In the final frontier of space our imaginations have captured a galaxy full of wonder and teaming with life. RymdResa turns that concept on its head. In the future our world is gone, and the only thing we have left is hope. You are in charge of a single space ship that must find a habitable planet as you embark into the bleakness of space.
Morgondag is a Swedish developer composed of two people. The duo have single-handedly constructed a game that has a bullet point featuring the “solitude of space.” Along with your lonely journey, violence is absent from your endeavors into deep space. In RymdResa the focus is on relaxation and beauty as it unfolds through a strict pixellated color palette.
You begin your journey as a lone pilot with a few survivors left from the decimated planet you once inhabited. Your goal now is to find a new planet. To do so you must explore the procedurally generated world/galaxy that is RymdResa. As you wonder around the galaxy you’ll come across different worlds, objects, and asteroids in the game.
On each new voyage you’ll discover every play through is not only procedurally generated, but the upgrades and items found are random each time too. You will have 6 customizable slots for shields, aura, and other improvements for the ship. I can only assume you’ll need these upgrades as you explore the vastness and brutality of space.
From the uninhabitable planets to the floating debris, the pilot and remaining survivors will eventually find a planet to inhabit. Once your hope for starting life on another planet has been successful, you are then responsible for re-populating our species. When re-populating begins, that does not mean your work ends.
The last cycle of the game is Nether Space. To quote from the site itself this last part of the game, you “…travel beyond the knowledge itself and find wonders and myths among the threats of space.” Though not much is available about this aspect of the game, the latter half of the experience seems focused on exploration.
You will in fact still need to gather resources for further space exploration the entire game. Throughout your journey there will be quests and mission objectives to help point you in the right direction. Some of the things to help pass the time while exploring are audio logs from the pilot. The game will be primarily text driven, but Eric Reed will be performing the voice acting for RymdResa.
To compliment the text driven, non-violent, space exploration game a melodic and soothing chip-tune soundtrack does wonders to add atmosphere. Not having actually played the game hasn’t diminished the sense of wonder and awe. Having only watched the videos available on the site itself or on Steam Greenlight, the game really stands out.
As a matter of fact, RymdResa has an iPad beta happening right now. It will also be releasing on PC, Mac, Linux, and surprisingly to the WiiU. There has been no date given for the release. What you can do is warp on over to Steam Greenlight and give a vote. Also, the entire soundtrack is available here as well.
As a fan of this studio’s previous work on Springa, I can’t wait to see what these two are doing with the space sim genre. The artwork looks fantastic, and the promise of NOT shooter lasers and negotiating hostile situations around ever corner sounds promising. If you happen to enjoy relaxing, fun, exploratory games, be sure to keep an eye on pixellated beauty for the time being.
