Space Prison
- July 18, 2024
- Wooden Alien
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam"Space Prison" is a survival RPG set in a space-based penal colony, where players must navigate the prison's social hierarchy, engage in tactical combat, and make use of various items and space rats to aid in their escape. Players can choose from three races and criminal skills, join one of two gangs, and build relationships with unique inmates. Death is not the end, as players will be reborn and given another chance to escape.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a unique and engaging setting with great art style and atmosphere, reminiscent of titles like Darkest Dungeon.
- The crafting system is intuitive and resource management adds depth to the gameplay, making it enjoyable and rewarding.
- The humor and character-driven quests enhance the experience, providing a fun and light-hearted take on the prison theme.
- Combat can feel repetitive and lacks depth, often reducing to spamming the same abilities without strategic variety.
- The game suffers from some bugs and quality of life issues, such as tedious inventory management and limited hotkeys for combat actions.
- Progression can be grindy, with some players feeling that the game lacks balance and becomes monotonous over time.
- story74 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game's story is centered around a simple premise of escaping a space prison, but it excels through engaging character-specific quests that showcase dark humor and unique inmate personalities. Players appreciate the lack of a traditional leveling system, as progression is tied to story missions and interactions with various prison gangs, encouraging multiple playthroughs to experience different narratives. Overall, the humor, well-written quests, and immersive art style contribute to a captivating storytelling experience that keeps players invested.
“What this game does excellently is introducing the inmates in the gang of your choosing and the funny ways their quest lines end, either with a change somewhere in the prison or on the inmate himself.”
“Each inmate has a unique, often hilarious personal quest line, showcasing the game’s dark humor brilliantly.”
“The story here is more a context for the game to happen, but the semi-side-main quests used to progress the events are well written and engaging.”
“It was pretty easy to avoid dying, but then I got a quest where I was forced to die and be reborn, and suddenly I wasn't playing the character I had made at the beginning of the game anymore, through no fault of my own, which was pretty disappointing.”
“I would love this game, this world, this art, this everything, but expect it to be expanded upon to be more of a game and a story than just an outrageous amount of entropy mechanics.”
- gameplay47 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally well-received for its enjoyable mechanics and art style, offering a fun combat experience and a solid gameplay loop that encourages resource management and quest progression. However, some players find the combat repetitive due to limited tactical options and small movement areas, alongside a desire for more strategic depth and improved user interface elements. While the game starts slowly, many reviewers suggest it opens up and becomes more engaging as players progress, despite some bugs and balance issues.
“Ever since Neuromancer on the Amiga, I have been partial to these simple interaction/combat games where you work multiple story/quest lines to progress and unlock stages to completion. This one is very well done with art style and complementary mechanics that are easy enough to play and don't become overly tedious.”
“The gameplay loop is not very repetitive, as you can quickly go through missions and places to do. It didn't take long for my first win.”
“Beautiful game, very well done atmosphere, easy mechanics to understand which makes the gameplay very enjoyable.”
“The combat has some push/pull mechanics and abilities, and several consumable inventory items that can be found or crafted, but with the small, obstacle-riddled movement field, it can get repetitive.”
“A big issue is that the game mechanics are pretty rudimentary and are not balanced well.”
“The area for each turn-based fight is just too small; it's often the same every time you get into a fight, and it is too frequently littered with environmental hazards. The fights don't feel very tactical, and the overall gameplay is repetitive - very repetitive.”
- graphics32 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their beautiful, hand-drawn art style and impressive aesthetics, which include a pleasing color palette and engaging character designs. Many players appreciate the comic book-inspired visuals and the overall artistic presentation, although some express a desire for more variety in combat animations. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's appeal, enhancing the immersive experience.
“The aesthetics are impressive, and the color palette is easy on the eyes.”
“Very glad I purchased it :) The art style for one is gorgeous, and I believe it's all hand-drawn as well.”
