Interkosmos

Interkosmos is a short virtual reality experience which places you in the hot seat of a space capsule returning to Earth during the Cold War. Combining an incredibly high pressure situation with a great deal of humor, Ovid Works has crafted a truly unique, narrative-driven experience. While the game is only around 30 minutes long, it has branching storylines, two successful endings, and makes death incredibly fun with a whole host of ways for you to perish. It's highly interactive, it makes incredibly satisfying clicky noises when pressing buttons and flipping switches, and it's over the top, colorful, retro graphics make it a unique and fun experience. Climb into the Interkosmos cockpit, make history, and show the world that Major Tom has nothing on you.

86%Game Brain Score

story, humor

gameplay, replayability

85% User Score Based on 157 reviews

Critic Score 90%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

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About

Interkosmos is a single player arcade simulation game with fantasy, comedy, historical and science fiction themes. It was developed by Ovid Works and was released on April 25, 2017. It received positive reviews from both critics and players.

"Interkosmos" is a single-player historical simulation game with good graphics and humor. Players guide a Soviet spacecraft inspired by 1970's technology to a safe landing, with assistance from NASA and Roscosmos. The game features accessible and challenging gameplay, a fully interactive and realistic-looking space capsule, and a strong emphasis on story and humor.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 157 reviews

story9 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

Interkosmos offers a unique and humorous narrative-driven experience set in a Soviet space capsule, making it a fun and engaging VR title.
The game features satisfying interactions with buttons and switches, providing a tactile experience that enhances immersion.
At a low price point, the game delivers good value for a short but entertaining experience, especially for fans of space and VR.

The game suffers from significant performance issues, including frequent crashes and lag, making it unplayable on certain headsets like Quest 3 and Valve Index.
Controls can be frustratingly unresponsive, with issues related to the alignment of virtual hands and hitbox problems when interacting with switches.
The game is very short, with limited replay value, and some players found the dialogue and accents to be annoying.

