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 a game that allows players to explore the inner solar system, alter their body, and embrace death, as their mind is transferred to a new body when the old one dies. The game features a unique science fiction world with dynamic text that reacts to the player's character and actions, and a full modding system to rewrite the game. Praise for the game highlights its vagueness and ambiguity, and the rich, brief text that illuminates the vast array of worlds and cultures explored.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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64%

Audience ScoreBased on 14 reviews

graphics3 negative mentions

The writing is solid, imaginative, and evocative, creating a richly detailed and interesting world.
The game offers a unique exploration experience in a transhuman solar system, appealing to fans of science fiction and text-based adventures.
The modding capabilities allow players to create their own content, enhancing replayability and personal engagement with the game.

Gameplay is extremely limited, primarily consisting of clicking through text with little player agency or meaningful choices.
Random events can lead to frustrating resets, making the experience feel disjointed and lacking in control.
The game may not provide enough content or value for the price, as many players report finishing the available lore in a short amount of time.

story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The game's story is presented as a free-roaming, text-based adventure set in a post-human solar system, lacking a traditional narrative structure and featuring minimal missions. Players explore various celestial bodies, uncovering interesting objects and details that enrich the experience, though the absence of clear guidance can leave some feeling lost. While the storytelling is enhanced by immersive language and music, the mechanics may detract from the overall engagement, with the option to add personal story files offering a unique twist.
- “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 and all of this plays to the backdrop of some 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
27%
46%
27%
The gameplay in "Sun Dogs" is primarily limited to pressing a single button to interact with the environment, resulting in short snippets of lore that can quickly become repetitive. Players can explore various locations, but the mechanics are simplistic and lack depth, leading to a brief overall experience that may not justify the cost. While the narrative and atmosphere are well-crafted, the gameplay itself is seen as a significant shortcoming, with many feeling it could benefit from more engaging mechanics.
- “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.”
- “Though I feel I have seen everything gameplay-wise the game has to offer, even with less than an hour in-game at the time of writing this review, I am still interested to see the extent of the skill system and what I can trigger by discovering different things to learn more about the setting, which is the core of the 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 before I had consumed like 90% of the lore, and the remaining snippets would be so 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.”
- “However, it is worth saying that the actual gameplay elements of Sun Dogs are... limited.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The music in the game is generally praised for its great quality and ability to enhance the exploration experience, creating a somber and atmospheric backdrop. However, some players have noted issues with repetitiveness, feeling that the limited variety can lead to monotony. Recent updates have introduced more variety, improving overall satisfaction with the soundtrack.
- “The story unfolds through you exploring moons and planets in our solar system, and all of this plays 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.”
- “The music is somber, if repetitive, since it never changes.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The graphics in "Sun Dogs" are characterized by a minimalistic design that enhances the player's imagination, allowing them to visualize the game world through text and simple visuals. While the minimalism is seen as a strength, it also highlights the game's reliance on mechanics rather than graphical fidelity. Overall, the visuals serve their purpose in complementing the text-based adventure experience.
- “In fact, the minimalism of the game works in its favor - your brain is the graphics card and rendering engine.”
- “The actual graphic elements in the game are extremely minimalistic.”
- “Sun Dogs is a text adventure sci-fi game with some neat visuals to represent the solar system you are exploring.”
- “Thus, the core flaw of Sun Dogs is not the idea, the story, or the graphics, but the choice of mechanics.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere is perceived as a superficial layer that fails to compensate for shortcomings in gameplay and narrative, leaving players feeling unsatisfied.
- “It's a $10 smokescreen obscuring the cavities where its gameplay, narrative, and atmosphere should have been.”