MeinMMO editor Maik Schneider assumes that in a mirror universe, where humanity has already explored distant parts of space, he somewhere gives well-thought-out commands as a spaceship captain. The popular Steam game Cosmoteer for €20 helps him with his daydreams.
Since I spend all day gaming, I usually bring up new games on our couch. But this time it was my fiancée who gave me a little hint.
“This is definitely something for you!” – I haven’t heard that from Alicia often in that context. So I bought it unseen and jumped right in the next day.
Already after the first few seconds, I understood why she thought the game Cosmoteer was worth recommending. I got my captain’s bathrobe, set up the technology on the coffee table, and sank into a small indie gem where I build my own star destroyer in 2D.
What the game has to offer and for whom Cosmoteer is suitable, I will explain to you in the coming lines. The trailer for the game is here:
Cosmoteer: “Warning: Aspiring Captain on the Bridge”
What kind of game is this? Cosmoteer is a spaceship management game where you complete missions and gather cash and resources to upgrade your spaceship or fleet.
You design the layout of the spaceships entirely yourself, having a large palette of tools at your disposal, and you can freely design colors, shapes, and the technical components.
Additionally, you must ensure that you have enough crew members to keep your equipment running on board.
With each mission, with each defeated enemy ship, you collect more resources to get closer to your dream destroyer. Your imagination knows almost no bounds, except in perspective. Cosmoteer relies entirely on 2D graphics.
How does it work? You start by choosing one of the cheap beginner designs, and the ship awaits orders in front of a friendly space station.
Such space stations ensure your progress in the game:
- Here you get missions and thus cash
- Surplus resources can be sold and needed resources acquired
- Crew members are waiting to be recruited
- Technological blueprints bring new technologies
You take on a mission and follow the marker on the map. Usually, the missions revolve around defeating pirates or exploring areas. Along the way, you discover additional POIs, whose exploration often pays off.
If you get too close to an enemy ship, it will attack, and hit areas of your ship will take damage – armor will be destroyed, weapons will be wrecked, and if a generator explodes, it will take parts of your ship with it. If a storage with reactor material is hit, half of the ship can catch fire.
The opposite is also true. You can fire on enemies without a specific command or target certain areas. A destroyed generator often completely wrecks the ship. If you dismantle the cockpit or the bridge, you can even take over the ship.
You steer your craft from one mission to another, gather resources, cash, and reputation, and upgrade your ship into a flying fortress. Or you can rely on multiple ships and attack enemies with a small armada.
What else does it offer? There is extensive workshop support with many player-created mods and ship designs.
Furthermore, Cosmoteer can be played entirely in coop. Instead of going on a pirate hunt alone, each player has their own ship. Rewards and achievements are shared. PvP is also possible, and you fire your livelihood out from under each other.
Who is it for? If you have a creative streak and are even just a little bit of a science fiction fan, then take a close look at Cosmoteer.
Currently, the game is still in Early Access, and the tasks repeat quickly. However, even in its current state (December 2022), the little indie gem can keep you occupied for many hours if you enjoy building spaceships. It reminded me a bit of the raft game Raft.
Cosmoteer has been available on Steam since October 24, 2022, and has since collected over 4,700 reviews. The rating is “Overwhelmingly Positive” and 96% of the reviews give the little game a thumbs up. For €19.99 you can start your own adventure.
As a fan of space action, I had no chance of passing up the title – Alicia of course knew that. Because I have played my MMORPG solo for over 1,000 hours because the setting just fit perfectly: I have played an MMORPG solo for 1,000 hours – it was great
