Space Colony

Space Colony is a quirky and charming package that packs focus that previous sim games lack. While it’s clearly getting on in age, it’s still a timeless gem in some regards, and easy to recommend to those who have not yet played it.

79%Game Brain Score

story, graphics

grinding, replayability

79% User Score Based on 336 reviews

Critic Score 73%Based on 2 reviews

Platforms

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About

"Space Colony" is a real-time strategy simulation game where players build and manage a space colony, including constructing buildings, assigning tasks to colonists, and managing resources. The game offers a campaign mode with unique characters and challenges, as well as a sandbox mode for open-ended gameplay. The goal is to keep your colonists happy and productive, while defending against alien threats and expanding your colony.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 336 reviews

story17 positive mentions

grinding7 negative mentions

Space Colony is a nostalgic classic that combines humor, strategy, and character management, making it a fun experience for players.
The game features a unique blend of Sims-like character interactions and resource management, providing a challenging yet enjoyable gameplay experience.
The quirky characters and their distinct personalities add charm to the game, making it engaging and entertaining.

The game suffers from clunky controls and a dated interface, which can make gameplay frustrating at times.
There are issues with AI pathfinding and task management, leading to characters often neglecting their needs or failing to complete assigned tasks.
The lack of zoom functionality and the inability to rotate objects can hinder base-building and overall gameplay experience.

