Void Bastards

Void Bastards is a work of art, not only in its visuals but also in gameplay. The progression is strong and the gameplay is a blast. Exploring each derelict ship was a treat, and I can't wait to dive back into the Sargasso Nebula for more fun.

86%Game Brain Score

gameplay, graphics

grinding, stability

86% User Score Based on 3,794 reviews

Critic Score 82%Based on 28 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $3.98

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About

Void Bastards is a first-person shooter with strategy and roguelike elements. You play as various prisoners trying to escape a ship filled with hostile enemies and environmental hazards. Each playthrough is unique, with procedurally generated levels and a wide range of weapons and skills to discover. Your decisions and strategy are key to survival as you scavenge for resources and battle through the dangerous ships of the Sargasso Nebula.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 3,794 reviews

gameplay432 positive mentions

grinding107 negative mentions

Unique comic book art style and humor that adds charm to the game.
Engaging gameplay loop that combines resource management, crafting, and strategic decision-making.
Variety of weapons and character traits that encourage different playstyles.

Repetitive gameplay and ship layouts that can lead to boredom after a few hours.
Limited enemy variety, making encounters feel stale over time.
Unsatisfying ending that feels anticlimactic after the effort put into the game.

gameplay
1,080 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
53%
7%
The gameplay of *Void Bastards* is characterized by a unique blend of roguelike mechanics and first-person shooter elements, featuring a core loop of scavenging, crafting, and combat across procedurally generated ships. While many players appreciate the addictive nature of the gameplay and its humorous presentation, criticisms often highlight its repetitiveness and lack of depth, with some feeling that the mechanics become stale after a few hours. Overall, the game offers a fun experience for fans of the genre, but may not sustain long-term engagement due to its limited variety and predictable gameplay patterns.
- “Void Bastards has a unique art style, an addictive gameplay loop, and is balanced enough to make you want to play it more than once.”
- “Gameplay-wise, Void Bastards is stellar: different weapons give you different angles to approach different situations, gadgets let you handle problems creatively, and progression has exactly the right amount of upgrades and effort needed to acquire them.”
- “The core gameplay loop is very grindy, yet the progression is nice.”
- “The game is a cool concept, with very shallow and dull gameplay.”
- “The gameplay loop just fails to engage me, no matter how many times I try to come back and try it.”
- “The gameplay is highly repetitive, from the mobs, to the environment, to the hazards, to the ship designs, etc.”
graphics
940 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
41%
2%
The graphics of *Void Bastards* are widely praised for their unique comic book aesthetic, characterized by vibrant cel-shading and a distinctive visual style that enhances the game's atmosphere. Many players appreciate how the art style complements the humor and gameplay, creating an engaging experience reminiscent of classic comics. However, some critiques mention that while the visuals are appealing, the gameplay can become repetitive, which may detract from the overall enjoyment.
- “The comic book art style is easily the best thing about the game, but it's supported by all of the other gameplay systems that come together to make something truly special.”
- “The graphics are phenomenal, and combined with a great humorous tone and lovely music and sound effects, Blue Manchu has nailed the artistic direction of this game.”
- “Void Bastards' presentation is top-notch, capturing the feeling of a comic book through an unmistakable aesthetic and smart decision to convert both cutscenes and screen transitions into scrolling through comic book panels.”
- “The graphics, while decidedly rendered in a retro manner, are a modern take on ancient games like Doom, but adds dungeon crawling roguelike elements to it instead of having strict, defined levels.”
- “The graphics are pretty, but they aren't worth doing the repetitive and lackluster gameplay that is outdone by many other roguelikes.”
- “Unfortunately the boring visuals and gameplay just don't do it for me.”
story
661 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
71%
6%
The story in "Void Bastards" is often described as minimal and primarily serves as a framework for the gameplay, which revolves around repetitive fetch quests and crafting items to progress. While the dark humor and comic book-style presentation add charm, many players find the narrative lacking depth and the ending unsatisfying. Overall, the game is more focused on its roguelike mechanics and gameplay loop than on delivering a compelling story.
- “The story is light but it's humorous.”
- “The story, atmosphere, enemies and basically everything does its best in its own cartoony way to absolutely make you feel uncomfortable being anywhere near these wrecks.”
- “The story is dark, funny, and engaging all at the same time.”
- “The story is mostly absent and the ending of the game is abysmal.”
- “There is absolutely no story; the 'plot' is limited to 'we need you to get these random items for no reason to do a thing we won't explain.'”
- “The story is very thin as well, but I didn't mind that.”
humor
