Bootleg Steamer
- April 25, 2024
- Team Junkfish
Get on Steam"Bootleg Steamer" is a rogue-like game set during American Prohibition, where you play as a captain aiming to become wealthy through alcohol smuggling. Navigate through challenges like weather, Coast Guard, Mafia, and financial difficulties while balancing supply and demand in different cities. Customize your ship, crew, and strategy to outsmart both the Coast Guard and the Mafia, ensuring your path to success in this dangerous yet lucrative endeavor.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features an amazing art style and fantastic soundtrack that enhance the overall experience.
- There is a lot of depth and variety in gameplay mechanics, making it fun and addictive to navigate and strategize.
- The unique theme and engaging boat physics provide a charming and enjoyable gameplay loop.
- The lack of tutorials and poor UI/UX design make it difficult for players to understand game mechanics and navigate menus.
- Performance issues, including mouse lag and optimization problems, significantly detract from the gameplay experience.
- The game lacks keyboard shortcuts and has a barebones options menu, limiting player control and customization.
- gameplay12 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The gameplay offers a mix of depth and variety, with engaging mechanics that can lead to immersive experiences, particularly in trading and chase scenarios. However, the lack of tutorials and poor user experience can make it challenging to grasp certain mechanics, leading to moments of frustration. Overall, while some players find the gameplay fun and addictive, others note that it can become repetitive and lacks sufficient guidance.
“The depth and variety of game mechanics is impressive.”
“Not having tutorials for some gameplay mechanics makes exploring the game more fun.”
“Lacking a bit in the UX department, but the gameplay loop is very fun.”
“Mediocre gameplay that gets repetitive and boring extremely quickly.”
“The walls of text explaining game mechanics don't have any kind of colored or bold text and cannot be accessed during the pause menu (in a glossary or help section or something).”
“While I appreciate not having explicit tutorials for some parts of the core gameplay loop, some UI elements should be introduced to the player (for example, the option to drop cargo, which is practically hidden).”
- graphics7 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their amazing art style and charm, effectively complementing the gameplay and evoking a nostalgic feel reminiscent of classic titles. However, some users express frustration over the lack of customizable graphic settings, noting that the options menu is limited to basic adjustments like volume and window size. Overall, while the visuals are celebrated, the absence of more detailed graphic options detracts from the experience for some players.
“Amazing art style and the soundtrack is fantastic... very easy to get into as well.”
“The graphics are amazing, and it has the feel of an old school Pac-Man type game.”
“Graphics are great and really fit the game.”
“If it's a graphical issue, then I guess I'll just go screw myself since you can't change the graphic settings at all. The options menu is super barebones, and you can't change anything outside of volume and window size.”
“The graphics are disappointing and lack any depth or detail, making the game feel outdated.”
“The art style is inconsistent, and some textures look like they belong in a much older game.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been criticized for being poorly constructed, leading to performance issues that can be detrimental to PCs. While the gameplay is enjoyable, the overall performance is considered subpar and in need of further refinement.
“The optimization of how this game works is dangerous to my PC at times for no reason; it is poorly constructed and needed more time to cook.”
“The game itself is fun, but the performance is atrocious.”
- music2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its fantastic quality and charm, enhancing the overall experience alongside the impressive art style. Players find it easy to immerse themselves in the soundtrack, which complements the enjoyable gameplay of controlling the ship.
“Amazing art style and the soundtrack is fantastic... very easy to get into as well.”
“Visuals and music are very charming, and controlling the ship is fun.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, primarily due to frustrating mouse controls that hinder navigation through menus, making it difficult to engage with the game for extended periods.
“You can't open your map or town menus or do literally anything else involving a menu without using your mouse, and when your mouse feels like it's always four steps behind where it should be, it makes the game unbelievably tedious to play for more than five minutes.”
“The grinding in this game is mind-numbing; it feels like I'm just doing the same repetitive tasks over and over without any real reward.”
“I spent hours grinding for resources, only to find out that the drop rates are so low that it feels like a complete waste of time.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Users report that the game experiences significant stability issues, particularly noting that the map is buggy, which affects overall gameplay.
“The map is buggy.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the high replayability of the game, as the ability to customize loadouts and upgrades creates unique experiences in each run. This variability encourages experimentation and keeps gameplay fresh.
“Being able to craft the perfect loadout of crew and upgrades to achieve this, which is different in every run, allows for a good amount of replayability.”
“Each playthrough offers unique challenges and opportunities, making every run feel fresh and exciting.”
“The variety of choices and paths you can take ensures that no two games are ever the same, enhancing the overall replayability.”
- story1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's story immerses players in the life of a bootlegger, filled with challenges such as evading law enforcement and fulfilling various quests related to the alcohol trade, creating an addictive and engaging narrative experience.
“Extremely addictive, this game throws you into the life of a true blue bootlegger as you struggle to evade the cops while trying to figure out the most in-demand alcohols and complete the other quests that pop up.”
