Spacebase Startopia

Spacebase Startopia is a complex management-sim, but once everything clicks there's plenty of fun to be had. It'll take time to learn everything, and the camera can be annoying, but it's still enjoyable.

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In Spacebase Startopia, manage a space station and its diverse alien inhabitants, maintaining operational efficiency and peace among them. Experience a blend of base-building, real-time strategy, and simulation, as you oversee various facilities, including living quarters, recreational areas, and production rooms. Engage in entertaining missions, face adversaries, and make crucial decisions that will determine the fate of your thriving intergalactic community.

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Reviews

47%

Audience ScoreBased on 363 reviews

gameplay20 positive mentions

story7 negative mentions

The game captures the essence of the original Startopia with updated graphics and mechanics.
The variety of alien races and buildings adds depth to the gameplay.
The new research and factory systems provide interesting gameplay dynamics.

The AI assistant's voice is annoying and lacks the charm of the original.
Gameplay can feel repetitive and lacks meaningful variation between missions.
Numerous bugs and performance issues hinder the overall experience.

story
129 mentions
4 % positive mentions
91 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting that the campaign feels like a repetitive rehash of the original game's missions, lacking depth and engaging narrative. While some missions introduce new elements and challenges, others are criticized for being too short and uninspired, often leading to a sense of tedium. Additionally, the humor and character interactions that once added charm to the original are seen as lacking or overly repetitive in the new version, leaving players wanting a more compelling and varied storyline.
- “Things were coming to life before my eyes mission by mission, and slowly the core of the game came out and before I knew it I was well and truly hooked. There really is something satisfying about playing this game.”
- “The campaign is a chain of narrative missions where you get introduced to the different aspects of the game, starting with recycling garbage, then setting up medical bays, and so on.”
- “Each campaign mission has you do something different, from recycling a certain amount of energy to healing a certain number of sick aliens to rehabilitating a certain number of criminals.”
- “The campaign is, mission for mission, just a copy/paste of the original game's missions; in the first mission you recycle, in the second you build a hospital, in the third you establish prisons, etc. In addition, you can clearly tell which aliens are supposed to be their counterparts from the original.”
- “There is barely any story or dialogue in the game, and what little there is is simply awful, especially the ending.”
- “The campaign is on the short side, which I do find a little lacking as the original was, after all, single-player campaign and story-driven.”
gameplay
99 mentions
20 % positive mentions
67 % neutral mentions
13 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players citing significant bugs, poorly designed mechanics, and frustrating micromanagement as major drawbacks. While some appreciate the nostalgic elements and improvements over the original, others find the experience repetitive and lacking in depth, with a confusing interface and pacing issues. Overall, the gameplay is seen as a blend of interesting concepts marred by execution problems, leaving many players disappointed.
- “The O2 mechanic adds a bit of 'puzzle-solving' to your station's design, which I liked.”
- “The gameplay is accessible to a wide audience, including more casual players who don't have the time, patience, or interest in more detailed management sims.”
- “The gameplay is true to the original, with a few gameplay mechanics added.”
- “Overall, the design, voices, music, and gameplay felt unfinished, almost like a pre-beta version.”
- “Overall, as a game this isn't fun to play, the difficulty spike and micromanagement are dreadful (especially since there's no pause to enable making the micromanagement less overwhelming when things get complex), it's riddled with bugs, a whole bunch of shockingly bad game design choices, mechanics, UX and UI abominations.”
- “What a let down, confusing, not funny and totally meh gameplay, would not recommend.”
graphics
94 mentions
33 % positive mentions
57 % neutral mentions
10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the cute art style and vibrant colors, while others criticize it for being overly simplistic or distracting. Many reviewers note that despite the graphical updates, the game suffers from bugs and performance issues, leading to a perception that it is a downgrade from the original. Overall, while the visuals are often described as appealing, they are frequently overshadowed by gameplay and technical shortcomings.
- “Great comedy, great graphics, and great fun all around!!”
- “The graphics and animations in Spacebase Startopia are great!”
- “The visuals are fantastic; it's a lot of fun to zoom in and watch the aliens and critters walk around, pet cats, or throw tantrums.”
- “The animation and art style is cute, but if this is the quality three years after release, it will clearly never even reach the point of being 'ok'.”
- “The graphics have been bumped up, but simultaneously lost all their charm.”
- “The graphics are decent but due to design choices it actually feels like a downgrade.”
humor
77 mentions
88 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
12 % negative mentions
The humor in the game has received largely negative feedback, with many players finding it forced, unoriginal, and often cruel rather than funny. Critics note that the new AI character lacks the charm and wit of the original, relying on repetitive insults that fail to entertain. While some appreciate the attempt at humor, it generally falls flat, leaving players disappointed compared to the original's clever writing and engaging character interactions.
- “It had a lot of heart, goofy British humor, and really fun scenarios.”
- “Very chill game, the comments of the AI are hilarious and a bit offensive (but mostly hilarious).”
- “Val is so goddamn funny, I'm constantly chuckling and on occasion, full-on laughing out loud because of an insult-compliment she's thrown my way.”
- “Val is breathtakingly unfunny and basically only has one joke, namely that you are bad at your job and slow and stupid.”
- “The AI keeps talking without end in a cringy and unfunny way and often interrupts itself because its 20 seconds long pointless monologue doesn't end before the next pointless monologue starts.”
- “I hate to say it, but the opening cutscene was forced and unfunny.”
music
46 mentions
22 % positive mentions
