Void War

About

Void War is a single player survival role playing game with fantasy, dark fantasy and science fiction themes. It was developed by Tundra and was released on June 2, 2025. It received very positive reviews from players.

Command an ancient starship and fight your way to the heart of a dying Empire. Fend off attacks from demented cultists, craven space pirates, and xenophobic Imperial soldiers. Discover powerful artifacts and use them to build your ship into a fearsome war engine. Manage Your ShipYour starship is a mighty and terrible vessel, brimming with arcane technology and devastating weapons. Harness your s…

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94%

Audience ScoreBased on 3,123 reviews

gameplay157 positive mentions

grinding23 negative mentions

Excellent spiritual successor to FTL with deep crew and boarding mechanics
Impressive grimdark theme with Warhammer 40k-inspired lore, music and atmosphere
Highly replayable with many ships, commanders, weapons and modular upgrades
Frequent free content updates and ongoing developer support
Significant improvements and additions to the original FTL formula
Engaging and strategic gameplay balancing ship and crew management
Smooth learning curve with scalable difficulty settings
Strong customization options with unique captains and crew equipment

Some balance issues with bosses and difficulty spikes frustrating progress
Occasional technical issues such as crashes and resolution bugs reported
UI and font clarity could be improved for better readability
Certain mechanics like oxygen and event diversity feel underdeveloped
High dependence on RNG can lead to frustrating, sometimes unwinnable runs
Unlocking all content requires multiple lengthy playthroughs
Some users find art style too dark or hard to distinguish game elements