575 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its dark, British wit and absurdity, often drawing comparisons to the comedic styles of Monty Python and Douglas Adams. Players appreciate the clever dialogue, quirky character traits, and satirical take on bureaucratic dystopia, which enhance the overall experience despite some noting that the humor can become repetitive over time. The combination of a unique comic book art style and engaging voice acting further elevates the game's comedic elements, making it a standout feature for many reviewers.
- “Unique premise, interesting weapons, great humor.”
- “The humor is absurd and amazing.”
- “The writing and dialogue are great and provide tons of humor.”
- “With its hand-drawn textures, half the time spent opening lockers, and unfunny humor, it reminds me of Borderlands.”
- “The setting is supposed to be funny; I just find it very depressing.”
music
164 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
41%
4%
The music in the game is generally praised for its catchy and dynamic qualities, effectively enhancing the atmosphere and gameplay experience. However, many reviewers noted that the soundtrack can become repetitive due to a limited number of tracks and loops, particularly during combat. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the game's unique style and humor, some players feel it lacks variety and depth compared to more renowned soundtracks.
- “Addictive, hardcore, stressful roguelike FPS in space with great graphics and one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard.”
- “The soundtrack for this game is also rather eccentric, and used effectively to keep a nice tempo during combat, and also act as feedback for the player to figure out if they've been found.”
- “The art style is neat, the music is low key but tense, but the gameplay shines.”
- “The combat music is extremely repetitive; what's even worse is that it needs to be on so you can tell if there is combat active, as not all of the onomatopoeia or sound effects can be heard consistently.”
- “The game could use a longer soundtrack as it is sometimes really repetitive.”
- “This game has no content, just repetitive enemies with the same music, textures, and art.”
replayability
162 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
52%
11%
The reviews for replayability are mixed, with some players praising the game's depth, procedural generation, and challenge modes that enhance replay value, while others criticize it for lacking variety and feeling repetitive after the initial playthrough. Many agree that while there are elements that can extend replayability, such as different challenges and playstyles, the overall experience may not sustain long-term interest for all players. Overall, the game offers a range of replayability experiences, but its effectiveness varies significantly among players.
- “A great game with surprising depth and replayability.”
- “Well thought out game mechanics and procedurally generated maps provide replay value.”
- “The game has a lot of replayability as it is a roguelike and also offers more challenging runs you can do such as unarmed, guns only, indirect weapons only, etc.”
- “The game has two subjective flaws: there is not much variety in ships you'd be raiding and there is almost zero replayability after you complete the story once.”
- “Despite being a roguelike, it doesn't have much replay value.”
- “The only drawback is that it isn't as replayable as advertised or at least as was planned by the developer.”
grinding
112 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
4%
96%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed feedback from players. While some find the grind engaging and rewarding, particularly in the early stages, many others describe it as tedious and repetitive, especially as the game progresses. The core gameplay loop can feel monotonous, with players often encountering similar ship layouts and challenges, leading to a sense of burnout after extended play.
- “Unlike many games of the genre, the grind in this game is not tedious or forced. I found that my interest in exploring the more difficult ships and their challenges was greater than gathering materials.”
- “The gameplay loop becomes extremely repetitive and it gets frustrating, grinding to find parts and traverse the map; eventually, it became too much of a chore and the fun started to wear off.”
- “The unlock system is really grindy and doesn't provide much in terms of gameplay.”
- “The game will feel grindy initially, with gear needing to be crafted from either raw materials you find or found aboard vessels.”
atmosphere
105 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
30%
3%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and unique blend of comic book aesthetics, dark humor, and tense environments, reminiscent of classic titles like System Shock 2. Players appreciate the combination of engaging audio design and visual style that enhances the overall experience, creating a captivating yet often humorous atmosphere. However, some critiques mention that while the atmosphere is strong, it can occasionally feel inconsistent or overshadowed by gameplay limitations.
- “Despite its familiar mechanics, the game's execution and atmosphere set it apart, making it a standout title in its own right.”
- “The atmosphere is phenomenal!”
- “Absolutely fun run'n'gun game with great art, great atmosphere, and fun characters.”
- “I'm sure some people like that atmosphere but I just find it irritating and it tires my eyes out.”
