Prospector: The First Contract

About

In "Prospector: The First Contract," players embark on their first contract as an Interstellar Prospector, tasked with gathering resources on a new planet. They must build a living base, use supply routes for exploration, and automate their new home with robots. As they collect resources and construct an outpost, they can craft bots to help automate logistics, scale their operation, and ship more goods for more credits to unlock new blueprints and recipes.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Prospector: The First Contract screenshot

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 354 reviews

gameplay30 positive mentions

grinding16 negative mentions

The game offers a well-balanced experience with engaging gameplay mechanics and a compelling storyline that keeps players invested.
Visually appealing with vibrant pixel art, the game combines elements of exploration, strategy, and resource management effectively.
Players find the automation aspect satisfying, allowing for creative base building and resource management, making it enjoyable for fans of the genre.

The game suffers from performance issues, including crashes and lag, especially when building complex structures or during resource management.
Many players report unintuitive controls and bugs that can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences, such as getting stuck or being unable to pick up items.
The game world feels relatively empty and lacks significant challenges, which can make progression feel disjointed and monotonous over time.

gameplay
60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
45%
5%
The gameplay is characterized by a well-balanced mix of exploration, resource collection, and construction, offering a satisfying cycle of progression reminiscent of games like Factorio, though not as complex. While many players appreciate the addictive mechanics and beautiful pixel graphics, some criticize the lack of optimization and depth in certain areas, leading to a mixed experience. Overall, the game shows promise with its engaging mechanics and potential for future updates, despite some technical shortcomings.
- “The gameplay is also incredibly satisfying, with a good balance of resource management, combat, and exploration.”
- “The core gameplay mechanics are simple, yet surprisingly deep and highly addictive.”
- “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.”
- “It's alright, but it's basically a hodgepodge of the mechanics from other games that, frankly, have done it better.”
- “- 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
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
53%
6%
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their beautiful pixel art style, which is both charming and well-polished, reminiscent of titles like "Forager" and "Astroneer." While the visuals are fluid and engaging, some users noted issues with depth and proportion, as well as occasional performance drops and distracting visual flashes. Overall, the aesthetic appeal and attention to detail in the graphics contribute positively to the game's atmosphere and gameplay experience.
- “The graphics are stunning, with detailed environments that truly bring the game world to life.”
- “Its graphics are stunning, and the gameplay is addictive.”
- “Cozy automation game with a gorgeous art style.”
- “It felt the graphics lack depth; the proportions could be improved, and they don't really gel with each other.”
- “Also, there are no graphic options whatsoever; I get FPS drops every 10 seconds.”
- “Because it says that it requires 1GB of RAM and 512MB of graphics, I don't know the difference, but for some reason, when I open it, the game starts to go super slow.”
grinding
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features a grind-heavy experience typical of its genre, focusing on resource collection and construction, which some players find enjoyable once they acclimate to the mechanics. While the grinding can feel tedious, especially with a lack of engaging characters and satisfying gameplay loops, it offers a visually appealing world and a mix of farming and automation elements that may appeal to dedicated grinding enthusiasts. Overall, players have mixed feelings, with some appreciating the grind while others find it monotonous.
- “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.”
- “The thing with the moths, while tedious in its execution, was one step more inventive than the rest of the resource refining.”
- “This is a fun game though grindy, which seems to be the norm for this type of game; other than that, I enjoyed it.”
story
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
50%
21%
The story in "Prospector: The First Contract" is engaging and immersive, featuring a compelling narrative that keeps players invested as they explore diverse in-game worlds. The subtle storytelling enhances the experience, particularly during the protagonist's first mission, which leaves a lasting positive impression. Overall, the combination of captivating storyline and smooth gameplay contributes to a rich exploration of various planets.
- “The storyline is compelling enough to keep players invested, and the ability to explore various in-game worlds adds an exciting dimension to the experience.”
- “Story and setting (they are good at being subtle): here in 'Prospector: The First Contract', you are an intergalactic prospector on your first mission.”
- “Just, that sad emoji really gets to me that I don't destroy the incubators.”
- “So I removed all my missions.”
- “I really enjoyed playing and exploring the flora and fauna of different planets with a fascinating storyline.”
optimization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
20%
20%
The game currently faces significant optimization issues, leading to performance problems and crashes, especially when players build extensive machinery. Users express a desire for better optimization, particularly for low-resource PCs, and hope for improvements by the full release. Despite these issues, many still find the game enjoyable.
- “It would also be nice if it were better optimized for low-resource PCs (if necessary or can be done) like mine so that this game can be enjoyed to the fullest.”
- “Hoping for a better game performance on full release.”
- “Aside from some definite performance issues, it's a fun little game.”
- “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
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with a great soundtrack that complements the retro visuals and enhances the gameplay experience. However, some users feel that additional background music could improve the overall atmosphere, as the art could also use some refinement. Overall, the music contributes positively to the fun and engaging gameplay.
- “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
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is reported to have some bugs, indicating that stability is an issue; however, players remain optimistic about future improvements.
- “It's still a bit buggy, but I look forward to what the future holds for this.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by clever references to other games and amusing dialogue, which many players find entertaining and enjoyable.
- “I love all the references to other games, and the little conversations present in the game were quite funny.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game features vibrant colors and intricate details in its alien environments, contributing to a visually appealing and immersive 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
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the emotional aspect of the game to be heartwarming and uplifting, drawing comparisons to the wholesome experience of titles like Stardew Valley. The game's ability to evoke positive feelings and foster a sense of community is frequently highlighted.
- “A wholesome game, reminiscent of Stardew Valley.”
- “A wholesome game, reminiscent of Stardew Valley.”