some emotional depth later on. While the missions are hand-crafted and provide unique experiences, the writing and dialogue are often criticized for being cheesy and forgettable, leading to a sense of repetitiveness in gameplay. Overall, the narrative is not the game's strongest aspect, but it does provide a framework for the tactical battles and character interactions.
- “The development of the ships is intriguing, the story is basic but engaging and the battles are satisfying.”
- “I thought the story started out very weak, but by about 10 missions in it had improved considerably, and the emotional hits late in the campaign really had some punch to them.”
- “The story missions are fully voiced with a lot of flavor in the banter between the different characters.”
- “The writing makes all the characters unsympathetic, but it's the plot of the campaign that makes me want to flip the table here.”
- “The game is not a bad tactical turn-based strategy mechanically, but it is very basic and has a lot of minor frustrations, and the storyline is entirely forgettable.”
- “Combined with the fact that the storyline and dialogue is horribly cheesy and forgettable, the game starts to feel more like a chore than something keeping the player engaged.”
gameplay
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
56%
22%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and basic, leading to boredom and a lack of engagement. While some mechanics, such as fleet building and combat, are considered solid, the overall experience is marred by slow pacing, uninspired mission objectives, and a forgettable storyline. Despite its decent graphics and sound design, the game struggles to maintain player interest over extended play sessions.
- “Battle mechanics are fun.”
- “The gameplay is great and the story is good too.”
- “The graphics are crisp and readable, the sound is great (excellent voice actors, and a kickass soundtrack along with plenty of satisfying combat sounds), and the gameplay is engaging, with a sufficient difficulty curve on veteran to make things challenging.”
- “The gameplay isn't redeeming, either.”
- “The reason I can't recommend it is because the gameplay is very repetitive.”
- “This repetitive gameplay just led to me putting the game down out of boredom.”
graphics
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
44%
15%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising their high quality, detail, and overall polish, particularly for an indie title. However, some users criticize the reliance on 2D space battles and note issues with texture loading, leading to a perception of inconsistency. Overall, while the visuals are generally well-received, they are sometimes overshadowed by gameplay concerns and technical shortcomings.
- “The graphics are very nice, and the voice acting is great.”
- “I enjoyed the general look of the game with the graphics quality being top notch.”
- “The graphics are detailed and the gameplay is enhanced by the music, sound effects, and voice acting.”
- “Graphics are poor for its age, gameplay is slow.”
- “Writing is terrible, graphics are meh, gameplay is inspired by something rehashed from the 1990's and I was bored with the game before I finished the first mission.”
- “Some of the textures of the ships occasionally don't load and leave you with weird blocky designs, but I partially blame this on me adjusting the graphics mid-game.”
music
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
44%
The music in the game has received high praise for its quality and ability to enhance the overall gameplay experience. Reviewers noted the soundtrack as engaging and well-complemented by sound effects and voice acting, contributing to a polished feel that is impressive for an indie title. Overall, the sound design, including the music, is considered a standout feature that keeps players immersed and entertained.
- “Amazingly, the soundtrack is very nice to listen to.”
- “The sound design and music well complement the gameplay, and are excellent (especially for an indie release where such things can be tossed to the wayside in favor of getting the game to work...a concern with indie developers).”
- “For an indie developer, this game has high production value with crisp graphics, peaceful music, voice acting, and clear instructions with tooltips for everything.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players frequently criticize the grinding aspect of the game, describing it as tedious and time-consuming, particularly due to the necessity of repetitive thirty-minute missions to level up ships. The overall sentiment suggests that the grinding detracts from the enjoyment of the campaign, making it feel overly drawn out and monotonous.
- “After a point, it can get grindy -- you need to level your ships through combat, otherwise the experience becomes stale.”
- “Through compulsory grinding in slow and tedious thirty-minute missions several times over.”
- “Grindy as hell.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The game features a variety of random elements that enhance its replayability, making it addictive and enjoyable for players. Reviewers note that despite being developed by a small company, the game's polished execution contributes to its strong replay value. Overall, players find the experience engaging enough to warrant multiple playthroughs.
- “What you can't tell from the store page is how slickly done it all is, especially for a game from a very small company, or that it's fairly addicting and has some nice replay value.”
- “The game offers a great deal of replayability, with various elements that keep each playthrough fresh and engaging.”
- “There's a lot of random elements that can happen, so there's replayability too.”
- “Disclaimer: The review crew's evaluations are based on paying close attention to forum responses and activity, system demand, fun of the game genre, position of originality in the respective genre, growth of the project in its current state at the time of review, graphics as a whole for the end user, presentation of the game and display, replayability, patch/tweak progress, beginner friendliness & gameplay direction, content & depth, attention to detail on small things (polish), lag and multiplayer application if applicable, badge card availability, with a minimum of 8 hours of gameplay and interaction with the customer base after release.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The optimization aspect of the game is criticized for its tedious and poorly executed tutorial, which many players find boring and unengaging. The lack of dynamic pacing and engaging content detracts from the overall experience, making it feel monotonous throughout the campaign.
- “Turns out she's the commander of the federation and you have to endure her wooden and tedious performance for the whole campaign...”
- “Anyway, it's a mind-numbingly boring tutorial and even lady reader herself describes her performance as 'droning on' near the end - that's all you need to know.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with some users reporting frequent crashes and freezes after missions, while others have found it to be largely bug-free during testing. Overall, the experience appears inconsistent, with significant issues for some players and a smoother experience for others.
- “Testing; seems bug free thus far, if there are any, they are not game-impeding.”
- “The game is incredibly buggy; it freezes or crashes after every mission.”
- “The game is incredibly buggy; it freezes or crashes after every mission.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is initially weak, but it significantly improves after several missions, delivering impactful moments later in the campaign. However, players may struggle to form attachments to certain characters, particularly those who do not participate in key missions.
- “I thought the story started out very weak, but by about 10 missions in it had improved considerably, and the emotional hits late in the campaign really had some punch to them.”

Buy Ancient Frontier

Ancient Frontier
$24.99
See offer on Steam

8h Median play time

8h Average play time

3-12h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 6 analyzed playthroughs

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