Vessels

About

Vessels is a single player action game with mystery and science fiction themes. It was developed by Local Space Survey Corps and was released on December 8, 2020. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

"Vessels" is a single-player Mystery Adventure game that offers around 8 hours of playtime, featuring a unique plot where you play as an "infected" entity on board a spaceship, with multiple endings and a narrative that challenges your perspectives on trust and self-destruction. Winner of the IGF 2021 award, this game refreshes the familiar narrative trope of science fiction horror and provides a thought-provoking and compelling experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

95%

Audience ScoreBased on 107 reviews

story39 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

Engaging narrative with well-developed characters that draw players into the story.
Unique gameplay mechanics involving possession and time loops that enhance the mystery and decision-making.
Short but satisfying experience with multiple endings, making it worth replaying to explore different outcomes.

Lack of a traditional save system can lead to frustration, requiring players to replay sections to achieve different endings.
Some players experienced logic bugs that affected their ability to reach certain endings, detracting from the overall experience.
The game is relatively short, which may leave some players wanting more depth and exploration in the story.

story
89 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
53%
3%
The game's story is a central focus, offering a compelling and immersive narrative that unfolds through character interactions and exploration. While some players noted issues with dialogue and pacing, many praised the unique premise, suspenseful atmosphere, and the depth of character development, making it an engaging experience despite its short length. Overall, the storytelling is well-crafted, with multiple endings influenced by player choices, providing a satisfying blend of mystery and intrigue.
- “Unique and suspenseful story, your choices lead to different endings.”
- “The story is gripping and characters interesting, you can feel the tense atmosphere between the crew.”
- “I was totally engrossed by the story, and played it all in one sitting.”
- “And a brilliant PC gaming experience this is not... you go through some frankly painfully badly written dialogue and die-and-retry until you work out who you are and uncover ways to manipulate those around you to progress the story, which I won't spoil, except to say it ain't worth it.”
- “I started to like this game as a mystery game where you have to explore, find information and then use it to progress the story, but it then seemed to fall into the trap of your typical detective game where you know the answer but you have to resort to having the same conversation multiple times and experimenting with the conversation branches to get the answer you are looking for as the option you chose doesn't lead where you would expect it to lead.”
- “Most of it is (sometimes admittedly on-the-nose) character building, but no world building that doesn't add to the story, no extraneous lore, no fluff.”
gameplay
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
50%
14%
The gameplay is characterized by a blend of exploration, dialogue-driven interactions, and unique mechanics such as character possession and time-looping, which enhance the narrative experience. While the writing and lore are engaging, some players feel that excessive text cutscenes detract from the interactive elements. Overall, the game offers intriguing concepts and a compelling story, making it a solid choice for fans of narrative-driven experiences.
- “Everything up to act 3 is perfect; the gameplay is intriguing, and exploring the ship and reading the lore is really interesting.”
- “Death is not a fail-state in this game; it is a progression mechanic.”
- “The developers failed one of the most basic, fundamental requirements of game design: 'show, don't tell.' You'll spend a huge amount of time not playing the game, but clicking through endless lines of poorly written visual novel text cutscenes because the developers couldn't figure out how to relate their narrative through the game mechanics, and decided instead it would be better to compete with reading a book for your time.”
- “The gameplay consists mostly of talking (using dialog trees), reading, and walking/exploring.”
- “I thoroughly enjoyed this experience - it's a self-contained story with high production value, a great match for someone who doesn't want to spend a billion hours on something like Virtue's Last Reward, but likes interactive stories/visual novels with non-traditional gameplay and more agency.”
graphics
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
68%
16%
The graphics in the game are generally described as functional and clean, with a minimalist aesthetic that lacks detail and options for customization. While some players find the visuals unimpressive or "dog-ugly," they agree that the graphics effectively support the game's narrative and immersive experience. Overall, the graphics are serviceable but not a highlight, with many reviewers emphasizing that the writing and gameplay compensate for the visual shortcomings.
- “But guess what, once you start playing, you quickly realize the graphics are functional and clean, and the environmental design makes up for it by far.”
- “Slightly minimalist graphics with only a few ambient sounds, but still quite good.”
- “Graphically it's unimpressive, yet aesthetically pleasing.”
- “There are no graphics options at all.”
- “- horrible performance for bad graphics”
- “You will not be wowed at any point by the visuals, nor will you be distracted by them.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its gripping story and tense interactions among characters, effectively creating a psychological thriller vibe. While the audio may not feature memorable songs, it successfully enhances the overall ambiance.
- “The story is gripping and the characters are interesting; you can feel the tense atmosphere between the crew.”
- “I like the plot and the psychological thriller atmosphere.”
- “The audio does convey the appropriate atmosphere.”
- “I didn't hear any songs that stuck out to me, but the audio does convey the appropriate atmosphere.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
50%
The game offers moderate replayability due to its multi-dialogue choices and various paths and endings, appealing to players eager to explore different outcomes. However, once players reach Act 3, earlier acts lose replay value as they do not influence the final act, limiting overall replayability to the initial exploration phase.
- “The game is a mix of visual novel and exploration/investigation, with multiple dialogue choices that provide great replayability for anyone curious to explore all the options.”
- “The different paths and endings in this game also enhance its replayability.”
- “The game offers a variety of choices that encourage players to experience it multiple times.”
- “2-3 hours with low replayability.”
- “Only complaint is that once you've made it to act 3, the previous two acts have no replayability factor since they have no bearing on how act 3 begins.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is generally considered unimpressive, with few standout tracks; however, it effectively contributes to the overall atmosphere. While some players found the audio to be adequate, it did not leave a lasting impression.
- “The art and music are great as well.”
- “The audio does convey the appropriate atmosphere.”
- “I didn't hear any songs that stuck out to me, but the audio does convey the appropriate atmosphere.”
- “But, not once did I stop to take note of the music.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game increasingly tedious as they progress, particularly after exiting the airlock, suggesting that the repetitive tasks can detract from the overall enjoyment.
- “As you got out of the airlock, this began to become more and more tedious.”
- “The grinding feels endless and takes away from the enjoyment of the game.”
- “I found myself repeating the same tasks over and over, which made the experience feel monotonous.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players report a high level of stability, with no glitches encountered during gameplay.
- “There were no glitches during my playthrough.”
- “The game ran smoothly without any crashes or bugs.”
- “I experienced consistent performance throughout my gaming session.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game features rich character development that enhances its golden age science fiction adventure, providing believable emotional depth alongside its imaginative elements. Players experience growth in characters as the narrative progresses, adding layers to the overall storytelling.
- “An absorbing golden age science fiction adventure, complete with mind-parasites, non-centrifugal spaceships with artificial gravity, and groovy space uniforms -- but with more character development and believable emotion than that great old two-fisted stuff tends to have.”
- “Then, they get some character development from one act to another.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The optimization of the game received mixed reviews, with some users praising its overall performance, while others criticized it for poor graphics and subpar performance.
- “The performance was overall very good.”
- “Horrible performance for bad graphics.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users note that the game shifts focus from emotional bonding to a "weakened emotional mental state," suggesting a cool detachment that diminishes the depth of emotional engagement. This change may leave players feeling less connected to the characters and narrative.