Objects in Space

About

Objects in Space is a single player and multiplayer tactical role playing game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Flat Earth Games and was released on March 1, 2019. It received neutral reviews from players.

Objects in Space is a modempunk stealth space-trading game set in Apollo, a huge cluster of star systems dozens of lightyears away from earth. You are a lonesome ship's captain, buying and selling wares in order to keep your bucket of bolts afloat and stay one step ahead of pirates, organized criminals, corrupt governments and shady laws.

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51%

Audience ScoreBased on 466 reviews

story25 positive mentions

stability49 negative mentions

Unique concept combining submarine mechanics with space simulation, creating an immersive experience.
Engaging gameplay with a focus on managing ship systems and stealth, providing a sense of tension and strategy.
Rich lore and interesting NPC interactions that enhance the narrative experience.

Crawled with bugs and frequent crashes, making the game frustrating to play.
Game feels abandoned by developers, with no significant updates or fixes since early access.
Limited content and repetitive gameplay, leading to a lack of long-term engagement.

story
120 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
76%
3%
The game's story is a mixed bag, featuring an intriguing narrative with handcrafted missions and a rich universe, but it is often marred by technical issues such as bugs and crashes that hinder progression. While players appreciate the depth and variety of side quests, many find the main storyline lacking in coherence and polish, leading to a repetitive experience. Overall, the story has potential but suffers from execution flaws, making it a frustrating yet occasionally rewarding journey for players willing to endure its shortcomings.
- “The story is interesting.”
- “The gameplay feels like being inside a cold war submarine (in space), the action is slow-paced yet really intense, the extensive storylines are really good and diverse that some of them continue to resonate in my mind.”
- “There is a back story that appears fleshed out and judging from a couple of NPC encounters, there is a lot waiting to be discovered.”
- “The main story is a grand mess, with only the barest of hands-on tutorial and an atrocious early game grind.”
- “The story and characters are dull and generic; you get paid nothing, some quests seem literally impossible, and there doesn't even seem to be a reason to upgrade to a new ship.”
- “As it is, missions often can't be finished because critical events aren't triggered due to bugs.”
gameplay
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
64%
7%
The gameplay offers a mix of engaging mechanics, such as trading, stealth, and ship management, set in a retro-futuristic universe that appeals to fans of space sims. However, it suffers from a slow pace, repetitiveness, and numerous bugs that can detract from the experience. While the game has a solid foundation and intriguing world-building, it requires patience and a willingness to learn its complex systems, making it less suitable for casual players seeking fast-paced action.
- “There is some good gameplay here, at least early in the story mode when you get to fly around completing contracts, trading goods, and carrying passengers while exploring a new and unfamiliar universe.”
- “The gameplay feels like being inside a Cold War submarine (in space); the action is slow-paced yet really intense, and the extensive storylines are really good and diverse that some of them continue to resonate in my mind.”
- “The gameplay loop is there and is really solid, but is just lacking in content at the moment, which is to be expected being in alpha.”
- “The gameplay is very inactive compared to other games; it feels like you are controlling a submarine doing the same thing over and over again.”
- “The game is still filled with bugs, many of which ruin gameplay and are massively frustrating.”
- “Many game mechanics are unintuitive, and it is a frustrating trial-and-error process to figure them out.”
graphics
73 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
66%
15%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a retro "modempunk" aesthetic that appeals to fans of low-fi visuals, though opinions vary widely on their execution. While some players appreciate the nostalgic charm and immersive design, others criticize the graphics as outdated and lacking polish, with issues like overlapping polygons and inconsistent interfaces. Overall, the visuals serve the gameplay experience, but many reviewers express a desire for modern updates to enhance the graphical fidelity.
- “Its unique approach to the idea of space trucking, ambience, retro-futuristic graphics, well-written lore and deep stealth mechanics - all contribute to an incredible experience.”
- “Graphically, objects in space have an interesting style to it; while not my usual cup of tea, it works extremely well for the setting.”
- “Smartly designed space sim with good writing, worldbuilding & a great low-fi aesthetic.”
- “The story and characters are dull and generic, you get paid nothing, some quests seem literally impossible, the graphics are an eyesore, and there doesn't even seem to be a reason to upgrade to a new ship (you can pay a ton of money to get a ship that goes 0.1 gm/s faster?).”
- “The retro art style could be charming but there are basic modeling errors like overlapping polygons and bad UV mapping.”
- “You can try to cop out shitty artists by saying 'it's our art style', but that just sounds lazy and incompetent.”
stability
49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely criticized for its instability, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and crashes that detract from the overall experience. Many users note that it feels unfinished and abandoned by the developers, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience despite its interesting concepts. While some players find potential in the game, the pervasive issues make it difficult to recommend in its current state.
- “The game is buggy, and it has been abandoned in a very decent, if not finished, state.”
- “Unfortunately, the developers have abandoned it without addressing numerous bugs, glitches, and everything else that goes with an early release title, despite its alleged 1.0 status.”
- “This game is broken, buggy, and abandoned by shady developers that claim it's a complete game.”
music
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
The music in the game is widely praised for its atmospheric quality, enhancing the overall experience during both relaxing and tense moments. Players appreciate the ability to add their own music, although some have encountered technical issues with the audio system. While the in-game soundtrack is considered excellent, there are suggestions for more diverse background music in stations to prevent monotony.
- “And still... the writing, the music, and the unique gameplay experience make this one of the most atmospheric games I've ever played.”
- “It is really relaxing when you're flying through the vastness of space and listening to music or reading (you can even add your own music with little effort), but it can also be really tense if you're flying through a dangerous sector in emcom mode and hoping that the pirate doesn't see you.”
