Planetoid Pioneers

If you're looking for a game to get your creative juices flowing, then definitely check this out. If you're looking purely for single or co-op gaming, then probably wait for a sale.

62%Game Brain Score

gameplay, graphics

optimization, stability

58% User Score Based on 247 reviews

Critic Score 80%Based on 1 reviews

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About

Planetoid Pioneers is a single player and multiplayer racing game with violence and science fiction themes. It was developed by Data Realms and was released on February 8, 2018. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

Bring your game ideas and feedback to life with the Planetoid Pioneers Contributor Edition! With its powerful engine and integrated tools, join us in evolving the concept of Early Access. Don’t just tell us what you would like to see in this 2D physics-based action exploration game - SHOW us!

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58%

Audience ScoreBased on 247 reviews

gameplay8 positive mentions

optimization6 negative mentions

Unique and advanced 2D physics engine provides a novel gameplay experience emphasizing player creativity, experimentation, and emergent moments.
Highly moddable with powerful built-in editors and Steam Workshop integration, allowing players to create and share a vast variety of content including weapons, vehicles, creatures, and entire worlds.
Engaging and fun exploration with a quirky art style, humorous characters, and an offbeat atmosphere that appeals to fans of physics-based and sandbox games.

Game suffers from a severe lack of content and progression, feeling more like an unfinished tech demo or sandbox tool rather than a complete, polished game.
Controls and physics can be frustratingly clunky and unresponsive, causing player characters to stumble or become stuck frequently, impacting enjoyment especially during building and traversal.
Technical issues including long loading times, performance problems, bugs, and crashes are common, alongside abandoned development and unaddressed longstanding problems such as broken local coop support.

