Stellar Settlers: Arrival
- March 11, 2024
- Burak Tokak
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Get on itch.io Store"Stellar Settlers: Arrival" is a relaxing space base-building and colony simulation game where you manage a settlement on procedurally generated alien planets with unique challenges. Build a physics-based spaceship to escape hostile environments and travel to different planets. Manage resources, recruit skilled settlers, and make strategic choices to ensure your colony's survival and progression. *Relaxing base-building and colony simulation *Procedurally generated alien planets *Physics-based spaceship design and escape *Strategic resource management and settler recruitment
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Reviews
- The game has a relaxing atmosphere and is enjoyable for players looking for a chill experience.
- There is potential for creativity in building and resource management, making it fun to experiment with different structures.
- The developers are responsive to feedback and are actively working on updates and improvements.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and stability issues, including crashes and a poor save system.
- Gameplay can feel shallow and repetitive, with a lack of engaging challenges or threats to manage.
- The user interface is poorly designed, making it difficult to navigate and understand the game's mechanics.
- gameplay16 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The gameplay features an intriguing vertical building mechanic that adds a unique twist to the city-building genre; however, many players find it shallow and feel the game is unfinished, particularly criticizing the lack of pause functionality for building placement. While some enjoy the smooth and relaxing experience, others express disappointment with the overall depth and enjoyment of the mechanics, suggesting that improvements are needed.
“On the one hand, the ability to build vertically is a very interesting mechanic for the city-building or base-building genre.”
“Gameplay was smooth without a major issue, congrats to the team!”
“For the game itself, the concept is interesting and the music and gameplay are relaxing.”
“On the other hand, the gameplay is quite shallow, the vertical building is essentially a gimmick, and overall the game feels unfinished - what kind of management-building game does not allow the player to place buildings when paused?”
“This is not a game; there is no gameplay.”
“I do not expect Kerbal Space Program's rocket mechanics, but the RNG part of launching is not enjoyable.”
- graphics16 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The game's graphics feature a charming art style and pleasant animations, which many players appreciate, though some express a desire for more dynamic elements like moving buildings. However, there are concerns about technical issues, such as crashes affecting graphics drivers, and mixed feelings about certain design choices that detract from the overall aesthetic experience. While the visuals are deemed adequate, they are not compelling enough to elevate the gameplay significantly.
“Cool art style, nice little animations. I would love for more moving buildings, but it's definitely heading in the right direction.”
“Graphically, it’s at an adequate level.”
“The art style is lovely.”
“I enjoyed what I did play up until I tried to close it and the game blew up my graphics drivers, which I had to repair and install again.”
“I don't mind the lower tier graphics; I just wish the game would obey its own rules.”
“Something that many developers like to ignore these days is the mindset of 'as long as the game works, UI and visuals can be ignored until we manage to finish the game', usually resulting in ugly UI forever.”
- music10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as calming and relaxing, contributing positively to the gameplay experience. However, some players find the repetition of the tracks annoying, suggesting that a more varied or energetic soundtrack could enhance the overall atmosphere. While the slow and somber tones are appreciated by some, there is a desire for a more cheerful approach to match the game's themes.
“I love the calming music the game has even as a meteor is about to strike my buildings!”
“For the game itself, the concept is interesting and the music and gameplay are relaxing.”
“The music is slow and somber, and I feel like it could be a little more cheerful or energetic.”
“This game is too relaxed, too chill, and this was the first time I got really annoyed by the repetition of the music.”
“The music is slow and somber and I feel like it could be a little more cheerful or energetic.”
“The music is too repetitive and lacks variety, making it hard to stay engaged.”
- stability8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent glitches affecting gameplay mechanics, such as resource management and structure destruction. Players report persistent freezing, particularly during resource updates, and erratic behavior from in-game units like rovers and drones. While some minor glitches are acknowledged, the developers are reportedly aware and working on fixes.
“Lots of glitches, floods that are supposed to only destroy first level structures will also destroy upper level structures instead. Heavy rain that is supposed to only damage upper level structures will also destroy lower level structures. The main headquarters has a built-in storage door, but the rovers have no idea how to use it. Sometimes the rover factory will glitch out and have over 8 rovers, some functional, others imaginary.”
“Terribly optimized for a game this size; my game freezes every 2 seconds when the resource ticker goes up.”
“There are some minor glitches (transport and mining drones may stop their animations after a while, but they're still working), but you can overlook it, and the devs are aware and working on finding the culprit of the behavior.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while some enjoy the resource farming that allows for quick progression to the end game, others feel that managing settlers and their morale can become tedious and stressful. Overall, the game is seen as fun but could benefit from better balancing to enhance the late-game experience.
“Figuring out where your settlers with low morale are to grab them and put them in a building that ups their morale (or just putting settlers in any other building, really) can be a bit tedious.”
“A bit tedious at times and needs some more balancing to smooth out late game, but there's definitely something interesting here!”
“It's fun, although at times a bit grindy and stressful - overall feels well balanced to me.”
- story6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The story involves a central mission to launch a rocket, but players report significant bugs that hinder progress, particularly with the rocket launch itself. Additionally, there are multiple settler missions that require tedious management, as players must manually assign settlers to pods despite the game indicating they are already assigned. Overall, the narrative experience is marred by technical issues that disrupt gameplay.
“The biggest issue is that you have to launch the rocket to finish the mission, but the rocket launch is bugged.”
“There are multiple settler missions outside of the one that you get when you first meet them.”
“When a new mission arrived to assign all settlers to pods, even though all of them were assigned, I had to detach and reassign all of them one by one.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its calming and relaxing atmosphere, effectively combining elements of creativity and exploration within its base-building and strategy mechanics. This serene environment enhances the overall gameplay experience, making it enjoyable and immersive.
“It's a base building, strategy game that beautifully blends creativity and exploration, all wrapped up in a calming atmosphere.”
“It has a relaxing atmosphere.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Players feel that while there are opportunities for optimizing resource gain, the lack of motivation and diminishing resources can make it feel more rewarding to disengage from the game rather than invest effort into optimization.
“I could have optimized my resource gain somehow, but with the dwindling amount of real estate and no real impetus to 'go faster', it was easier to just walk away for a while.”
“I'm sure if I had applied myself really hard, I could have optimized my resource gain somehow, but with the dwindling amount of real estate and no real impetus to 'go faster,' it was easier to just walk away for a while.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players note that the emotional experience in the game is chaotic and lacks direction, mirroring the unpredictability of real life. However, this instability can be frustrating as it does not provide a clear sense of progress or achievement.
