Battlevoid: Harbinger

About

Battlevoid: Harbinger is a single player casual strategy game. It was developed by Bugbyte Ltd. and was released on February 24, 2016. It received very positive reviews from players.

"Battlevoid: Harbinger is a hard sci-fi space exploration game, combining turn-based strategy, real-time space battles, and roguelike elements. As a young commander, lead your fleet to unknown galaxies, making decisions about fleet and equipment while dealing with surprising elements and battling for survival. Strategy, tactics, and resource management are crucial in this challenging space adventure."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

90%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,540 reviews

story13 positive mentions

grinding19 negative mentions

Engaging gameplay with a mix of strategy and action, providing a rewarding experience.
High replayability due to randomized elements and various ship and weapon combinations.
No in-app purchases, allowing for a complete gaming experience after a one-time purchase.

The game can be overly grindy, making it difficult to unlock new ships and upgrades.
Limited customization options for ships and a lack of depth in the storyline.
Difficulty spikes can be frustrating, especially when facing overwhelming enemy forces.

story
91 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
78%
8%
The game's story is generally considered weak and formulaic, with many players expressing a desire for a more intricate narrative and varied missions. While the gameplay is engaging and offers replayability through random missions, the lack of depth in the storyline leaves players craving more substance and context to their objectives. Overall, the potential for a richer story is recognized, but it currently feels minimal and repetitive.
- “I would love to see more storyline, longer gameplay, and more missions maybe.”
- “The story section is just starting out, but the potential is huge.”
- “I like space games, exploration, a great storyline, good visuals, battles, and tactical planning.”
- “Yeah... no story/plot.”
- “Not much for a story, quickly gets boring; it's so repetitive.”
- “Story: barely existent.”
gameplay
69 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
51%
45%
4%
The gameplay is generally praised for its solid mechanics, addictive nature, and smooth controls, making it enjoyable for mobile gaming standards. However, some players express a desire for deeper gameplay elements, better tutorials, and more strategic options, while others find it repetitive and frustrating at times. Overall, the game offers a mix of fun, replayability, and engaging space battles, though it could benefit from improved explanations of its mechanics and additional content.
- “The gameplay is incredibly well done by mobile gaming standards.”
- “Great gameplay, spectacular space battles, control over your ships and an awesome array of weapons and ships... I could go on.”
- “Challenging, fun, and addictive gameplay.”
- “Would like to see more gameplay depth on the map beyond using distress signals.”
- “Lack of info on game mechanics makes it hard to get started.”
- “Experience gain is agonizingly slow, and being forced to die to accrue/tally said experience for ship unlocking is an extremely counterintuitive, tedious, un-fun, and poorly designed game mechanic.”
replayability
59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
66%
29%
5%
Overall, the game boasts high replayability, particularly due to its rogue-like elements, customizable ships, and randomized environments. While many players appreciate the depth and variety that encourage repeated play, some note that the grind to unlock content can be a drawback. Despite this, the consensus is that the game offers a fun and engaging experience that keeps players coming back for more.
- “If you're a fan of rogue-like space adventures, crisp 2D art, and endless replayability, this is the game for you.”
- “Good game, worth the price. I've played it on and off for a few years now, I've unlocked all the secret ships and can continue indefinitely on endless hard mode. The grind to get there and the combinations of ships and challenges you can put on yourself increase its replayability. Would definitely recommend!”
- “A great little space game with huge replayability.”
- “The rogue-like concept of it gives it replayability; however, it's very limited due to the amount of things you can do.”
- “Lacks replayability.”
- “Good game, worth the price. I've played it on and off for a few years now. I've unlocked all the secret ships and am able to pretty much continue indefinitely on endless hard mode, but the grind to get there, and the combinations of ships and challenges you can put on yourself does increase its replayability.”
graphics
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
30%
7%
Overall, the graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players praising the appealing visuals, smooth animations, and effective art style, particularly for a mobile game. However, some users note that the graphics show signs of aging and could benefit from updates, while others mention issues with aspect ratio stretching on newer devices. Despite these criticisms, the graphics are generally considered solid and enjoyable, contributing positively to the gameplay experience.
- “The graphics are amazing.”
- “A beautiful example of gameplay over 3D graphics, stunning top-down immersive game, excellent in-depth upgrade choices with all the playability of open-world sandbox-like freedom.”
