The Spatials: Galactology

About

The Spatials: Galactology is a single player city builder game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Weird and Wry and was released on April 18, 2018. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

"The Spatials: Galactology is The Spatials reimagined as a deeper, more rewarding simulation game. With mod support and active pause, Galactology adds new items and structures to build, trade routes to exploit, planets with many new variables, sophisticated AI, civilizations that actually attack your station -- and unique gameplay systems behind every object and room."

+21

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65%

Audience ScoreBased on 164 reviews

gameplay11 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

Deep and complex colony management with a unique mix of base building, exploration, combat, research, and trading mechanics.
Active and responsive developers who frequently update the game and engage with the community.
Cute, colorful graphics and enjoyable music create a charming atmosphere, complemented by a variety of customization options for base design.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and AI issues, including poor prioritization of tasks, character behavior problems, and frustrating combat mechanics.
User interface is clunky, unintuitive, and lacks essential quality-of-life features such as comprehensive tutorials, hotkeys, and better control over production and trade.
Performance problems arise with larger bases or stations, and the economic and gameplay progression can feel slow, grindy, and lacking in meaningful endgame content.

gameplay
55 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
75%
5%
The gameplay offers a deep and content-rich colony management and base-building experience with evolving mechanics and progression, though it is hindered by confusing controls, an inadequate tutorial, and frustrating bugs. While some find it accessible and engaging with potential for future improvement, others criticize outdated or incomplete mechanics, lack of challenge, and clunky UI that detract from overall enjoyment. The game presents promising depth and variety but currently feels unpolished and at times tedious, with several core systems still needing refinement.
- “Very much enjoyed the amount of content and the different mechanics at play, though in some cases half the fun was figuring out how it all worked.”
- “A colonist progression path not dissimilar to Evil Genius, a careful mechanical balance means you may well find it difficult to find a good trading equilibrium, but therein lies part of the fun.”
- “Deep gameplay with planetary exploring, ship building, squad progression, base building, cargo management, research tree... there's a lot here.”
- “In reality, it’s a frustrating mix of outdated mechanics and tedious micromanagement.”
- “There isn't anything to explore really, the controls and mechanics are confusing and take guesswork, the tutorial is extremely annoying.”
- “Now it seems like it is trying to be more of a sandbox in the RimWorld style, but without the proper mechanics—adding complexity and removing the casual fun element.”
graphics
35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
60%
9%
The graphics are generally praised for their charming, cute, and colorful art style with a retro, cartoony feel that suits the colony sim theme well. While animations are basic and visuals can become blurry at higher zoom levels, the variety of floors, tiles, and customizable decorations adds aesthetic depth and nostalgic appeal. However, some find the graphics too simplistic for the game's ambitious scope, with limited advanced effects and modest graphical options.
- “The graphics are bright and charming and there's plenty to keep you busy between keeping officers and tourists happy and exploring the universe for rarer materials.”
- “World graphics have great variety, with each different biome featuring a number of tile types, and the huge range of floors, decorations, and other objects available to build in your station allowing you to customize the appearance of your base to your personal preference; there are oodles of different tiles and textures available.”
- “The graphics are cartoony and fun, which contrasts with the dangers found in space.”
- “The graphics feel too simplistic for the game’s ambitious premise, and the lack of meaningful progression makes the whole experience repetitive.”
- “Entity graphics, while well done and cute, become blurry and unpleasant to look at at higher zoom levels.”
- “The graphics have something of a retro feel to them, with relatively simple textures and little in the way of fancy effects and advanced features.”
story
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
70%
18%
The game currently lacks a concrete storyline or endgame, relying primarily on randomized missions and achievements for progression. While this limits narrative depth and replayability, there is potential for future updates to introduce more structured quests and story elements that enhance exploration and strategic gameplay. Players seeking a strong narrative experience may want to wait for further development.
- “There are plenty of goals to achieve that are especially helpful when starting out but an actual storyline with quests would have been nice.”
- “At time of this review there is no endgame or storyline and I don't really know what's planned before it leaves early access, but there's a fair bit of content already there that you can enjoy.”
- “Still, lacking a storyline or plot, or some kind of struggle to survive lowers the replayability value.”
- “There is no end mission as far as I can tell.”
- “There isn't much in the game story/objective wise beyond a list of achievements, so don't buy yet if you are looking for a narrative experience or end game goals.”
music
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The music in the game is generally praised for its chill, relaxing, and spacey synth-based style, creating an immersive sci-fi atmosphere. However, some users find it repetitive and occasionally too loud on default settings, suggesting a desire for more variety and inclusion of different musical styles like piano or guitar. Overall, the soundtrack is well-received but could benefit from greater diversity to maintain long-term appeal.
- “The music is top notch, though very loud on the default settings, comprising a number of Jarre-like synthesizer tracks with a spacey theme, replete with wooshes and zaps and all those nice sorts of science fiction sounds -- great stuff!”
- “Super chill, relaxing music, and it's just cute.”
- “I'm intrigued and pulled in by the music and the concept of development chains, and I have to recommend it even with my short playtime because it really seems like it deserves the credit. The devs responded to the community so well that they remade the game and gave it to owners for free - that in and of itself is a sign that some people out there truly care about their work.”