gameplay
572 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
71%
2%
The gameplay closely mirrors FTL's core mechanics but significantly expands and deepens them, especially focusing on boarding actions, crew management, and unique abilities like psychic powers and equipment customization. Players praise the dense strategic gameplay and variety of viable builds that offer a fresh, challenging roguelike experience with a grimdark 40k-inspired theme, though some find the RNG and certain mechanics occasionally frustrating. Overall, it is regarded as a well-polished spiritual successor that refines and enhances FTL’s formula with meaningful innovations and high replayability.
- “Void war builds upon FTL's foundation with mechanics that make it stand out on its own: the ship commander system, unique powers, and a dynamic boarding mechanic.”
- “The overall formula and ship mechanics (systems, reactor, shield, doors) are shamelessly exact copy from FTL, but where Void War goes beyond its predecessor is crew mechanics. It has the same solid gameplay loop you would expect from FTL, and its unique additions are a breath of fresh air on the formula it is using, giving it a charm all its own. The most notable aspect is the ability to equip crew members with weapons, armor, and tools, which affect their combat effectiveness and survivability.”
- “A great spiritual successor to FTL that reworks, improves, and expands on what made FTL great—from making boarding an actual interlinked gameplay mechanic to adding truly distinct ways to play the game. There's something to be said for beating bosses without upgrading your weaponry, showcasing deep and rewarding gameplay.”
- “Ion damage and evasion are wonky at best. The interaction with certain crew members is effectively gamebreaking and mechanically there is so much wrong here behind a veneer that seems like a fairly polished game.”
- “Interesting ideas and great visuals with a really nice Warhammer 40k touch, but the playthrough is so random it spoils all the fun. Sometimes you snowball through the entire campaign without issue, sometimes bad luck ruins it. The campaign is only about 2 hours long, making the randomness more frustrating and the whole concept feels untested. You pick one bad thing and you snowball to oblivion. On stage 3 you can get very easy enemies with huge resources, and on stage 4 very tough enemies with less reward. Sometimes you get useless items, so instead of improving your ship you clog your inventory. The final boss battle can vary greatly depending on luck and upgrades, creating unbalanced playthroughs.”
- “There are currently a lot of mechanics that feel bad and can wipe your run despite how well you set up.”
graphics
173 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
68%
3%
The graphics feature stylized 2D pixel art heavily inspired by FTL, combined with a grimdark Warhammer 40k aesthetic that many find compelling and immersive. While some praise the unique, gritty art style, detailed portraits, and atmospheric visuals, others find the dark, gray-heavy palette and small, busy icons reduce readability and clarity, occasionally making it hard to distinguish weapons or UI elements. Overall, the graphics effectively reinforce the game's grimdark tone, though improvements in visual distinctiveness and UI scaling could enhance accessibility.
- “The unique art style and grimdark tone in the music, visuals, and sprites is genuinely compelling!”
- “The graphics and events really emphasize the grimdark setting; I've seen people say that the game is too grey, but personally I don't find it difficult to make out details and I enjoy the aesthetic.”
- “Fun, more player choice in build, well-written story and wonderful pixel graphics (check out the crew/captain pictures, they're amazing).”
- “A lot of the mechanics are very cool and if it were mechanics alone it would be a very good game--but as of now it is just too burdened by its artstyle and lack of colors for you to reliably take advantage of any of those mechanics.”
- “All the weapons look the same so it's hard to tell them apart without reading their descriptions; they tried too hard to go for a certain art style and sacrificed readability and clarity heavily.”
- “The graphics are much less polished; the storyline is basically non-existent.”
music
163 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
49%
2%
The music in the game is widely praised for its fitting grimdark, industrial, and atmospheric tone that enhances the immersive, dark sci-fi setting, often drawing comparisons to but differing from FTL's iconic soundtrack. While some find the soundtrack exceptional and a highlight with memorable, heavy, and doom-filled tracks, others feel it lacks variety or the same impact as FTL’s music. Overall, the soundtrack significantly contributes to the game's compelling mood and grim aesthetic, resonating well with fans of dark, ambient, and synth-driven scores.
- “Music is stand out, with a huge tracklist that sells this grimdark world.”
- “The soundtrack is awesome, very dark and epic sounding.”
- “The dark story, the brutal gameplay, the industrial dark gothic music make me feel like I have my own brutal primitive tech spaceship exploring the dark cosmos.”
- “Music is absolute trash, though.”
- “Definitely looks and sounds worse than FTL though, soundtrack is very forgettable.”
- “The soundtrack needs work, the sound design in general when comparing it to FTL.”
story
90 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
80%
3%
The story in this game offers a dark, grimdark setting inspired by Warhammer 40k, with a strong thematic atmosphere but limited narrative depth and quest variety. While it provides enough lore to engage players’ imaginations, many reviews note a lack of meaningful plot development, branching choices, and impactful story events compared to similar games like FTL. Overall, the story complements gameplay but feels secondary and somewhat shallow, with a desire expressed for more quests, worldbuilding, and narrative complexity.
- “With a compelling story of survival, loyalty, and betrayal unfolding in every run, it’s a must-play for those seeking depth, challenge, and a powerful narrative.”
- “"Void War" offers a rich blend of strategic ship management and immersive storytelling.”
- “Faction allegiances and crew backgrounds enrich the lore, while in-game events and choices shape the unfolding story.”
- “What plot exists is there for the sole purpose of 'explaining' why you're going to your end objective: it has no bearing on anything else and nothing becomes of a successful run other than "go do it again."”
- “Story-wise, this game is unfortunately not that well established; the stakes are nebulous. There isn't a critical mission with a time limit, with reminders throughout of the weight you carry in the universe; there isn't a foe that you're slowly fighting through and weakening with an end goal.”
- “While the factions, abilities and otherwise might be interesting to people specifically invested in 40k lore, the lack of context, information and worldbuilding in the actual game, in addition to no logs, lore or other backstory from all those ships that keep 'fleeing while you kill their enemy', make it hard to resonate or even care about the game world.”
replayability
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
51%
45%
4%
The game offers exceptional replayability driven by a wide variety of ships, commanders, equipment, and challenging difficulty levels, with frequent updates adding new content. Its diverse mechanics and random elements keep each run fresh, though some users note occasional imbalance and randomness can affect the experience. Overall, it provides deep, addictive gameplay with a strong "grimdark" aesthetic that appeals to fans of roguelike space strategy games.