story
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
61%
10%
The game's story is described as entertaining and comedic, providing a fun narrative experience that guides players through a problem-solving simulator. While the main storyline lasts around 30-40 minutes, players express a desire for more missions and depth, appreciating the humorous dialogue and engaging banter from mission control. However, some technical issues and a lack of replay value were noted, suggesting that while the story is enjoyable, it could benefit from further development in future installments.
- “The story was entertaining and I want more actually.”
- “A well-told VR story, worth a ride.”
- “Thankfully, the developers put in a funny story to guide you through the landing procedure that made the moments between the landing procedure very enjoyable.”
- “It's a $5 VR game, so don't expect an in-depth story or a lot of variety in gameplay.”
- “While the game is only around 30 minutes long, it has branching storylines, two successful endings, and makes death incredibly fun with a whole host of ways for you to perish.”
- “[Tutorial cannot be skipped, switches and valves are not always responsive, script-driven story lacks random malfunctions.]”
humor
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is widely praised for its witty writing, engaging dialogue, and high-quality voice acting, creating a unique and charming atmosphere. Players appreciate the clever cold war references and the amusing narrative that enhances the immersive VR experience, despite the game's short length. Overall, the humor is a standout feature that adds significant enjoyment to the gameplay.
- “The strongest thing in its favor, I think, is the writing; the dialogue is really witty and funny.”
- “The game’s humor is unique and charming, and the voice acting is top quality compared to other titles on the VR market.”
- “It's a short-ish 'follow these instructions before you die' kind of experience, but the funny writing and loving attention to detail really makes it stand out.”
graphics
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
69%
8%
23%
The graphics in the game are generally praised for their high quality, vibrant colors, and stylized retro design, contributing to an immersive experience. However, many users report performance issues, including lag and crashes at various graphic settings, indicating that the game may be poorly optimized despite its appealing visuals. Overall, while the graphics are a highlight, they are marred by technical difficulties that affect gameplay.
- “On the pros: graphics are very well done (although I had to turn off high quality to get it to run smoothly on my overclocked 1070) and the gameplay is fast-paced and fun.”
- “Good visuals looking out through the porthole over Earth.”
- “This game is very high quality, great graphics, great sound, very witty.”
- “Crash with lower graphic settings.”
- “Crash with higher graphic settings.”
- “Very cool, a bit short and a bit buggy (with the button pressing), and a little bit laggy (GTX 980), polished graphics all the same.”
atmosphere
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
10%
30%
The game's atmosphere is described as unique and immersive, blending humor with a Cold War setting that captivates players. Despite its short length, it effectively engages users with its well-crafted environment and interactive elements, making it a worthwhile experience for the price. Overall, the atmosphere enhances the gameplay, drawing players into a compelling narrative of survival and historical intrigue.
- “Not only does this game bring an immersive atmosphere (even at 30 frames) but it engrosses you into a time when two ideologies who were ever so close to destroying each other had to come together and help save a lone cosmonaut from dying in space.”
- “Not only has this been my best VR experience ever but has rejuvenated my interest in space and Cold War era technology plus the atmosphere surrounding it.”
- “Unique Cold War atmosphere and great humor.”
- “Not only has this been my best VR experience ever, but it has rejuvenated my interest in space and Cold War era technology, plus the atmosphere surrounding it.”
- “Will hopefully not make the same mistake when entering the atmosphere the next time I try.”
- “Nice level of polish and plenty of gizmos to futz with while you burn up in the atmosphere.”
gameplay
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The gameplay is fast-paced and enjoyable, providing a thrilling experience of flying a spaceship, though it is limited to about an hour of playtime. While the graphics are impressive, some mechanics, like the oxygen/pressure system, feel forced and detract from the experience. Additionally, the game is criticized for its linearity and reliance on highlighted buttons, which diminishes the challenge of learning the spaceship's controls.
- “On the pros: graphics are very well done (although I had to turn off high quality to get it to run smoothly on my overclocked 1070) and the gameplay is fast-paced and fun.”
- “I can still heartily recommend the game, though, because for the ~1 hour of gameplay, it did really feel like flying a spaceship, and it was awesome.”
- “Tl;dr: only one hour of gameplay, but very fun.”
- “The oxygen/pressure mechanic seems a bit forced and is a bit annoying as it seems unrealistic that there would be a constant balance you have to manage.”
- “In hard mode, I died twice, and then landed safely after about an hour of gameplay, at which point the game was basically done.”
- “As far as I can tell, the spaceship is on rails; you can't actually fly and watch the orbital mechanics play out; you have one path and you die if you get too far off it.”
replayability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
Overall, "Interkosmos" is characterized by low replayability, with most players noting that it offers a brief, linear experience that lacks incentives for multiple playthroughs. While some may find value in exploring different endings, the game's heavy dialogue and short duration limit its appeal for repeated sessions. Players generally agree that it is a one-time experience rather than a game to revisit.
- “The game offers a solid unique 1-hour experience, making it enjoyable for a single playthrough.”
- “I wish I had seen some in-game death sequences, which would have added much more replayability beyond a simple text explanation of what I did wrong.”
- “You might be interested in trying to complete the story in one go without dying.”
- “Interkosmos strives to be a short experience with little to no replay value.”
- “But it is short, and there's no replay value once you succeed.”
- “You are basically paying $5 for a solid unique 1 hour experience, with no real replay value.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with users reporting frequent bugs, audio cutouts, and instances of getting stuck, which hinder overall gameplay experience. While the graphics are polished, the presence of fatal bugs and lag, particularly on certain hardware, detracts from its potential enjoyment.
- “May be a great game, but I'll never know. It's super buggy, and the audio cuts out when the program freezes up.”
- “It is buggy, though. In my short playthrough, I experienced several issues, including one fatal bug that prevented progress.”
- “Very cool, but a bit short and buggy (with the button pressing), and a little laggy (GTX 980). Polished graphics all the same.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, leading to lag even on high-end hardware like an overclocked 1070, necessitating reduced graphics settings for smoother performance. While the graphics are praised for their quality, the overall experience is hindered by these performance problems.
- “The graphics are very well done, although I had to turn off high quality to get it to run smoothly on my overclocked 1070, and the gameplay is fast-paced and fun.”
- “The graphics are great but unoptimized to a point where there's lag in the hands.”
- “The game is very badly optimized.”
- “Performance issues make it nearly unplayable on mid-range systems.”
- “Frequent frame drops and long loading times ruin the experience.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users have reported that touching the thumbpad or stick on knuckles controllers can unintentionally cause the game to exit, which disrupts the emotional immersion and engagement with the gameplay experience. This technical issue detracts from the overall emotional connection players have with the game.