- “The soundtrack in this game is incredible and is worth the purchase for that alone.”
- “The audio would not work on one of my computers and in the 7 hours I've played so far the game has locked up once, the music player suddenly stopped working at one point and I crashed to the desktop soon after.”
- “We're left with three ships, a limited amount of weapon systems, a non-working economy, broken sound loops, glitched music players... and last but not least - an insatiable hunger for more.”
- “There is no voice acting, which at least means there's no bad voice acting, but it would've been nice if the stations had their own background music.”
atmosphere
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
33%
20%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and charming qualities, with many players noting the effective world-building, engaging music, and unique gameplay that enhance the experience. However, some criticisms arise regarding readability issues due to font choices, and technical bugs that can disrupt immersion. Overall, the game successfully creates a captivating environment that draws players back despite its flaws.
- “And this is all taking place within a huge, well-developed world that you'll completely lose yourself in because of how atmospheric and immersive it is.”
- “And still... the writing, the music, and the unique gameplay experience make this one of the most atmospheric games I've ever played.”
- “Objects in Space is a wonderfully atmospheric space trading sim that lets you tinker with just about everything in your setup.”
- “Good writing and world-building add extra pressure to an already soupy atmosphere.”
- “I've tried space sim after space sim, trying to find one that recaptured the atmosphere of the universe, and coming up empty every time.”
- “Maybe this is part of the modem-punk atmosphere, but it is impossible to override years of muscle memory to use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
92%
Players frequently describe the grinding aspect of the game as tedious and frustrating, often feeling like a chore rather than an enjoyable experience. Many reviews highlight the repetitive nature of missions and the cumbersome interface, which detracts from the overall enjoyment and immersion. While the story and dialogue are appreciated, they often feel overshadowed by the grindy gameplay and technical issues, leading to a sense of boredom.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “I thought this would be a fun, stress-free little game that you can play from time to time to cleanse your palate from the more nail-biting, stressful games that are more common, and yet stressful is this game's middle name with its first name being tedious.”
- “Overall, the concept of the game is interesting, but it gets old and tedious fast.”
- “I don't like comparing games to other games, mostly because it's oversimplifying things, but 'O'N S' suffers from the same thing several other space simulators suffer from in the campaign in that it can be a bit grindy sometimes, and you find yourself repeating the same standard 'milkrun' missions in order to afford that cool ship upgrade you always wanted.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The optimization aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with players noting that while there are extensive customization options for tweaking machines and components, the overall performance is poorly optimized, leading to issues such as garbage performance and inefficiencies.
- “There are lots of systems to learn, and you can tweak your machines with components from different companies, each focusing on cost, efficiency, high performance, emissions, or durability.”
- “You can customize within a module, installing different parts to a solar panel, allowing you to adjust your ship's power usage, performance, or observability.”
- “Poorly optimized.”
- “Unity (garbage performance).”
- “Lots of systems to learn, lots of tweaking of your machines with components from different companies (each company has a focus on cost, efficiency, high performance, emissions, or durability).”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Replayability in the game is hindered by control difficulties and economic glitches, leading to areas becoming "farmed" after tasks are completed, which can limit exploration. While the dynamic nature of the game encourages multiple playthroughs, players may miss significant content due to the ongoing political events in the game world. Enhancements such as mod support and improved user interface could significantly boost the overall replayability.
- “If this game were made moddable such that new stations and maps could be added, it would greatly enhance replayability and overall enjoyment.”
- “Unfortunately, control is a bit difficult, and there were some economic elements, such as glitches buying and selling items, and some issues with replayability in which once you complete tasks in an area, the area becomes farmed and you more or less have to leave.”
- “It's easy to end up missing something really interesting in one neck of the cluster while you were running jobs elsewhere. Sure, this adds replayability, but things do happen without you, and it does not let you put the cluster's politics on hold.”
- “If this game were made moddable such that new stations and maps could be added, the config changed to a more reasonable resolution so that the game didn't start for most people where they can't even see any interactable elements, and the starting 'tutorial' was made skippable since it doesn't detect the change conditions most times, then this game would be much more playable.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization strategy has been criticized as a cash grab, indicating a shift away from player value and engagement, and suggesting that the game may be abandoned.
- “Unfortunately, it is now a cash grab and abandoned.”
- “The monetization system feels exploitative and ruins the overall experience.”
- “I can't enjoy the game when every feature is locked behind a paywall.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its fun story and amusing characters, which enhance the overall experience while complementing the challenging and engaging gameplay.
- “The game is filled with hilarious characters and a fun story that keeps you laughing.”
- “I love how the humor is woven into the gameplay, making every challenge feel lighthearted.”
- “The witty dialogue and funny situations make this game a joy to play.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its exceptional audio design, innovative gameplay-story integration, and effective emotional pacing, all set within a captivating space sci-fi/fantasy environment that stands out amidst a sea of lesser titles.
- “A combination of careful audio design, creative gameplay-story interaction, emotional pacing, and the best space sci-fi/fantasy setting I've ever seen come together to create a deep, permeating aesthetic that is so wonderfully immersive.”
- “The emotional depth of the characters and their stories left a lasting impact on me, making every decision feel weighty and significant.”
- “I was genuinely moved by the narrative twists and the way the game handles themes of loss and redemption, creating a powerful emotional experience.”