Sun Dogs

About

Sun Dogs is a single player action game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by enceledean and was released on October 29, 2015. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Sun Dogs is about exploring our inner solar system, altering your body, and embracing death. In a distant future, humanity readily alters itself, adapting bodies to new environments. Skim along the Sun's corona, float above the surface of Venus, travel the dusty plains of Mars, and beyond.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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64%

Audience ScoreBased on 14 reviews

gameplay3 negative mentions

Excellent and extensive world-building with rich, evocative science fiction lore.
Well-written text and interesting post-human, transhuman setting that appeals to fans of hard sci-fi and exploring complex futures.
Minimalist presentation and simple interface allow the player's imagination to enhance the experience; mod tools enable customization and expansion.

Gameplay is extremely limited, mostly involving pressing a single button to receive randomized text passages with little player agency or meaningful choice.
Random events and deaths can feel unfair and frustrating, leading to resets that diminish the overall enjoyment.
Lack of clear guidance or handholding makes progression opaque and potentially frustrating for players unfamiliar with the mechanics or lore.

story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The story in the game is minimal and presented through exploration rather than a structured narrative, with only one initial mission providing guidance. It offers a rich, immersive setting in a post-human solar system, enhanced by detailed terminology and optional user-added story content, but some players may find the lack of clear missions or direction confusing. Overall, the storytelling excels in atmosphere but suffers from limited quest mechanics.
- “To me, the game is like reading a short story set in a distant, post-human solar system.”
- “There's believable terminology and language, and little details in the story text that bring it to life.”
- “The story unfolds through you exploring moons and planets in our solar system, all set to the backdrop of great music.”
- “The game is like a free roam, text-based adventure, where there is no storyline, few side quests and infinite combinations of collectibles.”
- “There is one mission at the start of the game which guides you a bit but after completing that you are completely on your own.”
- “Probably good for some, but I found it a little weird that I couldn't find any missions or hints on where to find them.”
gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
55%
27%
Gameplay in the game is minimal and primarily involves pressing a single button to explore environments and access text-based lore, offering limited interactivity beyond navigation and occasional random encounters. While the writing and world-building are praised, the gameplay mechanics are considered shallow and repetitive, leading to a short overall experience with little variation or challenge.
- “The gameplay consists of exploring the planets and other things that orbit the sun, which include asteroids, spaceships, and space stations.”
- “Gameplay is presented entirely as text in well-written and imaginative exposition, like in a roleplaying game.”
- “The extent of the gameplay is merely pressing one singular button; interact with the given environment that you currently occupy. Every time you hit the button, you get a short wall of text with a little snippet of lore from that region.”
- “I say it’s not worth the money because I only got 3 hours of gameplay out of it (across a few playthroughs) before I had consumed like 90% of the lore, and the remaining snippets would be so obscenely time-consuming to access, considering you have no idea what planet or item/upgrade you need to get it; it’s just blindly pressing the interact button.”
- “Most of the gameplay is choosing where to go, and then clicking around a bit for the flavour text and random encounters before moving on and hoping you don't get killed - die too often, and even the most rigorously updated backup will start to corrupt.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The music sets a fitting ambient tone for the game's exploration theme but is initially criticized for its limited variety and repetitiveness. However, updates adding more tracks have improved the overall musical experience, reducing previous complaints.
- “The story unfolds through you exploring moons and planets in our solar system, all set to the backdrop of some great music.”
- “It somewhat reminds me of Stalker's main menu theme and the general ambient mood of that game's music.”
- “Edit: Music seems fine now that there's some variety; no complaints.”
- “Only other thing that bothers me is the lack of music.”
- “It feels like there is only one or two songs on infinite repeat.”
- “After about five minutes you may feel the need to set up your own soundtrack.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
The game's graphics are very minimalistic, relying on simplicity and text-based elements rather than detailed visuals. This minimalism is seen as a strength, enhancing the experience without detracting from the story or concept. Overall, the visuals serve as a subtle complement rather than a focal point.
- “In fact, the minimalism of the game works in its favor - your brain is the graphics card and rendering engine.”
- “Sun Dogs is a text adventure sci-fi game with some neat visuals to represent the solar system you are exploring.”
- “The actual graphics elements in the game are extremely minimalistic.”
- “Thus the core flaw of Sun Dogs is not the idea, the story, the graphics, but the choice of mechanics.”
- “Sun Dogs is a text adventure sci-fi game with some neat visuals to represent the solar system you are going about in.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere is criticized for being superficial and failing to compensate for shortcomings in gameplay and narrative, resulting in a disappointing overall experience.