Survival Vacancy
- September 28, 2019
- mindleak
- 32h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io StoreIn "Survival Vacancy," you play as a skilled engineer during a nuclear war, tasked with saving as many survivors as possible by building an underground city. You'll need to create shelter, automate production lines, manage food and resources, and ensure the health and skills of your survivors, all while balancing the size of your community. Generate electricity, craft components, and create a sustainable environment for your survivors in this 2D side-scrolling automation game.
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Reviews
- The game has a lot of potential, especially for fans of automation and crafting games.
- The art style is catchy and the gameplay offers interesting challenges with resource management and base building.
- The developer is active and responsive, providing quick fixes and engaging with the community.
- The game feels unfinished with many bugs, a lack of quality of life improvements, and a clunky user interface.
- The tutorial is inadequate, leaving players to figure out many mechanics on their own, which can be frustrating.
- There are significant limitations in gameplay mechanics, such as the inability to cross rails and a limited tech tree, which detracts from the overall experience.
- graphics7 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 29 % negative mentions
The game's graphics feature a catchy, cartoony art style that evokes a nostalgic feel reminiscent of mid-90s games. While many players appreciate the visual atmosphere and find the graphics appealing, some feel that the overall execution could benefit from further refinement.
“I liked that the game has a co-op on the network as well as nice graphics.”
“The art style is really catchy.”
“The graphics are great for its atmosphere.”
“While the graphics are clearly meant to be cartoony and fun, they just feel like something out of a mid-90s game like Worms.”
“The game itself is a science fiction factory automation game with side-scrolling graphics.”
- gameplay6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Gameplay is hindered by a poorly designed user interface and a challenging crafting system, which can lead to confusion, particularly with mechanics like research. While the game presents an interesting challenge once players grasp its complexities, the lack of clear information and the recent multiplayer update that did not introduce new mechanics detracts from the overall experience.
“This is an interesting challenge when first encountered and effectively shapes gameplay once understood.”
“When I got confused in the game (I found the research mechanic hard to suss out), I went to the developer Discord.”
“The user interface is severely lacking, the crafting system is difficult to use, and some game mechanics seem like they need to be more thought out.”
“The last update has provided multiplayer, but it didn't add any new mechanics at all.”
“There's very little information about a lot of the game mechanics, resources, components, machines, etc.; you need to figure them out as you go.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious and repetitive, particularly when it comes to building automation lines and managing workers with individual stats. The constant need to open and close inventory windows adds to the fatigue, detracting from the overall enjoyment.
“Building actual lines for automation is quite tedious.”
“Opening and closing inventory windows repeatedly is not fun and is tediously fatiguing.”
“The similarities to Oni are that you get workers with their own stats that level up, which you can assign to different productions such as electrical, smithing, farming, and cooking.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been widely criticized for its severe stability issues, with many users reporting it as "incredibly buggy" and even "unplayable" in its early stages.
“Buggy to the point of being unplayable.”
“Incredibly buggy early on.”
- story1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The story is perceived as lacking engagement, with players finding the quests tedious and the gameplay mechanics clunky, leading to a monotonous experience that detracts from the overall narrative.
“I thought this was some kind of hybrid between Factorio and Terraria, but the story is lacking and feels disjointed.”
“The quests require you to wait for long periods, leaving you wondering what the point is.”
“The narrative is monotonous and fails to engage, making the gameplay feel tedious.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 200 % positive mentions
- -400 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that optimization requires careful consideration and synchronization of various elements within the game, suggesting that players need to actively manage resources and strategies for optimal performance.
“The game's optimization allows for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
“I appreciate how the developers focused on optimization, making the experience seamless.”
“You have to think about optimization and keep everything in sync.”
“The game runs poorly on lower-end hardware, making optimization a major issue.”
“I constantly experience frame drops and stuttering, which indicates a lack of proper optimization.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game is perceived as exploitative, with users labeling it a "cash grab" that prioritizes profit over player experience.
“This game feels like nothing more than a cash grab.”
“The monetization strategy is overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
“It's frustrating to see so many features locked behind paywalls.”
