Desynced
- August 15, 2023
- Stage Games Inc.
- 65h median play time
Get on Steam"Desynced" is a PC game on Steam that puts you in charge of repairing your damaged spaceship by building facilities on an unknown planet. As the onboard AI, ELAINE, guides you, you'll manage resource management, production chains, and automation while expanding your logistics network. Customize facility behavior and scripting for more complex solutions. The game features intricate resource management and emphasizes automation and survival.
PC
Windows
Cloud
NVIDIA GeForce NOW
Reviews
- Desynced offers a unique blend of factory building and RTS elements, allowing for extensive customization of units and buildings.
- The visual programming system for bot behaviors is powerful and adds depth to the gameplay, making automation feel rewarding.
- The game runs smoothly for an early access title, with minimal bugs and a solid foundation for future updates.
- The tutorial is inadequate, failing to cover essential mechanics and leaving players confused about how to progress.
- Bots often behave inefficiently, leading to frustrating micromanagement and logistical issues that detract from the overall experience.
- The user interface can be cluttered and unintuitive, making it difficult to navigate and manage resources effectively.
- gameplay201 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 73 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by innovative mechanics and a unique blend of factory-building and RTS elements, appealing particularly to players who enjoy complex automation and programming. However, many users find the interface and tutorial lacking, leading to a steep learning curve and frustration with task management and exploration. While the core mechanics are solid and the game shows great potential, significant improvements in user experience and simplification of gameplay are needed for broader appeal.
“The gameplay itself is really fun to me.”
“Great game with innovative gameplay.”
“A enjoyable and very innovative factory-builder/RTS hybrid, it does not only add a variety of mechanics new to the genre but also makes them worthwhile and fun to interact with.”
“Lack of standard RTS grouping mechanics leads to frustrating exploring and task designation.”
“Game lacks useful tutorial, has no basic AI for resource collection, and adds puzzles that subtract from and interrupt gameplay.”
“I've never played a game where you have to read and re-read the tutorial just to understand the most basic gameplay mechanics, and even after the tutorial I still feel lost.”
- graphics89 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed feedback, with many praising the detailed and visually appealing aesthetics, particularly in the units and terrain. However, some users report performance issues, including high GPU demands and crashes, suggesting that while the visuals are impressive, they may not be optimized for all systems. Overall, the graphics are considered polished and advanced, but technical problems detract from the experience for some players.
“Very nice setup, eye-candy graphics and so far quite balanced game flow.”
“Graphics is quite advanced, made in 3D with a fixed isometric projection, beautifully made, along with nice effects.”
“As a big fan of automation/factory games, I can say that Desynced is a refreshing take on the genre with really beautiful visuals and potential for hours of playtime!”
“It runs poorly for a game that is not exactly pushing the envelope in graphics.”
“My 3080 shouldn't be melting on a game with these kinds of graphics (not even running ultra and I have frames capped).”
“Graphics/design feel average and very GPU demanding.”
- story86 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 73 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The story in "Desynced" is still in development, with players noting its intriguing sci-fi plot and meaningful quests that enhance gameplay. While the narrative is currently incomplete and somewhat vague, it shows promise for expansion in future updates, with a focus on engaging missions and a logical progression system through the tech tree. Overall, players are optimistic about the story's evolution and are eager for more content as the game moves towards its full release.
“And, really, this game has got more plot and things going on than most of its ilk.”
“The story has a good premise, I can't wait to see what the game brings as it evolves!”
“I have high hopes for the final release, and the scant hints we've already seen for the final storyline are full of intrigue and potential.”
“I'm personally looking forward to some of the story jank being fixed, as right now it's a mess.”
“Desynced is in early access - a large part of the story and some technologies are missing, but since the release two months ago, there have been two updates adding reasonable features.”
“The story is not complete.”
- optimization60 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while it performs well on high settings for many players and features impressive modding capabilities, it struggles with performance in late-game scenarios involving numerous bots and complex behaviors. Users report occasional slowdowns and unoptimized AI behaviors, particularly when managing large bases, indicating that further optimization is needed. Despite these issues, the game remains playable and enjoyable, with many players expressing hope for future performance improvements.