- “The graphics are really smooth and appealing; it's everything I want in a micromanaging fleet game.”
- “A problem with newer devices is that 21:9 form factors (or other longer aspect ratios) stretches the screen out, making for an unaesthetic 'flattened' looking game.”
- “The game is starting to show its age graphically though and needs a graphics update to future proof this masterpiece!”
- “Graphics: like an old flash game.”
monetization
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
26%
33%
The game is praised for its monetization model, featuring no ads or in-app purchases, which sets it apart from many other mobile games. Players appreciate the absence of predatory monetization practices, allowing for an uninterrupted gaming experience. Overall, the lack of microtransactions and ads contributes to a positive reception, with many considering it a refreshing change in the mobile gaming landscape.
- “There's no predatory monetization that is very common in other mobile games, so that's a plus.”
- “No ads or microtransactions, as it should be.”
- “Best part is you can play offline and no annoying in-app purchases.”
- “Unlocking ships can be a grind, but there are no in-app purchases.”
- “No in-app purchase bullshit.”
- “And on top of this, no price gouging with constant prompts for in-app purchases.”
grinding
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players frequently criticize the game for its excessive grinding, noting that leveling up and unlocking new ships can be painfully slow and tedious. While some appreciate the game's mechanics and replay value, many feel that the grind detracts from the overall enjoyment, making progression feel unenticing and frustrating. Improvements in drop rates have helped, but the grind remains a significant barrier to a more enjoyable experience.
- “Main reason this game only has 4 stars from me is how grindy it can get at times, which gets boring when you complete 2 and a half maps and only get a little over half a level of XP.”
- “I don't mind grinding in a game, but this is unreal; it takes forever to level up.”
- “Experience gain is agonizingly slow, and being forced to die to accrue/tally said experience for ship unlocking is an extremely counterintuitive, tedious, un-fun, and poorly designed game mechanic.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews; while some players report a bug-free experience with smooth performance, others encounter significant issues such as freezing during battles, visual glitches, and a buggy user interface that detracts from gameplay. Overall, the game's stability appears to vary widely depending on the device and specific circumstances.
- “It's fun, not buggy, not laggy, has a lot to explore, and doesn't ask me to buy 'harbingercoins' or any other such nonsense.”
- “Runs great on my S5.”
- “Remarks: stable, bug free.”
- “Buggy UI leaves artifacts of old menus and selection prompts, making the game unplayable.”
- “Really enjoy this game, but halfway or just at the end of a battle, it freezes!”
- “Running on Note 2, the game freezes, mostly with large numbers of fighters on screen and not right away.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The music in the game receives mixed feedback, with many players appreciating the solid soundtrack and peaceful ambiance, while others express a desire for more variety, particularly in battle music, which tends to be repetitive. Some users also request independent volume sliders for music and sound effects to enhance the overall experience. Overall, the music complements the visuals and gameplay, but there is room for improvement in diversity and engagement.
- “Solid graphics, solid soundtrack, solid gameplay!”
- “A great game, love the soundtrack.”
- “Great UI, music/sound effects, and graphics.”
- “Only thing I would ask for is independent music/SFX volume sliders.”
- “Could do with better music.”
- “What it needs: - battle music (same theme plays throughout the game, it's more like ... save point music)”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is derived from its unpredictable gameplay, where players often face unexpected challenges that lead to amusing outcomes. Reviewers appreciate the irony of a small development team creating a well-crafted game, contrasting it with larger teams that sometimes fail to deliver quality experiences. Overall, the humor is tied to both the gameplay mechanics and the developers' success against the odds.
- “I find it funny that such a small team can make such a good game, yet big dev teams often can't even make games that work, let alone that are good.”
- “This game plays gotcha a lot... no second chance, just blindly going into a sector and seeing if you are hilariously outgunned... it's luck over skill.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express frustration with the emotional impact of game mechanics, particularly highlighting that certain elements, like storms and area hazards, can disrupt immersion and create a negative emotional experience.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from poor optimization on the Pixel 4a 5G, with users reporting issues such as screen cut-off on the left side, resulting in a black bar. This indicates that the game may not be fully compatible with certain devices, affecting the overall user experience.
- “Playing on a Pixel 4a 5G with Android 11, the game isn't optimized for this device as the game cuts off on the left side of the screen and leaves a black bar in its place.”