Deep Sixed

About

In "Deep Sixed," players take on the role of a pilot working off a sentence for a corporation by mapping a distant nebula. The game features a permit-based progression system and a permadeath mechanic, with a spaceship that stays with the player from start to finish. The game's universe is procedurally generated, offering a diverse ecosystem of intergalactic fauna and numerous mysteries to discover.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

83%

Audience ScoreBased on 88 reviews

story12 positive mentions

stability10 negative mentions

The game offers a unique and chaotic experience of managing a constantly malfunctioning spaceship, providing a satisfying challenge as players learn to troubleshoot and fix issues under pressure.
The humor and narrative elements are well-executed, adding depth to the gameplay and making the experience engaging and entertaining.
The game features a steep learning curve that rewards persistence, allowing players to develop their skills and knowledge of the ship's systems over time.

The user interface can be clunky and unintuitive, leading to frustration when trying to navigate menus and manage repairs during critical moments.
Frequent crashes and bugs can disrupt gameplay, forcing players to restart and potentially lose progress, which can be particularly aggravating in a permadeath game.
Repetitive missions and scripted dialogue can become tedious after multiple playthroughs, diminishing the overall enjoyment and replayability of the game.

story
112 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
87%
3%
The game's story is a mix of entertaining and frustrating elements, set in a roguelike environment where players must manage a constantly failing spaceship while completing missions for an intergalactic conglomerate. While the narrative offers some engaging moments and humor, it suffers from repetitiveness and a lack of depth, especially after multiple playthroughs, leading to player fatigue with the same dialogues and mission structures. Overall, the story serves as a backdrop to the gameplay, which focuses on survival and ship maintenance, but it may not be compelling enough to sustain interest over time.
- “The world building - the narrative story - is why I really like this game.”
- “That quest for knowledge about this interesting place is what motivates me to keep fixing all the problems.”
- “A story that is filled with great voice acting and humor that I enjoyed very much.”
- “The game's story is incredibly hard to complete without cheating, and less than 10% of owners obtained the achievement of making it halfway through.”
- “Story/narrative driven games and permadeath just don't suit each other well.”
- “And to make matters worse, you have to sit through the same dialogues, emails, and missions again and again and again...”
gameplay
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
62%
7%
The gameplay is characterized by a mix of unique mechanics and a focus on managing ship systems under pressure, often involving emergency repairs and resource allocation. While some players appreciate the immersive and challenging aspects, others find the experience marred by bugs, a lack of depth after initial hours, and frustrating user interface issues. Overall, the game offers an original concept with enjoyable mechanics, but its execution may leave some players wanting more.
- “Rarely have I seen a game with such unique mechanics that is also so immensely immersive.”
- “The gameplay loop seems to be enjoyable but hard so far.”
- “An original and fun concept with a creative art style and great gameplay is what makes this game worth every penny.”
- “The second problem is that there really isn't that much gameplay there to begin with.”
- “After maybe 2 hours, there are no longer any gameplay challenges left, and the tedium starts setting in.”
- “The user interface and gameplay issues are just too frustrating for the price.”
graphics
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
47%
16%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a charming, cartoonish art style that enhances its unique atmosphere, despite not being cutting-edge or AAA quality. While some players find the visuals simple and serviceable, others appreciate the indie charm and immersive quality they bring to the gameplay. Overall, the graphics effectively complement the game's themes and contribute to its creative appeal.
- “The game has graphics that fit the atmosphere.”
- “It has quality graphics that have the indie charm.”
- “The cartoonish graphics may seem out of place, but do a wonderful job of portraying the clutter and chaos hiding around every inch of the ship.”
- “Simple graphics, simple game.”
- “While the game is far from 4K crazy graphics that AAA developers are slowly working their ways towards.”
- “If this game had AAA quality graphics it would honestly feel different.”
humor
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely praised for its humor, blending absurdity and dark comedy with challenging gameplay. Players appreciate the witty writing, engaging voice acting, and the humorous take on complex tasks, often leading to moments of laughter amidst frustration. Overall, the humor enhances the experience, making it both entertaining and memorable.
- “This game is hilarious, and it's fun trying to learn how to do all of the things you need to do in the game, and see all the layers of absurd complexity in even the most simple tasks.”
- “The game has a good sense of humor about the hopelessness of the situation, and I enjoy the relationship that develops between the player character and the AI companion.”
- “The emails you receive in-game are sometimes so funny and full of sarcasm :)”
stability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
91%
The game's stability is a mixed bag; while some players report frequent crashes and bugs that significantly hinder gameplay, others find it largely stable with minimal issues. Those who enjoy troubleshooting under pressure may appreciate the challenge, but the inconsistency in system failures can lead to frustration. Overall, experiences vary widely, with some players encountering serious stability problems and others enjoying a mostly bug-free experience.
- “Though Deep Sixed is a fairly solidly built product with high production values for its chosen medium, and is pretty much bug-free, I have encountered at least one real bug where the retrieval probe gets stuck.”