- “Frequent patches and new content make this game endlessly replayable, and a decent challenge on the higher torment level difficulties.”
- “With 12 escalating torment difficulty levels and multiple unlockable ships and commanders, the game offers substantial replayability.”
- “Each run has the potential to be entirely different from the last and offers a ton of replayability.”
- “Interesting ideas and great visuals with a nice WH40k touch, but the playthrough is so random it spoils all the fun. Sometimes you get lucky and snowball through the entire campaign without issue; sometimes bad luck ruins it and wastes time. The campaign takes about 2 hours, which is the entire game, so the concept feels untested. It would make more sense to let players repeat missions until strong enough for the next level, ensuring random mechanics don't ruin the playthrough and allowing testing of different setups for replay value. Instead, one bad random event can snowball to oblivion. For example, stage 3 might give easy enemy ships with abundant resources, while stage 4 might give tough enemies or useless items, sometimes leaving you with an overpowered ship or an impossible setup.”
- “So summed up, 2-hour long game with very random replay value and zero effort to balance stuff.”
- “Star system layout design hurts replayability a bit for me, with linear pathing and shops labeled by type.”
atmosphere
69 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
44%
4%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its grimdark, Warhammer 40k-inspired aesthetic, featuring gritty visuals, oppressive music, and a dark, immersive tone that perfectly complements the gameplay. The heavy, doom-filled soundtrack and detailed art style enhance the eerie, bleak mood, creating a unique blend of sci-fi horror and strategy that many find highly engaging and evocative. While some players prefer FTL's lighter tone, most agree that this game delivers a compelling, atmospheric experience that deeply enriches its roguelike gameplay.
- “Every aspect seems to have been made with love; the atmosphere, the setting/vibe, the FTL strategy, the legendary music, it all comes together to make a real masterpiece.”
- “The grimdark atmosphere, references to WH40K, awesome soundtrack, and neat new mechanics all culminate to create an amazing little game that has a ton of replay potential.”
- “The visuals and lore paint a grisly picture of life in that universe, and the music and SFX add excellent atmosphere.”
- “Opinion: I'm not a fan of the atmosphere.”
- “Compared to FTL, I find the atmosphere of FTL to be much more appropriate and I enjoy it much more, even though it's just a few soundtracks and a few artistic illustrations/animations just like Void War.”
- “The Void War atmosphere, while it fits the game lore itself, still feels out of place in outer space.”
grinding
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
Grinding in the game elicits mixed reactions: while the progression system offers rewarding customization and removes many tedious mechanics from similar titles, unlocking ships and commanders is often criticized as overly grindy and time-consuming. Managing large crews and equipment can become tedious, especially with micromanagement during combat and boarding actions. Overall, grinding is manageable but can feel like a slog, with calls for more varied and less repetitive unlock methods.
- “Very grindy - I already know I will not unlock many other ships or commanders unfortunately.”
- “The unlock system is really, really grindy (I mean to unlock all the ships in the game you would need to win like 30 times).”
- “The game just becomes a grindy slog quickly.”
humor
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is praised for its dark, absurd, and often grimly comedic tone, especially in its creative encounters and gameplay scenarios like summoner spam and boarding parties. Players appreciate the novelty, replayability, and comedic reactions during ship battles, with a mix of witty, dark humor integrated throughout. Overall, the humor adds a unique and entertaining layer that resonates well with fans of the genre.
- “The pure grimdark lunacy of faking bureaucratic nonsense, like pretending your engines won't start until the enemy dies to get an extra reward in specific situations, is so funny.”
- “There's something really funny about drowning an enemy ship in summoned demons or when your boarding party is equipped to the gills and absolutely slaughters their opposition.”
- “Speaking of encounters, the encounters you get in this game are varied and often give you the option to choose pretty fun, usually very dark humor choices.”
stability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game generally runs well on PC and Steam Deck with stable performance and cloud saves, but users report numerous bugs and glitches, especially at higher difficulties, which can significantly impact gameplay. While many find it fun and promising, its current buggy state detracts from the overall experience.
- “Runs great on PC and Steam Deck, scoring 9/10 for performance.”
- “It runs great on Windows and my Steam Deck, with cloud saves keeping your progress if you swap the system you're playing on.”
- “Runs great; I did 5 runs, 2 reaching the boss, with no crashes or bugs so far.”
- “There are some game-breaking glitches at higher difficulties that break the game.”
- “Buggy mess, shame because I have hundreds of hours in FTL and was about to do the same to this.”
- “This is a fun game, but I cannot recommend it in its current form as it is extremely buggy.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
Optimization is generally solid, with smooth performance and stability reported by most users, though occasional performance drops and minor crashes can occur during intense gameplay moments. Regular updates have helped maintain stability, and overall the game runs well without major issues.
- “Runs smoothly, 0 crashes, and updates have been regular so far (I purchased in early access).”
- “The game runs smoothly, is simple and easy to play while still being challenging.”
- “Generally stable with smooth performance.”
- “Technically speaking, I experienced performance hiccups, crashes, and bugs—not extreme but noticeable.”
- “I'm surprised I'm getting performance issues.”
- “Only issues I have sometimes are random performance drops, but that tends to happen when there's a lot going on, like the enemy ship is destroyed but they have boarders on my ship.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is largely shallow, with factions lacking depth and interactions feeling minimal and uninspiring. Players may find limited emotional engagement, often reduced to simple acknowledgments rather than meaningful connections, resulting in a somewhat nostalgic but emotionally flat experience.
- “Every system, every question, every sector choice quietly asks: do you understand how this universe works—or are you just emotional meat pressing buttons?”
- “All the factions you encounter are differing flavours of evil with zero depth, and the most emotional exchange you'll ever have is a 'the colony appreciates what you've done' after saving them from a thousand years of suffering.”
- “Maybe a wholesome evening devoting yourself to the death cult?”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is hindered by designs that make it difficult to distinguish between characters, impacting their individuality and clarity.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization is well-executed, offering substantial content that enhances replayability rather than feeling like a shallow cash grab.