72 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying the catchy tunes and funky beats, while others criticize it for being inconsistent and plagued by sound bugs. Many appreciate the homage to the original game's soundtrack, but note that technical issues often disrupt the experience, leading to moments where music and sound effects cut out entirely. Overall, while the music has potential and is enjoyable for some, it suffers from significant audio glitches that detract from the gameplay experience.
- “And I can't deny that I've been humming the music while outside; the fun deck beats have burrowed deep into my ears at this point.”
- “The new soundtrack, while it certainly isn't the moody and sci-fi music from Startopia, has a lot going for it.”
- “Sound effects are awesome, music is top notch and fitting.”
- “Overall, the design, voices, music, and gameplay felt unfinished, almost like a pre-beta version.”
- “The music and sound bugs.”
- “The voice-over work and music are incredibly poor and lazy, especially with the voice-overs.”
optimization
29 mentions
10 % positive mentions
55 % neutral mentions
34 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues, particularly as the game progresses and bases grow larger. Many users experience lag, stuttering, and UI freezes, which detract significantly from the overall experience. Despite some potential in the gameplay, the lack of ongoing support for optimization and quality of life improvements has left many feeling frustrated and unable to recommend the game.
- “Research improves the performance of facilities rather than just simply making them cheaper to produce.”
- “With this pacing, the game could really have done with some customizability and optimization tools for us to fiddle, or ways to interact with the station visitors and residents while waiting for the various subsystems like trade and research to come into play.”
- “Personally, I really like this game and think there was great potential, but I am irritated that they decided not to continue work on this project to fix some of the performance issues and add some quality of life improvements to it.”
- “This game has terrible optimization issues where the whole game chugs trying to access your employee menu.”
- “It's been more than half a year and it's still very poorly optimized.”
- “Though as soon as your base gets large, performance will make it almost unplayable.”
stability
25 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with users reporting frequent crashes, laggy interfaces, and numerous audio and graphical glitches. Many players describe the experience as unresponsive and buggy, suggesting that it feels more like an early access title rather than a polished release. Overall, the game's stability issues significantly detract from the gameplay experience, leading to frustration among users.
- “However, I've found the game extremely buggy with random crashes happening a lot more than expected.”
- “It's just not that stable, quite buggy and will crash a bit; tired of being kicked to desktop.”
- “Makes me feel bad playing it with the amount of constant mini-freezes and audio bugs that come up.”
grinding
7 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly due to the management of station needs and the similarity of missions. While some appreciate the visual improvements and simplifications from the original, many feel that the unlocking mechanics and marathon sessions can lead to a monotonous experience. However, taking the game in smaller chunks can provide a more enjoyable experience, as each mission introduces slight variations.
- “Now it's the same - but now with mechs killing as many mechs as possible in the first attack - then grinding to the core, before they build more of them.”
- “The missions are very much the same, but expand on new things, which is okay, but I find the whole unlocking thing tedious.”
- “It does grow a little tedious and repetitive if you play a marathon session, but if you take it in chunks, each mission brings a little extra to the game.”
atmosphere
6 mentions
33 % positive mentions
17 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is described as colorful and engaging, with strong sound effects and animation reminiscent of its predecessor, Startopia. However, some players criticize the new atmosphere system as superficial and feel that the campaign lacks depth, leading to a disjointed experience. Additionally, the excessive interactivity of certain elements detracts from the overall ambiance, making it feel overwhelming at times.
- “The original Startopia was not a perfect game but was still a masterpiece in terms of sound effects, narration, animation, and atmosphere.”
- “There is a colorful atmosphere.”
- “This game does nothing to iterate on the formula besides a slapped-on atmosphere system and better combat (which sandbox players probably turned off anyways).”
- “The graphics are cute, but I find some parts are just too interactive - don't get me wrong, I don't mind the atmosphere cleanser to move and wiggle and blow clouds, but not everything in that station has to move and wiggle and blink... even the doors of the lift keep wiggling... a bit much?!”
- “It has a different atmosphere and gameplay.”
monetization
5 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The monetization of the game has been criticized as a low-quality cash grab, with users expressing frustration over its overpriced nature and the presence of ads through a problematic launcher. While some acknowledge that effort has been made in the game's development, many feel it ultimately disrespects fans of the original title due to its early release and numerous bugs.
- “This game is a low quality cash grab.”
- “The graphics are nice and the game runs fairly smoothly, but this is what it is, another Kalypso cash grab released too early, full of bugs and pacing issues and horrendously overpriced.”
- “The game feels like a quick cash grab and a slap in the face of the fans from the original game.”
replayability
4 mentions
50 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find it incredibly detailed with thousands of hours of potential playtime, others feel that single-player experiences become repetitive due to limited building options and character control. Overall, outside of the campaign, replay value is considered minimal.
- “Incredibly detailed with thousands of hours of replay value!”
- “It's charming, and extremely replayable.”
- “Replayability (in single player at least) is minimal in my opinion since you only make one of each building and... voila.”
- “Outside of the campaign, the game has very little replayability as you're building the same buildings in the same build order every game and have very limited character control.”
emotional
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Users express a sense of emotional frustration due to design choices that create barriers, both physically and metaphorically, within the game. The nostalgia for the original Startopia is palpable, as players feel a disconnect between their expectations and the current experience, leading to a mix of disappointment and longing.
- “Many of the design choices that were made hurt me both emotionally and physically; it still feels and plays like the old Startopia.”