gameplay
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
73%
9%
The gameplay centers on exploration, player creativity, and physics-driven mechanics, with a loosely defined main objective and strong modding support enabling diverse experiences. While the core content offers a roughly 7-8 hour survival mission that some find engaging, many reviewers note a lack of polish, limited structured gameplay, and reliance on community-created content for longevity. Overall, the gameplay appeals most to players who enjoy emergent, sandbox-style play and creative experimentation rather than traditional, content-rich progression.
- “The gameplay thrives on discovery and emergent moments rather than structured objectives.”
- “It’s a playground for creativity, physics chaos, and mechanical curiosity, designed for players who find joy in the unpredictable and the absurd.”
- “Core gameplay content made by the developers is an enjoyable 7-8 hour survival mission on a large planetoid, which is honestly enough on its own for a 15$ game.”
- “Buggy, incoherent story and gameplay mechanics.”
- “There is almost nothing to do in it and gameplay is almost entirely nonexistent.”
- “The raw gameplay of Planetoid Pioneers does not carry it enough to be fun.”
graphics
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
38%
14%
The game's graphics are praised for their unique, comic-inspired art style, vibrant colors, and detailed effects like lighting and screen shake, creating a tactile and engaging visual experience. However, performance issues such as long loading times, frame rate drops, and lack of graphic settings detract from the overall presentation. Despite these technical drawbacks, the art style and visuals receive consistent appreciation for their creativity and atmosphere.
- “The art style combines comic-inspired character designs with mechanical detail, giving everything a hand-crafted yet tactile feel.”
- “Graphics are good and there are lots of little touches like the shake of the screen when firing guns, which really adds to the feel of the game.”
- “The colorful graphics and landscapes are awesome.”
- “Extremely long load times, even with an Intel i7 processor and a $650 graphics card.”
- “However, it is quite obvious that the game is not ready for full release - placeholder text, the level editor is directly usable in the main game, no graphic settings, tanking framerates, long loading times (especially the very first start), wonky full screen mode ... I expect this from early access titles, not release versions.”
- “Given the simple nature of the graphics in the game, my assumption is this is caused by the physics engine.”
story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
61%
17%
The story in Planetoid Pioneers is unconventional and limited, offering a short, humorous, and experimental narrative focused on survival missions rather than deep storytelling. While officially sparse and sometimes buggy, the game encourages creative player-driven storytelling and exploration, which adds charm and replay value beyond the core content.
- “It may not deliver the structured satisfaction of a traditional adventure or the narrative depth of a story-driven game, but for those willing to embrace its experimental nature, Planetoid Pioneers offers a singular experience—equal parts science project, slapstick comedy, and cosmic sandbox.”
- “The storytelling is goofy and funny, matching the clumsy ragdoll physics which just get more charming the more you get used to it.”
- “The Steam community is rife with a lot of creative minds, coming up with amazing storylines, vehicles, and creatures.”
- “Buggy, incoherent story and gameplay mechanics.”
- “You spend a few hours playing through what was marketed as the game's story. There is literally nothing else in terms of story or progression, it just ends there.”
- “Ultimately the game's current setup reflects that, with the short 'story' and the 10 minigames.”
optimization
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
36%
43%
The game currently suffers from significant optimization issues, including low and inconsistent frame rates, stuttering, crashes, and long load times, even on recommended hardware. However, recent updates have improved performance noticeably, with some players now able to run the game smoothly, though heavy particle effects can still cause slowdowns. Overall, while optimization remains a concern, ongoing patches show promise for better stability and performance.
- “As of update 7 (07-29-18), the game is optimized to the point that I can finally recommend it—fun and unique game with lots of potential.”
- “I was quite surprised how quickly they addressed the bugs in early launch as the game runs smoothly on both my laptop and desktop.”
- “I've read that the game isn't fully optimized, so it's possible this issue may just get better over time.”
- “Performance is pretty abysmal as well.”
- “Hard to recommend a game with such poor performance on a system with the recommended specs.”
- “It can be tough to get 60+ frames in this game as of right now; I've been dealing with frames lower than 10 at times, and stuttering now and then, and I'm not really sure why that is, as my setup should be more than capable of handling it.”
humor
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is characterized by its quirky, goofy, and self-aware style, featuring clumsy physics, funny character animations, and entertaining voice acting. Players frequently find amusement in unexpected mishaps and silly deaths, enhancing both the comedic and educational experience. Multiplayer adds an extra layer of fun with shared laughter and playful interactions.
- “Watching a self-built rover topple over or a rocket spin wildly out of control becomes both hilarious and educational.”
- “The storytelling is goofy and funny, matching the clumsy ragdoll physics which just get more charming the more you get used to it.”
- “This is the only game that has made me laugh at my silly ways to die.”
stability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
9%
82%
The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, causing frequent stutters, freezes, and gameplay disruptions that significantly impact stability. While it runs well on some systems, many users find it unpolished and frustratingly unstable, resembling an unfinished Bethesda-style release lacking sufficient base content and polish.
- “Runs great!”
- “Filled with too many glitches to count; it glitched out on Primoid, and I failed it.”
- “I suppose this was meant to be a Bethesda-style game where the devs release the game then do a few small patches and let the community do the rest using the editor they provide, but what they failed to factor in is that Bethesda is immensely well-known and their games, while buggy, at least have a full game worth of base content.”
- “Stutters and freezes constantly despite a good PC.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The music is praised for its unique blend of minimal electronic tones and upbeat sci-fi jingles, complementing the game’s quirky personality and enhancing the immersive experience. Fans highlight the nostalgic 80's vibe and overall high quality of the soundtrack, which is often paired with the distinctive art style.
- “The music shifts between minimal electronic tones and upbeat sci-fi jingles, emphasizing the game’s offbeat personality.”
- “The soundtrack and art style are great, the enemies are strange and interesting, there are humor elements... and you actually feel that you are exploring an unknown planet.”
- “Oh, and don't even get me started on the art and music... just so damn good!”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game's atmosphere is effectively enhanced by sound design featuring mechanical clanks, sputtering engines, and ambient space noises that emphasize isolation and absurdity. The background music complements this mood well, while the wonky ragdoll physics add a unique, engaging touch. Overall, players find the atmosphere captivating and immersive.
- “Sound design complements the physics-heavy gameplay with mechanical clanks, sputtering engines, and ambient space noises that reinforce the atmosphere of isolation and absurdity.”
- “The background music fits the atmosphere well and I personally enjoy the wonky ragdoll physics.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game offers solid replayability through a substantial core experience and ongoing community-driven content, but its longevity heavily depends on player engagement with mods and additions. While this can provide endless replay value, the base game's limited content may not justify the full price for some users.
- “It will ship with a substantial, replayable, and hand-built experience, expanding as more content by contributors becomes available both through the workshop and elsewhere.”
- “In theory, this ensures endless replayability; in practice, it relies heavily on community engagement to fill the gaps left by the core game’s limited content.”
- “If you can get it on sale for 75% off sure I guess, but the replayability does not warrant its current price.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding in the game is tedious and lacks meaningful progression, with repetitive tasks across similar worlds and no character continuity. Additionally, frequent blueprint collection feels time-consuming, and physics issues can cause frustrating obstacles. Improvements in saving progress and smoother gameplay would help alleviate these downsides.
- “Half-baked proof-of-concept with no actual progression other than unlocking a few different worlds where you do the same thing as on the first—and no continuation of your first character, either—all that blueprint grinding?”
- “Gameplay seemed really tedious.”
- “Only downside is the physics need some work so people do not get stuck as often and maybe more saving progress with blueprints since it is tedious to get them every time I am on a new planetoid.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization is criticized as an incomplete cash grab, with outdated advertising and events, reflecting little to no meaningful updates or improvements since initial releases.
- “Unfinished cash grab: what this really is, Cortex Command 2 engine that never got finished, just like Cortex Command.”
- “All advertising and events for this game are from years ago, and honestly not a lot has changed in gameplay and entities since then.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The character development is highlighted by a unique art style that blends comic-inspired designs with mechanical details, creating a hand-crafted and tactile aesthetic.

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80%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Planetoid Pioneers
If you're looking for a game to get your creative juices flowing, then definitely check this out. If you're looking purely for single or co-op gaming, then probably wait for a sale.
Gamegrin.com
80%

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Planetoid Pioneers
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23h Median play time

19h Average play time

5-40h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Planetoid Pioneers is a racing game with violence and science fiction themes.

Planetoid Pioneers is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

On average players spend around 19 hours playing Planetoid Pioneers.

Planetoid Pioneers was released on February 8, 2018.

Planetoid Pioneers was developed by Data Realms.

Planetoid Pioneers has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Planetoid Pioneers for its gameplay but disliked it for its optimization.

Planetoid Pioneers is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Planet Explorers, Cortex Command, Medieval Engineers, Osiris: New Dawn, Space Engineers and others.

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