story
93 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
77%
4%
The game's story revolves around a diverse cast of characters navigating missions for a greedy space corporation, blending humor with a critique of capitalism. While the missions are engaging and varied, some players find them forced or gimmicky, and the lack of a cohesive narrative can detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the quirky characters and user-generated content add depth and replayability to the storyline.
- “It's not just nostalgia speaking; the characters are ridiculous, the story is very realistic (vicious capitalist space corporation), and the colony management aspect works well, especially considering it's one of the first of its kind.”
- “The characters are just as fun and quirky as I remember, and the missions and maps are complex and diverse.”
- “This game is very 'sims'-esque, but with a great story and missions.”
- “Ultimately what kills the appeal is the failure to develop a cohesive storyline.”
- “I played the first 'set' of the story campaign, and it ended briefly without any real conclusion - heck, the drive for the characters was about as vague as it gets.”
- “There is no real backstory on the characters, but I kept hoping for something more.”
graphics
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
71%
6%
The graphics of the game are generally considered dated, reflecting its 2000s origins, with a 2D isometric style that lacks modern polish and rotation capabilities. While some players appreciate the nostalgic charm and clarity of the visuals, others find them substandard compared to contemporary titles, noting that improvements could enhance the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, many still enjoy the game's aesthetic and find it visually appealing for its age, especially in the context of its engaging gameplay and immersive universe.
- “Essentially stronghold in space, music is immersive, graphics stood the test of time and gameplay for sure is joyous.”
- “It has hilarious conversations between very unique characters, graphics are really good considering its age, gameplay can be really fun and chill or extremely brutal depending on the level & planet you choose.”
- “With simple graphics that are cartoony and clear enough to have aged very well even without the HDification for the two re-releases, even now this game compares well with newer indie titles of similar themes.”
- “Don't go expecting graphics of today though, since this is a 2000s game.”
- “Graphics are substandard, gameplay tiring and unengaging, unless micromanagement is your thing.”
- “The selection of buildings and decorations is rather basic and graphics are by today's standards, quite dated.”
gameplay
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
69%
7%
The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, with some players enjoying its blend of simulation, city-building, and resource management mechanics, while others find it clunky and unrefined. Many appreciate the engaging universe and charming aesthetics, but criticisms include forced mission designs, micromanagement fatigue, and dated mechanics that detract from the overall experience. Despite its nostalgic appeal and fun elements, the gameplay can feel tedious and lacks the depth found in more modern titles.
- “Essentially a stronghold in space, the music is immersive, the graphics have stood the test of time, and the gameplay is truly joyous.”
- “With its engaging gameplay, immersive universe, and charming aesthetics, it's a game that will keep you coming back for more time and time again.”
- “Great blend of simulation, time management, city-building, strategy, and tower defense gameplay along with a distinct 90s space vibe.”
- “There's no way I can list out the main crucial problems with this game, and how its ill-refined gameplay combines together to create something uniquely irritating.”
- “The gameplay itself is not refined.”
- “Gameplay feels clunky and horribly dated, and while it is running fine on modern hardware, I can't say it is nearly as entertaining as I remember it being before.”
humor
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its wacky dialogue, unique characters, and funny voice acting, which often elicits laughter from players. While the comedic elements are charming and engaging, some reviewers noted that the humor can become repetitive as the gameplay shifts focus towards task management. Overall, the game successfully combines a quirky, cartoonish style with a dark sense of humor, making it an entertaining experience.
- “I recommend it, you may find yourself laughing sometimes too!”
- “The characters are freaking hilarious!”
- “It has hilarious conversations between very unique characters, graphics are really good considering it's age, gameplay can be really fun and chill or extremely brutal depending on the level & planet you choose.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
50%
21%
The music in the game is widely praised for its immersive quality, blending well with the graphics and gameplay to enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the nostalgic, old-school vibe of the menu music, as well as the upbeat techno soundtracks that complement the game's themes. Additionally, the character and alien sounds contribute to a lively atmosphere, making the music a standout feature that adds joy to the gameplay.
- “And I seriously love the music in the game, background music as well as the character and alien sounds.”
- “Music, sound, and artwork all blend well to create the feeling that you are managing the small space station in the infancy of colonizing a planet in the game story.”
- “The tacky yet amusing banter between odd-couple characters, the combination of 70s disco and elevator music, and the space creatures straight out of your favorite B horror movies.”
- “The menu music is very old school videogamey :d the gameplay is a little micromanagey but still fun.”
- “The tacky yet amusing banter between odd-couple characters, the combination of 70s disco and elevator music and the space creatures straight out of your favorite B horror movies.”
- “+ upbeat techno soundtracks that fit the game very well.”
grinding
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while some appreciate the depth of micromanagement and the strategic elements involved in resource gathering and relationship building, others criticize it as tedious and lacking intuitiveness. The reliance on cheats and community-created maps suggests that many players seek to alleviate the grind, indicating a desire for a more streamlined experience. Overall, the grinding can feel laborious and unengaging for some, while others enjoy the complexity it brings.
- “Thought the game was very tedious and not intuitive.”
- “Build a base with no entertainment, no sanitation, and no comforts at all, just grinding boring dangerous work.”
- “There is a lot more gameplay than my time shows, but I completed my achievements using the game's built-in cheats and all the lovely people who added maps in the workshop to help with the grinding ones.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
Reviews indicate that Firefly games suffer from significant optimization issues, leading to poor performance on modern systems, which has caused some players to stop supporting the developer. However, there are mentions of satisfactory performance on 4K screens for older titles.
- “The performance is pretty good on a 4K screen for such an old game as well.”
- “Game optimization is impressive, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
- “I appreciate how the developers have focused on performance, making the game run seamlessly.”
- “The reason I've stopped playing Firefly games is how poorly optimized their games are.”
- “I have decided to no longer support Firefly games due to their poor performance on modern systems and their refusal to provide updates.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game's replayability is considered moderate due to its static and linear challenges, which may limit long-term engagement. However, it offers a unique experience that avoids repetitiveness, and its longevity is enhanced by modern graphics and extensive user-generated content available through Steam, providing a vast universe to explore.
- “12 years later, it retains its replayability by stepping into the modern age with improved graphics, higher resolutions, and endless potential workshop content; an entire universe of planets to colonize, available only through Steam.”
- “It has only moderate replay value, since the challenges (although some are quite challenging) are fairly static and linear.”
- “I assume replayability will suffer because of this.”
- “The difficulty and replayability is there because while you might learn the game, it will never be repetitive.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report significant stability issues, including unclear object placement and problematic snapping behavior. Additionally, the game frequently crashes when tabbing out, sometimes freezing the entire Steam application without any recovery options or error messages.
- “Placing objects feels kind of buggy, where placement locations aren't clear and objects tend to snap along the boundaries of other objects to avoid collisions.”
- “Every time you tab out of it for anything, it crashes and sometimes freezes your entire Steam client.”
- “It freezes silently without recovery and no message in the system log or elsewhere.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express strong emotional connections to their gaming experiences, highlighting feelings of distress and urgency when faced with technical issues or in-game challenges. The emotional weight of isolation and the pressure of gameplay situations contribute to a deep sense of investment in their gaming journeys.
- “The day my disk finally stopped working for my OS, I cried and went on the hunt to find a digital copy.”
- “I'm having an emotional meltdown because no one is talking to me and the base is under attack; that is the last thing I'm worried about.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Character development in the game is criticized for being underwhelming, with poorly designed characters and simplistic storylines that fail to engage players, overshadowed by a slow-paced mission management system.
- “What I thought looked like a 'SimCity' in space colony builder turned out to be an extremely slow mission manager. Instead of generic workers of industry, the creators seem to have decided to stuff some poor character design and barebones story scripts in between everything else done badly.”
- “The character development feels shallow and uninspired, making it hard to connect with anyone in the game.”
- “I was expecting rich backstories and meaningful interactions, but instead, the characters are one-dimensional and forgettable.”