- “Also, the music is so annoying and buggy.”
- “The music becomes repetitive and the sound gets a bit annoying after hearing it quite a few times.”
- “The music is decent to listen to the first couple of times, but after a while, they all sound the same.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is frequently described as tedious, repetitive, and overly drawn out due to outdated mechanics and poor AI, leading to a lack of satisfying rewards. The experience often feels like monotonous micromanagement with little variation, making exploration, combat, and resource gathering frustrating rather than engaging. Overall, the grinding detracts from the game’s potential, especially given its unfinished and unpolished state.
- “In reality, it’s a frustrating mix of outdated mechanics and tedious micromanagement.”
- “The planet exploration is another repetitive and eventually mindless part of the game; it gets old to clear out and loot the hostiles and build extractors and other structures after the umpteenth time, and after the novelty of orbital bombardment has worn off. The last update unfortunately expanded this tedious process to trade as well.”
- “Between chasing enemies (often into more enemies, and no method to make them hold their ground), the inability to hit a moving target, the inability to run and shoot at the same time, and slowing to a crawl before coming to a stop to shoot, chasing fleeing enemies becomes a lot more tedious and time-consuming than it should be.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
Optimization is currently a significant issue, with performance dropping sharply as station complexity increases, causing stuttering and unplayable gameplay on certain devices, including the Steam Deck. The game relies heavily on a single CPU core, limiting smooth performance beyond small to medium stations. However, the developers have actively addressed these challenges through major performance rewrites in updates 3.6 and 3.8 to improve overall optimization.
- “With a small station, the game plays fine, but certain devices may experience performance issues with larger stations.”
- “Every release advances our goals, including significant efforts like the two-month-long massive rewrite for performance in version 3.6 and the important optimization of planet stations in version 3.8.”
- “Frenetic combat, fully-automated supply lines, realistic NPCs with real needs, and assembly lines begging to be optimized showcase the game's seamless implementation across many genres.”
- “It appears to do most work on a single CPU core and, as soon as you have a medium-sized station, you start getting stuttering that makes the game unplayable.”
- “The performance is horrendous once you get over a certain level of complexity, which you need to make your base profitable.”
- “Performance issues were also seen on Steam Deck.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is characterized by cute, funny graphics and amusing characters, blending sci-fi humor with management gameplay. While it successfully delivers lighthearted and entertaining moments, some reviewers feel it could benefit from more varied or deeper comedic elements to stand out further. Overall, humor adds charm but is not the game's strongest or most unique feature.
- “You're looking at an adorable and funny, yet surprisingly complex base management game.”
- “Characters are really funny (cat with robot army :d) and if you like management and production games, it does the job well, leaving you to keep playing just a bit more.”
- “Good mix of sim-style gaming, and sci-fi humor.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The game's replayability varies depending on player preferences; it offers strong replay value for fans of base designing and benefits from major updates that refresh gameplay. However, it lacks a compelling storyline or survival challenge, which may reduce its appeal for those seeking a more engaging or narrative-driven experience.
- “Lots of replayability for those who love designing bases.”
- “Great as is, but every major update adds changes/improvements that provide a fresh experience making for great replayability.”
- “Unlike other games of this genre, it has very poor replay value.”
- “Still, lacking a storyline, plot, or some kind of struggle to survive lowers the replayability value.”
- “The game looks pretty, but doesn't have much, or any, replayability if you're looking for something engaging and fun.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is frequently described as buggy and unstable, with users noting recurring technical issues and glitches. However, these problems are somewhat expected given its early access status.
- “I did find the game a bit buggy though.”
- “A bit buggy, at times.”
- “- Buggy and unrefined.”
- “That said, it is early access and buggy.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The atmosphere evolves from a challenging early phase requiring careful management to an intense, rewarding environment as you build a powerful crew. While the default vibrant, candy-colored aesthetic may not appeal to everyone, the game allows customization for a more subdued, personalized look.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's monetization involves managing in-game resources and building structures like recruitment centers and TV stations to generate revenue through ads. While the resource variety has been streamlined from earlier versions, the system integrates well with the tech progression.

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80%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

The Spatials: Galactology Review - KeenGamer
Keengamer.com
80%

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The Spatials: Galactology
€12.79
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15h Median play time

14h Average play time

10-17h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Spatials: Galactology is a city builder game with science fiction theme.

The Spatials: Galactology is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

On average players spend around 14 hours playing The Spatials: Galactology.

The Spatials: Galactology was released on April 18, 2018.

The Spatials: Galactology was developed by Weird and Wry.

The Spatials: Galactology has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked The Spatials: Galactology for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

The Spatials: Galactology is a single player game.

Similar games include Space Haven, The Spatials, Another Brick in The Mall, Academia: School Simulator, Cosmonautica and others.

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