- “Was interested by the game footage, seemed fun... it is for a while then just gets boring same old thing around and around again... would be better with more atmosphere, multiplayer so you can create your own character, kinda needs a bit more work to give it more bang...”
- “The atmosphere of the game is bleak, and the sarcastic setting is confusingly charming.”
optimization
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
50%
15%
Overall, the game's optimization is highly praised, with many players reporting smooth performance, short load times, and minimal bugs across various hardware setups. While some users experienced performance issues on specific configurations, the majority found the game to run exceptionally well, even on older systems, showcasing impressive stability and visual quality. The combination of great art design and technical performance contributes to a satisfying gameplay experience.
- “Definitely a game that belongs in anyone's library for its standout presentation and performance.”
- “Most of this came from the fresh visual style and apparently great performance optimization - my PC is more than 5 years old, yet the game runs super smooth in 5120x1440 resolution with quality maxed out.”
- “Performance-wise... I'm actually impressed that an indie release is this stable right off the bat.”
- “Overall sense that time invested/performance in each run does not translate to rewards or sense of accomplishment.”
- “And the performance is bad, even on a 9700k+3080 at 1440p I barely get above 60fps.”
- “Vsync is pretty much a requirement to have on for AMD GPUs it seems - otherwise there's tearing/stuttering.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
7%
64%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant glitches and freezes that disrupt gameplay, while others report a smooth and stable experience with minimal bugs. Overall, while many enjoy the game and find it polished, issues with freezing and bugs have been noted, particularly after extended play sessions.
- “Almost no glitches or bugs, very stable gameplay.”
- “Art style is very clean and runs great even on my low-powered laptop.”
- “The art style is very good and it runs great.”
- “Besides that, my only other issue is that after several play sessions, I started having glitches.”
- “Each time I have tried to play the game, after about anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, the game completely freezes up. It's the kind of freeze where you can't even use the kill command or bring up task manager, so I had to restart my entire computer each time.”
- “Also, the game is super buggy.”
monetization
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
18%
36%
The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed feedback, with some users expressing concern over potential future microtransactions and DLCs that could fragment the experience. However, others appreciate the absence of intrusive ads and microtransactions, highlighting that the game allows for a sense of continuous progress without the pressure of additional purchases. Overall, players seem to favor a model that prioritizes a complete experience over monetization tactics.
- “Overall, I recommend it if you like to feel constant progress without the constant drumbeat of microtransactions and DLCs.”
- “There are no ads in a 2019 FPS.”
- “I loved Card Hunter (bar the microtransactions) and thought it had a very cool gimmick idea of a card game being used for a D&D session.”
- “It's worth calling out, because this is the same attitude that eventually splits one game into one unfinished game and three DLCs, the same attitude that pushes microtransactions and third-party launchers who sell your data and eventually mess up your ability to boot the game.”
- “I don't want to support that sort of company, and I don't want to have annoying ads added to my games once DLC is released.”
- “I guess I am heavily disappointed by somehow misleading advertisement.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while players appreciate its clever mechanics and humor, they often feel a lack of deep emotional investment or heartwarming moments. Some experiences evoke feelings of frustration or loss, but overall, the game does not reach significant emotional heights, leaving players feeling somewhat unfulfilled.
- “Even at its most heartbreaking, when I thought I had a golden opportunity to acquire a much-needed resource only to be obliterated by a security bot, it's impossible to get upset at a game this cool.”
- “It made me feel appreciated.”
- “It made me feel lost.”
character development
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
While the game's vibrant comic book-inspired art and stylish character designs are widely praised, many players express disappointment in the lack of significant character development and narrative depth. The visually striking cel-shaded graphics and animations are noted, but they do not compensate for the minimal storytelling and character growth compared to other titles in the genre.
- “The game's comic book-inspired art direction is a breath of fresh air, with vibrant colors and stylish character designs that leap off the screen.”
- “Character design is very cool, and I love the detail.”
- “+ phenomenal cel-shaded art, with top-notch animations and character designs too.”
- “Whatever hopes I had for a story-rich, atmospheric shooter with significant character development and a diversity of playstyles was quickly dashed.”
- “However, there is definitely less narrative and character development in this compared to either of those.”
- “However, the high-res 'ligne claire' style, zany but grim tone, and original character design made me forget that the instant I noticed it.”