Starship Traveller

About

"Starship Traveller" is a sci-fi PC game where you captain the starship Traveller, thrown into an unknown universe after passing through a black hole. Your mission is to find a way back to Earth while encountering alien races and planets. The game features physics-based dice rolling for battles, auto-mapping, and an auto-updated adventure sheet to keep track of your progress.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

59%

Audience ScoreBased on 128 reviews

story10 positive mentions

replayability3 negative mentions

The game captures the spirit of classic sci-fi adventures, reminiscent of Star Trek, providing a nostalgic experience for fans of the genre.
The presentation, including music and artwork, is well-executed, enhancing immersion and complementing the narrative.
The game offers a variety of choices and interactions, allowing players to engage with different alien races and explore multiple paths, making it enjoyable for fans of Choose Your Own Adventure books.

The gameplay can feel repetitive and linear, with many choices leading to similar outcomes, which may diminish replayability.
The writing lacks depth and can be overly simplistic, failing to provide a compelling narrative or character development.
Some technical issues, such as bugs and convoluted user interface, detract from the overall experience, making it less enjoyable for players seeking a polished game.

story
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
64%
16%
The story is a straightforward space exploration narrative reminiscent of Star Trek, featuring a captain navigating through a black hole to return home. While it captures the spirit of classic sci-fi, many reviewers found the plot weak and repetitive, with limited impact from player choices. Despite its engaging premise and interactive elements, the overall execution leaves much to be desired, often resulting in a tedious experience.
- “Amazing music, art style, and story; this one has it all!”
- “The story is simple but interesting, as are the situations you encounter, although the difficulty can be a bit on the hard side given the exploratory nature of the narrative.”
- “Pretty solid hour or so branching story where you get to send away teams and figure out ways to get your ship and crew back across the galaxy through a black hole.”
- “Tedious multiple initial dice rolls which are inconsequential and lead to a poor, fractured storyline.”
- “After the first few playthroughs, you will learn quickly that your choices seem to mean little and the story is not random, so you will be picking from the same choices again and again after you die.”
- “It's a kid's book; don't expect character development or plot twists.”
graphics
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
59%
8%
The graphics of the game are a mix of nostalgia and modernity, featuring redesigned and colored artwork that pays homage to the original 80s text-based games. While some players appreciate the revamped visuals and unique integration of art into the narrative, others criticize the graphics as unoriginal and repetitive, expressing disappointment over the lack of animations and dynamic elements. Overall, the visual presentation garners mixed reviews, with some praising its aesthetic while others find it lacking in creativity and depth.
- “The artwork and the text are the exact same as the original book from the 80s, but this time they're colored!”
- “The gameplay is just as it was all those years ago, and although the original artwork has been redesigned with new, colorful illustrations, it complements the game perfectly.”
- “Unlike Tin Man's House of Hell and Forest of Doom, which I tried first, Starship Traveller has had the artwork redrawn, not just colored.”
- “The game is reminiscent of old text-based games of the early 80s, when computer graphics weren't really anything beyond what a Commodore 64 could offer.”
- “Thought I'd give it a go, but the graphics are unimaginative and repetitive; the gameplay is non-existent.”
- “Admittedly, Peter Andrew Jones' artwork seemed to lack detail, but I'd have liked it all the same.”
music
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
25%
15%
The music in the game is highly praised for its quality and immersive qualities, effectively complementing the sci-fi theme and enhancing the overall experience. Many reviewers noted its resemblance to iconic soundtracks from "Star Trek," particularly highlighting the work of composer Ryan Grogan. While some expressed a desire for voice acting, the combination of engaging music and visuals is seen as a significant strength, setting this game apart from typical choose-your-own-adventure stories.
- “The music and the presentation are top-notch; it matches perfectly with the book and really helps immerse you. This is a big plus since otherwise, it's exactly the same as reading the book.”
- “Amazing music, art style, and story; this one has it all!”
- “The music and graphics are superb, and fit perfectly with the atmosphere and sci-fi theme.”
- “The background music by Ryan Grogan is predictably Star Trek-like, with the title screen and ending music specifically resembling Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Prokofiev's 'Troika'.”
- “The background music by Ryan Grogan is predictably Star Trek-like, with the title screen and ending music specifically resembling Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Prokofiev's 'Troika'.”
- “The background music by Ryan Grogan is predictably Star Trek-like, with the title screen and ending music specifically resembling Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Prokofiev's 'Troika'.”
gameplay
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
The gameplay offers a mix of nostalgia and modern tweaks, allowing players to set their own pace while navigating challenges related to crew and spaceship stats, though some find it redundant and lacking impact on survival. While the redesigned artwork enhances the experience, criticisms include unoriginal graphics and a sense of repetitiveness. Overall, players appreciate the narrative choices and emotional weight of crew dynamics, with some rating the gameplay highly despite its flaws.
- “The game works properly in full screen and has a variety of gameplay tweaks to let you pick your own pace.”
- “The gameplay is just as it was (all those years ago!) and although the original artwork has been redesigned with new, color illustrations, it complements the game perfectly.”
- “Options during gameplay give you a feel of having an impact on the story, and you feel bad when one of your crew dies.”
- “The gameplay might be redundant even from a gamebook perspective, in the sense that you need to take into consideration the stats of every crew member (let alone the spaceship itself) even though it barely makes a difference for your survival.”
- “Thought I'd give it a go but the graphics are unimaginative and repetitive, the gameplay non-existent.”
- “Many of the challenges come from the nature of the planets you visit or from mechanical malfunctions.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with users highlighting the superb music and graphics that effectively complement the sci-fi theme. These elements contribute significantly to creating an immersive experience, enhancing the overall ambiance the developer aims to achieve.
- “The music and graphics are superb, and fit perfectly with the atmosphere and sci-fi theme.”
- “Having these additions is a nice change of pace and helps to establish the atmosphere the developer is trying to create.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
Players express mixed feelings about replayability; while some find the game engaging enough to motivate multiple playthroughs, others note its short length limits overall replay value.
- “I have yet to beat the game, but I am enjoying the replay value a lot; the game makes me want to beat it!”
- “The game is quite short, offering little in terms of replayability.”
- “It's a brief experience with minimal reasons to play again.”
- “The short length of the game results in very limited replay value.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly due to the repetitive nature of the initial dice rolls, which feel inconsequential and contribute to a disjointed storyline.
- “Tedious multiple initial dice rolls that feel inconsequential and contribute to a poorly fractured storyline.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the game has been criticized for being buggy, leading many users to feel that it is not worth the investment.
- “Buggy and not worth the money.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The reviews indicate that the character development in the game is minimal, as it is primarily aimed at a younger audience, and players should not anticipate significant growth or plot twists.
- “It's a kid's book; don't expect character development or plot twists.”