- “It's also buggy as hell, crashing on launch about 25% of the time and then occasional in-game crashes.”
- “When you're not trying to fend off hostile aliens, you're trying to fix all the breakdowns that occur every few minutes, and a comprehensive troubleshooting manual and a limited supply of spare parts are all that stands between you and certain death.”
- “You don't fail because you don't manage to follow a complicated troubleshooting procedure, or keep up with cascading failures, or deal with multiple simultaneous issues - you fail because you simply fail a die roll when the game decides to crash the wrong system at the wrong time.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
10%
30%
The music in the game has received high praise for its captivating quality, with many players describing it as beautiful and trance-inducing, reminiscent of artists like Massive Attack and Air. The soundtrack, along with excellent audio and voice acting, enhances the overall experience, making it a standout feature that players would consider purchasing separately. While the general sound effects are noted as unremarkable, they effectively complement the game's atmosphere without detracting from the enjoyment.
- “I was just in a trance by the fantastic music.”
- “Music is excellent throughout, like an instrumental cross between Massive Attack, Air, and a late-night piano bar.”
- “It's really, really good; this is one game for which I'd go out of my way to buy the soundtrack.”
- “General sound effects and soundtrack might not be anything special, yet they fulfill their roles without forcing me to mute them.”
- “I had first heard the music and audio while watching someone play it.”
- “There are no performance options or graphics settings apart from a full-screen/windowed toggle, but sound effects, music, and speech all have separately adjustable volumes.”
atmosphere
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
33%
33%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a palpable sense of tension and urgency, as players navigate crises like breaches and dwindling resources. Minimalistic graphics effectively enhance this feeling, creating an immersive experience where the constant threat of malfunction keeps players on edge. Overall, the atmosphere is both engaging and humorous, contributing to a compelling gameplay experience.
- “There's a good sense of tension, and as others have pointed out, the game does well at creating atmosphere with just a few minimal ingredients.”
- “Funny and atmospheric, I’m enjoying the hell out of this game.”
- “As a beginner, not knowing everything gives the game a certain atmosphere of always being on the verge of wondering when the next malfunction or fight will be, and if you'll be able to handle it.”
- “Rush to breach area - atmosphere dropping fast - precious seconds used to figure out how to apply duct tape.”
- “Strip by duct tape strip I cover the breach, a race against time as the atmosphere in the room is nearly depleted... just as I did one last desperate fast duct tape action and figured I was safe, my vision blackens around the corners and I pass out.”
- “As a beginner though, not knowing everything gives the game a certain atmosphere of always being on the verge of wondering when the next malfunction or fight will be, and if you'll be able to handle it.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game offers a solid replayability factor, initially driven by its rogue-like elements and the challenge of mastering various malfunctions. However, as players become more skilled, the replay value may diminish, though the upcoming addition of an endless mode is expected to enhance replayability by allowing players to challenge themselves and improve their high scores. Overall, the combination of gameplay mechanics and future updates contributes to a fun and engaging experience.
- “The developers are also going to be adding an endless mode here in the very near future, that will give the game a little more replayability too.”
- “Great game, simple premise of single-handedly running a constantly-breaking spaceship made into a very fun and replayable experience.”
- “It has a rogue-like vibe going in that you will die many times. The main difference I can see is that mastering the different malfunctions will make the game's replayability less significant once you have been through it a few times because you will know how to do everything.”
- “The endless mode also provides more replayability to the game as you can challenge yourself to survive as long as you can as difficulty increases, and attempt to beat your own high scores.”
- “Now that I've finished the game, I can talk about story and replayability.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, users express a desire for improved optimization in the game, noting the lack of performance options and graphics settings beyond basic toggles. However, many report no significant performance issues, suggesting that the game runs well even on budget laptops.
- “I would love to see some more optimization, is all.”
- “There are no performance options or graphics settings apart from a full-screen/windowed toggle, but sound effects, music, and speech all have separately adjustable volumes.”
- “Naturally, I didn’t have any performance issues, and I’m certain that Deep Sixed can be played even on a budget laptop.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, with some tasks intentionally designed to be monotonous. While there are good ideas present, the reliance on random number generation can make achieving victory feel arbitrary.
- “This game is both tedious and frustrating, and it is perfect.”
- “It's got some good ideas, but it quickly becomes tedious and frustrating, and victory is at the mercy of the random number generator.”
- “Some of the tasks are deliberately tedious to begin with.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the emotional experience of the game to be intense and rewarding, particularly when achieving success without failure, which heightens the stakes. However, some reviews note that it lacks the social engagement and emotional depth found in other titles like "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes" and "Papers, Please."
- “I managed to beat the game on my first run (this is a bit of a misnomer, that just means I haven’t died a single time), and while the experience was harrowing, it was also an explosion of emotional satisfaction - my stakes and the main character’s stakes were equally high.”