They've been using the retail slot since the beginning of the beta. The game has been updated frequently since then and has changed noticeably during the course of the beta phase. It's not 100% finished since things like Steam achievements and the credits are still missing, but it should be very close to the release version now.

I love this game so much. I had the pleasure of playing the demo during the Kickstarter campaign and have been wanting to play it since. So glad they released the beta to all backers.
It doesn't actually do any travelling in that view that you're talking about, that's just for encounters. You do a series of hyperspace jumps with an encounter of some kind between each. It's a space ship simulator roguelike-like with a bit of Oregon Trail.

Gotcha. I actually got a key from someone and have been trying it out. It's pretty cool, and that's actually a really good description of it.

I think the coolest part I've seen is the whole air lock thing. Can't wait to try launching some boarding parties out of it. :D

I had an ultimately fatal mishap caused by trying that. It was really stupid on my part but I'll just say be careful which bits of the ship you drain of oxygen, and pay attention to what it is that the intruders are attacking. I can go into more detail about what happened if you like.
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