“If you like resource management survival games with tactical combat and a fantastic comic book art style, I highly recommend you give this one a look.”
“Boring aesthetic (stabbing people with shanks and using literal rats as party members, lame), boring constant inventory management.”
“I love the graphics; my only gripe is that I wish you could see the weapon that's equipped instead of using the same combat animation.”
“Boring combat (basically just spamming the same ability every fight, no synergies, even poison/bleed-immune enemies to make 'just always punch' the best strategy even if more abilities did exist).”
- humor20 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its clever and humorous writing, featuring hilarious collectible posters and witty dialogues that enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the unique and often comical quest lines of the inmates, which showcase a blend of dark humor and lighthearted moments without undermining the serious setting. Overall, the humor is a standout aspect that adds charm to the game's sci-fi prison environment.
“The collectible in-game posters were hilarious; I love the art style.”
“What this game does excellently is introducing the inmates in the gang of your choosing and the funny ways their quest lines end, either with a change somewhere in the prison or on the inmate himself.”
“Each inmate has a unique, often hilarious personal quest line, showcasing the game’s dark humor brilliantly.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 10 % neutral mentions
- 80 % negative mentions
Reviews on the grinding aspect of the game are mixed; some players appreciate the grind as enjoyable and well-integrated with the game's mechanics, while others find it tedious and boring, particularly due to inventory management issues. The resource management is generally seen as manageable, but the repetitive nature of collecting items can lead to frustration for some players. Overall, the experience of grinding varies significantly among users, with a divide between those who embrace it and those who feel it detracts from the gameplay.
“The resource management is not grindy, and it's easy to get the items and parameters you want.”
“In my opinion, it gets super grindy really fast and with it unfortunately boring. I'm 9 hours in and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to force myself to finish it.”
“It's just really tedious being inventory restricted in a game that wants you to collect 1-2 at a time of a few different things on each map and somehow also have room for the things you're crafting.”
“The inventory management can be tedious at times, but once you get some followers, you can stack them with combat items and armor/weapons.”
- atmosphere8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of "Space Prison" is highly praised, with reviewers noting its captivating setting that blends elements reminiscent of titles like "Citizen Sleeper," "Griftlands," and "Gothic" (2001). The game's beautiful visuals and immersive atmospherics significantly enhance the overall experience, making it a standout feature alongside its accessible gameplay mechanics.
“Hands down, the setting and atmospherics are what makes this title.”
“The atmosphere is as if Citizen Sleeper, Griftlands, and Gothic (2001) had a lovechild in space.”
“The atmosphere feels as if Citizen Sleeper, Griftlands, and Gothic (2001) had a lovechild in space.”
“Beautiful game, very well done atmosphere, easy mechanics to understand which makes the gameplay very enjoyable.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game offers solid replayability through multiple faction quests and a randomized experience, requiring at least four playthroughs to fully explore all content. Additionally, the inclusion of a 'broken collar' mode provides further incentive for players seeking more challenges. However, some players express a desire for an additional game mode to enhance replay value after completing the main storylines.
“There is replayability at least two times due to the different faction quests, but I think it would be really neat if there was a game mode unlocked after completing both storylines.”
“There's a decent replayability factor with the randomization each playthrough, and you'll need at least 4 playthroughs to see everything.”
“There's also some replayability there with the 'broken collar' mode, if you wish for more.”
- character development2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight that the character development is visually appealing, with praise for the ambient design, character aesthetics, and animation quality, all contributing to an engaging experience.
- music2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The combat soundtrack is noted for its catchy beat, though it lacks innovation and doesn't stand out as particularly groundbreaking.
“The combat soundtrack isn't revolutionary, but it has a nice beat to it.”
“The combat soundtrack isn't anything revolutionary, but it has a nice beat to it.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game demonstrates excellent stability, with users reporting smooth performance on devices like the Legion 5 and no encountered glitches or bugs.
