Stellar Tactics

About

Stellar Tactics is a single player open world role playing game with a post-apocalyptic theme. It was developed by Don Wilkins and was released on March 30, 2026. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

A classic Sci-Fi RPG set in the harsh environment of deep space. Gather your team, equip your ship and explore the far reaches of deep space. Bringing back the nostalgia, excitement and wonder of classic RPG's, Stellar Tactics will thrill you with a compelling narrative, deep strategic turn based ground combat system and rewarding open world space exploration. Build your team, equip your ship, ex…

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79%Audience ScoreBased on 1,295 reviews

story130 positive mentions

grinding72 negative mentions

Huge, open-ended procedural universe offers great freedom and replayability.
Deep tactical turn-based squad combat with satisfying character progression and equipment customization.
Engaging blend of space exploration, ship combat, ground combat, mining, crafting, and trading systems.
Dedicated developer with frequent updates and good community engagement.
Classless skill progression system encourages experimentation and role versatility.
A rare, solo-developed passion project with remarkable scope and ambition.

Early access with many bugs, crashes, and technical issues affecting gameplay.
Repetitive mission design, especially dungeon layouts and combat encounters.
Slow movement, long loading times, and tedious travel detract from experience.
Space combat controls can be clunky and unintuitive for some players.
Ground combat lacks cover system and tactical depth compared to similar games.
Some UI and inventory management issues hurt accessibility and enjoyment.

