Prospector: The First Contract

About

Prospector: The First Contract is a single player open world role playing game. It was developed by Loonworks Games and was released on July 12, 2024. It received positive reviews from players.

JOIN US ON DISCORD About the Game Welcome to the Prospector: The First Contract - a prequel chapter where you take on your first contract as an Interstellar Prospector. Your main goal is to gather resources on a new planet. Build a living base, use supply routes for exploration, and automate your new home with robots. Once your preparations are complete, you will begin trading with distant c…

Prospector: The First Contract screenshot

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90%

Audience ScoreBased on 188 reviews

gameplay14 positive mentions

grinding10 negative mentions

Engaging and addictive gameplay combining automation, exploration, and base-building with a relaxing and cozy atmosphere.
Appealing pixel art graphics with a charming robot companion adding personality and fun to the experience.
Good potential for growth with inspired mechanics from popular games like Astroneer, Factorio, and Forager, offering a satisfying progression loop and resource management.

Performance issues including lag and crashes, especially when building complex machinery or late in the game.
Gameplay bugs and unintuitive design elements such as confusing tutorials, UI scaling problems, player getting stuck, and limited enemy variety.
Some mechanics feel underdeveloped or frustrating, like slow progression, repetitive grind, awkward enemy encounters, and lack of meaningful challenges or content variety.

gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
43%
10%
The gameplay combines exploration, resource management, and base-building with satisfying automation and combat mechanics, offering a relaxing yet engaging experience reminiscent of games like Factorio but less complex. While some players find it addictive and well-balanced, others note a lack of originality, limited automation, and occasional performance issues. Overall, its charming pixel art, intuitive mechanics, and potential for future updates generate positive anticipation.
- “Gameplay (relaxing): it is a mix of exploration and resource collection and construction, the player starts with a small base and gradually expands it, building a network of machines and robots to automate the production and shipping of resources to the colony.”
- “The core gameplay mechanics are simple, yet surprisingly deep and highly addictive.”
- “It's got some depth to its mechanics which makes for plenty of growth and progression and I can't wait to see the finished product. I hope the developers have multiplayer and modding support in the future; that would easily make it a must-have. Even without it, it will still be a wonderful game that I am highly excited to grab the moment it becomes available.”
- “In short, you cannot freely explore in this game without having to deal with that annoying mechanic.”
- “-The game suffers from crashes due to a notable lack of optimization when we build a lot of machinery during gameplay.”
- “You can't really automate things and the core gameplay is boring.”
graphics
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
45%
11%
The game's pixel art graphics are generally beautiful, charming, and well-polished, drawing favorable comparisons to titles like Forager, Astroneer, and Factorio while maintaining a unique visual identity. Users appreciate the cozy, detailed, and aesthetically pleasant style, though some note issues with graphical depth and occasional performance slowdowns. Overall, the art style is praised for its charm, clarity, and contribution to a relaxing gameplay experience.
- “The graphics are stunning, with detailed environments that truly bring the game world to life.”
- “Graphics and visual style (well polished): the pixel art graphics of 'prospector' are generally beautiful, despite being simplified.”
- “Cozy automation game with a gorgeous art style.”
- “It felt the graphics lack depth, the proportions can be done better, and they don't really gel with each other.”
- “Also no graphic options whatsoever; I get FPS drops every 10 seconds.”
- “Because it says that it requires 1GB of RAM memory and 512 of graphics, I don't know the difference, but for some reason when I open it, the game starts to go super slow.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in this game is a core, farming-focused activity involving resource collection and station building, which some players find enjoyable and inventive after getting accustomed to it. While the grinding can feel tedious and repetitive, especially with the resource refining and gathering tasks, it is balanced enough to avoid excessive time investment, appealing to fans of farming and automation. However, players seeking engaging characters, varied gameplay loops, or exciting combat may find the grinding less rewarding.
- “This is a fun game though grindy, which seems to be the norm for this type of game. Other than that, I enjoyed it.”
- “The thing with the moths, while tedious in its execution, was one step more inventive than the rest of the resource refining.”
- “Anyways, there's nothing really interesting about this, no characters worth remembering, no gameplay loop that's satisfying, no worthwhile weapons or enemies... just tedious gathering.”
story
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The story is concise, lasting around two to four hours, with a captivating and subtle narrative centered on an intergalactic prospector's first mission. Players appreciate the engaging storyline and immersive exploration of diverse planets, though some wish for more impactful choices. Overall, the narrative leaves a positive and enjoyable impression.
- “Story and setting (they are good at being subtle): here in 'Prospector: The First Contract', you are an intergalactic prospector on your first mission.”
- “I really enjoyed playing and exploring the flora and fauna of different planets with a fascinating storyline.”
- “The storyline is captivating, and the gameplay is smooth and immersive.”
- “Main story takes just two to four hours, so it sprints past existential crises faster than your robot runs out of fuel.”
- “Just, that sad emoji really gets to me that I don't destroy the incubators.”
- “So I removed all my missions.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The game offers enjoyable gameplay but is hindered by significant optimization issues, including performance drops and crashes when handling extensive machinery. Users hope for improved stability and better support for low-resource PCs in the final release.
- “Aside from some definite performance issues, it's a fun little game.”
- “It would also be nice if it were better optimized for low-resource PCs so that this game can be enjoyed to the fullest.”
- “Hoping for a better game performance on full release.”
- “The game suffers from crashes due to a notable lack of optimization when we build a lot of machinery during gameplay.”
- “Hoping for better game performance on full release.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music is praised for its fitting retro soundtrack that complements the pixel art style and enhances the gameplay experience, though some feel background music could be added or improved. Overall, the soundtrack contributes positively to the game's enjoyable and engaging atmosphere.
- “The soundtrack and pixel style are well thought out and the gameplay loop currently has me very interested.”
- “Great music fits the pleasant retro visuals, and the gameplay is intuitively understandable.”
- “The art could improve a bit and it still needs some background music, but it's fun overall and not frustrating at all.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game currently experiences some bugs affecting stability, but users remain optimistic about improvements in future updates.
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is appreciated for its clever references to other games and amusing in-game conversations, adding an enjoyable and lighthearted touch.
- “I love all the references to other games and the little conversations present in the game were quite funny.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game’s vibrant colors and detailed alien environments combine to create an engaging and visually appealing atmosphere.
- “The game uses vibrant colors in its settings and adds small details to the alien environments, which creates an attractive atmosphere for the game.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game evokes warm and wholesome emotions similar to those experienced in Stardew Valley, creating a comforting and heartfelt atmosphere for players.
- “Wholesome game, like Stardew Valley.”

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3h Median play time

3h Average play time

3-3h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Prospector: The First Contract is a open world role playing game.

Prospector: The First Contract is available on PC, Steam Deck and Windows.

On average players spend around 3 hours playing Prospector: The First Contract.

Prospector: The First Contract was released on July 12, 2024.

Prospector: The First Contract was developed by Loonworks Games.

Prospector: The First Contract has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked Prospector: The First Contract for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Prospector: The First Contract is a single player game.

Similar games include Ocean World: Eden Crafters Prologue, Prospector, Nova Lands, The Planet Crafter: Prologue, I am Future and others.

Prospector: The First Contract

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