“There's very few bugs, no crashes to desktop, very good performance, great modding capabilities, the ability to load mods on the fly (the only thing you need to do is subscribe, save and load to apply new mods, no need to restart), incredibly fast saving and loading time (for a procedurally generated game that's a major feat), replay feature that will not falter if you mod your game in the middle of gameplay, and stores tens of hours of gameplay data in under a megabyte (along with the current state), which is next to impossible from my knowledge.”
“Curious approach to base building/resource management game, allowing you to go into very low level and complex optimizations, while not 'forcing' you to do that.”
“I find myself in an optimization spiral where I keep fine-tuning behavior programs.”
“As with early access games, the game does get slow and needs more optimization in the late game where you have hundreds of bots and production buildings.”
“Any optimization you can achieve with it doesn't seem to be worth the large amount of time needed to decipher the strange system.”
“When the bots decide to deliver stuff, they do it in a wildly unoptimized fashion.”
- stability30 mentions
- 7 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 93 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with many users reporting numerous bugs and glitches, particularly in the programmed behaviors and construction workflows. While some players have experienced no major issues and appreciate the game's potential, the overall consensus is that it feels unfinished and requires significant improvements, especially given its early access status. Active developer support and regular updates are noted as positive aspects, but the current state may not be suitable for all players.
“Runs great on Proton Experimental.”
“But for now it has too many bugs, glitches, looks really unfinished.”
“But - it is early access (writing this 3 months after release), meaning buggy and incomplete, which can unexpectedly ruin your plans when things don't work the way you'd expect.”
“I feel it's still a bit buggy and this aspect of the game to be the least reliable and needs the most work.”
- grinding24 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and boring, with many expressing frustration over the slow pace and cumbersome management of tasks. The programming elements, intended to enhance automation, are often described as unpleasant and overly complicated, contributing to a sense of grind that detracts from the overall enjoyment. While the game presents a unique approach to the genre, the repetitive nature of its mechanics leaves many feeling that it falls short of its potential.
“This is a small scale, slow speed game, with tedious management of runner bots rather than full automation.”
“It's a fun little builder without getting into the behaviors but it's really only half the game and it can get tedious.”
“I've played for about 5 hours and it's very grindy in the beginning.”
- music15 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players criticizing it for being repetitive and lacking depth, while others appreciate its relaxing vibe and quality, noting that it enhances the gameplay experience. Overall, the sound design is seen as lacking, with many finding the music either forgettable or enjoyable, depending on personal taste.
“The soundtrack is so good, I tend to turn music off on games, but not this one.”
“Nice vibe music is great, automations take some time to learn but it's fun and powerful.”
“Simply kind of unique, with light relaxing music, I simply enjoy.”
“Also yet another factory game with a poor sound design. The music is low-key bad and not nearly long enough (you'll hear the same song like 2-3 times in 10 minutes), and none of the robots or buildings even make sounds; it's just lifeless.”
“You know lo-fi songs are compared to other songs; this game is like that, a lo-fi game.”
“There is music I've long disabled, and decent sound effects.”
- emotional6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while players appreciate the freedom to engage with the game on their own terms, many express frustration with the inadequate tutorial that fails to cover essential systems, which detracts from their overall enjoyment.
- replayability6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The game boasts excellent replayability, featuring a diverse research tree and a compelling story that encourages players to explore different strategies. With 40-80 hours of content to complete the early access milestones, players can easily invest hundreds of additional hours in expanding and optimizing their factory setups. Overall, it offers significant depth and variety, making it a strong candidate for long-term engagement.
“It has so much depth and replayability, and very likely to become one of my 1000+ hours games.”
“It has great replayability, a research tree with some different branches, somewhat interesting story and lots of drones.”
“There is easily 40-80 hours of content to 'finish' the final milestone of early access, but as with any factory game, building bigger and better is always an option for hundreds of hours of replayability.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Many users express skepticism about the monetization practices in early access games, fearing that they may be exploitative cash grabs rather than offering genuine value.
“I was rather hesitant to buy, since a lot of early access games feel like lazy cash grabs these days.”