story
651 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
75%
5%
The story serves as an engaging sci-fi backdrop centered on a galaxy threatened by a mysterious plague, offering a well-written but somewhat standard "chosen one" narrative that unfolds through an initial prologue before opening up into a vast, player-driven sandbox. While the main storyline is praised for its depth and intriguing plot twists, it remains incomplete and lightly integrated, with much of the game focusing on exploration, procedural missions, and player-created narratives; some players find the story slow-moving or repetitive, and quest guidance can be unclear, but overall it adds meaningful context without forcing linear progression.
- “There is a full sci‑fi storyline here involving the phage and it’s genuinely interesting, but what I love is that the game never forces you down that path.”
- “It's a game that strives to deliver a fully-realized universe where the player is free to shape their own path—from trading and mining to bounty hunting and story-driven combat encounters.”
- “While there is a core storyline in place, the game quickly opens up, allowing the player to disengage from the main narrative and pursue any number of side activities.”
- “The mission layout is different in every mission, thanks to its procedurally generated tactical map, but after several hours the missions run together and you realize there are only about 8-10 variants, making them repetitive.”
- “The story is very limited and quickly becomes a sandbox where you bounce around doing repetitive quests such as 'go kill this guy' or 'clear this dungeon'; the procedural generation takes the heart out of the narrative.”
- “The story is slow moving and once you start exploring, fighting, and upgrading your ship, the main plot falls by the wayside, with little guidance on what to do or where to go next.”
gameplay
249 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
69%
6%
The gameplay offers a richly detailed blend of turn-based tactical ground combat and real-time space battles, with deep RPG mechanics and extensive customization options. While many players appreciate its complexity, depth, and ambitious scope, common criticisms include slow pacing, tedious grinding, clunky controls, and UI issues that can detract from the experience. Despite its rough edges and early access status, the gameplay provides a solid foundation with rewarding tactical depth for those willing to invest time navigating its learning curve and occasional bugs.
- “It's an amazing game due to the fact that it has a wealth of features, a semi-decent story (the writing isn't stellar, but that's alright), multiple, fleshed-out gameplay loops such as turn-based tactical combat, real-time ship-to-ship combat, exploration, trade, and much more — and it does each of those things pretty darn well.”
- “The gameplay is a nice mix between X-com and Starpoint Gemini; you travel between planets/star systems in your spaceship fighting real-time battles and fight through ground encounters with your chosen squad members in turn-based battles.”
- “At its core, the gameplay loop revolves around assembling a squad, outfitting them with equipment, and managing a spaceship that serves as both transport and base of operations.”
- “Space combat skills level up far too slow (intelligence does nothing and the +20% in the gameplay options is not enough).”
- “The galaxy map is 10 times too big for what the gameplay and GUI need (there is an artificial limit for quick travel, yet the places you need to go are outside of this limit, forcing you to waste 5-10 minutes flying in FTL and more time flying in-system).”
- “Crafting, trading and mining is locked behind pointless time-consuming grinding (even when max speed is selected in gameplay settings).”
graphics
136 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
64%
10%
The game's graphics are generally considered dated and uneven, with visuals reminiscent of late 90s to early 2010s styles that fit its utilitarian, indie aesthetic. Space scenes and some environmental designs receive praise for atmosphere and detail, but character models, animations, and UI are often described as stiff or unimpressive. While some find the graphics serviceable and fitting the gameplay, others see them as a major downside, noting sluggish performance and lack of polish despite ongoing updates.
- “The visuals and character movements have gotten sharper and smoother, as have the little details like reflections and different burst fires from different weapons.”
- “The graphics and world assets are solid and particularly impressive given that one person is developing this game.”
- “The graphics in space are beautiful but the orbitals and bases all have the same look, including the K'chor (which I assume are aliens although all their NPCs are humanoid).”
- “Unfortunately, I got this game based on all the reviews but what no one mentioned was the graphics look like from 2005 and the special effects of weapons etc. were horrible. I got through about 40 minutes of the tutorial and the graphics and sound effects were so dated I couldn't do it. I'm not sure why so many new games are using these old style really aged graphics. I get indie game, but seriously, can't do it.”
- “The game runs very slowly for the slightly under average graphics.”
- “1) Whole engine is in very bad shape - sluggish, crashing, slow (loading times for this graphic level are unbelievable, whole game can fit into GPU memory but it just loads and loads everything all the time, it's so bad that even M.2 SSD won't help here). Unpolished and unoptimized = inefficient... long time since I have seen such bad work.”
grinding
72 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is frequently described as tedious, repetitive, and time-consuming, especially regarding crafting, faction reputation, and leveling skills or equipment. While some players appreciate the extensive grind as part of the RPG experience with incremental progress and tactical options, many find it overwhelming, monotonous, and detrimental to enjoyment due to lack of variety and excessive mission lengths. Overall, grinding is a significant and polarizing aspect that can overshadow otherwise engaging exploration and gameplay elements.
- “The best equipment can only be crafted and crafting gets grindy rather quick.”
- “Crafting, trading and mining is locked behind pointless time consuming grinding as well (even when you speed up things to a maximum in the gameplay setting).”
- “Well, what you will actually do is grinding missions, get high quality items, disassemble them, then use the parts to craft average quality items (and level up crafting and - surprise - the items blueprints. Because the blueprint for a high quality item must be leveled from a low quality blueprint - more grinding joy), disassemble them, then use the parts to craft crappy quality items, disassemble them, then use the ... etc till you run out of parts or minerals. Then you get back to mining or grinding missions. And this is pretty much all you can do in stellar grinding.”
stability
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
92%
The game suffers from frequent bugs, crashes, and glitches, particularly during combat and loading screens, which can disrupt gameplay and cause frustration. While some players report stability improvements and playability in its early access state, overall the experience is hindered by unfinished features and persistent technical issues. The developer is actively addressing problems, but the game remains unstable and buggy, especially in ground combat and interface responsiveness.
- “Game seems at this point to be bug free, or at least I haven't run into any that I have noticed.”
- “Summary: a playable, relatively bug-free early access space game with squad turn-based ground combat and space flight and combat.”
- “Runs great in Linux.”
- “In just 12 hours the game has totally crashed 4 times, and has had glitches like mobs appearing on top of you and items you can't get to.”
- “The ground controls are pretty bad - glitchy and unresponsive. The fight controls are a buggy mess: companions appear in another corner of the map, characters sometimes run up to targets instead of firing, and swapping weapons can lead to looting nearby containers.”
- “Couple that with pretty bad combat glitches like being shot through a doorframe or a rocket round going through a window that you can't shoot out of, hitting my whole squad.”
music
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
52%
5%
The game's music is generally praised for its ambient and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the sense of isolation and mystery in both space and ground combat. While some find the soundtrack repetitive or monotonous during extended play, many appreciate its fitting mood, with standout tracks like the intro and title screen music being especially memorable. Overall, the soundtrack complements the gameplay well, contributing to the game's immersive open-world experience.
- “Audio design is subtle, with ambient music setting a tone of isolation and mystery.”
- “The game is crusty fun, with great background music that kicks in at the right time on changes from calm to battle mode, both on ground and in space.”
- “The soundtrack is excellent and I have really been enjoying it.”
optimization
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
68%
16%
The game currently suffers from significant optimization issues, including sluggish performance, long loading times, occasional stuttering, and crashes. While the graphical demands are relatively low and some recent patches have improved stability, the engine feels unpolished and inefficient, causing frustration especially during combat and loading screens. Overall, optimization is poor but shows potential for improvement as development progresses.
- “Performance-wise this game can conceivably be handled by pretty old hardware given its relatively low graphical demand, and the settings can be tweaked accordingly.”
- “December patch included some performance improvements and has effectively eliminated any crashes and lock-ups for me.”
- “It's definitely in need of some optimizations and tweaks, but for an early access title, there is definitely a great formula here.”
- “I did about 20 minutes of troubleshooting following advice on OpenGL settings, Steam overlay, and other common fixes, but performance was still a dumpster fire right up until the game crashed.”
- “The whole engine is in very bad shape - sluggish, crashing, slow loading times even for this graphics level. The game continually loads everything, and not even an M.2 SSD helps. It's unpolished and unoptimized, with inefficient performance unlike anything I've seen in a long time.”
- “It has performance issues like long loading times and some odd UI desync problems.”
replayability
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
63%
16%
The game is widely praised for its deep systems and procedurally generated content, contributing to nearly limitless replayability. While some note repetitive tactics in combat, most agree the game offers significant depth and variety that make replaying highly rewarding, especially as future content expands. Overall, replayability is a key strength and a major factor in the game's appeal.
- “Most of the content is procedurally generated (and in a good way), so there's really no limit to replayability value.”
- “In short, if you're looking for a good gaming experience with loads of replayability at a good price and don't mind that you're playing a work in progress, then you will most definitely enjoy this game.”
- “Character progression, variety, sound space and ground combat mechanics, unlimited replay value.”
- “The battles were fun for a few hours until I realized there were no fatalities to my crew, and I started using the same tactic every fight. I knew I would win the next fight, which wasn't a good sign for replayability.”
- “Chance of replayability of this game?”
- “My key condition for a thumbs up review is simple: replayability.”
character development
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
31%
19%
Character development is praised for its depth, flexibility, and skill-based system that allows mixing and matching abilities, contributing to strong and engaging character progression. The narrative and world-building further enhance character growth with unexpected twists, although some users desire even more customization options. Overall, character development is considered a well-balanced and integral part of the gameplay experience.
- “The tutorial does a great job framing the world building and introducing the player to the game's mechanics, while the story includes a lot of unexpected twists and character developments.”
- “The storyline is strong and well-written, helping to make up for some rough edges early on; with patience, you can enjoy the action as your characters progress smoothly through a flexible character development engine that lets you mix and match skills easily.”
- “You start with a squad of four and, according to the developer, will have about 20 or so characters throughout the game you'll be able to have with you, hire, etc. Players familiar with Fallout or Wasteland will appreciate the many stats, upgrades, and character development paths available.”
- “Would like to see more character development options, like X-COM, where I can choose certain skills or other benefits to further make each character unique.”
- “Turn-based combat and character development, and in general the quest structure, are really basic, clunky and janky.”
- “Character development takes place through several separate systems.”
atmosphere
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive and distinct environments, creating a strong and engaging feel throughout both space and ground combat. Players appreciate the developer's effort in crafting a unique universe with a dense, enjoyable ambiance that enhances the overall experience.
- “Everything else about the game is great: ground fights, space flight, music, and atmosphere are all really well done.”
- “The dev is making a universe of his own with a great feel to it and great atmosphere!”
- “Atmosphere: this is where I think the game shines the most for me so far.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is well-received for being genuinely funny and lighthearted, with playful and intentionally flawed grammar adding to its charm. This comedic tone helps the game feel less serious and enhances the overall writing and story experience.
- “That stuff is hilarious!”
- “Which led to the funny fact that now I visit the augmentation merchant before the reward vendor.”
- “Grammar is atrocious (but to be honest it tickles my funny bone, seeing things like gun's and medkit's) and it kind of makes the game feel like it doesn't take itself too seriously.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game prioritizes world-building and mission delivery over emotionally resonant storytelling, resulting in functional but often shallow dialogue and limited emotional connection with characters. Despite the rich space opera setting, it lacks deep character drama and emotional engagement, particularly with recruited mercenaries.
- “Dialogues are functional but rarely emotionally resonant, as the focus is more on world-building and mission delivery than deep character drama.”
- “It's just weird that with so many space opera books out there, there are so few developers exploring galaxy-wide adventures through the eyes of a handful of characters.”
- “It lacks optimization specifically in load screens, and I find that there isn't enough emotional connection with the mercenaries that you hire.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users have mixed feelings about the monetization: while some feel the game avoids typical cash-grab tactics by offering a better product, others criticize it for being overly tedious and misleading, particularly regarding the "build your character your way" claim.