Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space

Weird Worlds is the game representing a very specific "semi-genre" of the games, which is characteristic due to its "compact" form, relatively simple rules, short gameplay session and some random elements for every session. Something like games from the series "Desktop Adventures" released back in 90'. This one is a very simplistic space tactic game, where your main goal is to scout the surroundings, gather as much knowledge and artefacts as possible and return to your start planet on time. You can equip your ship, trade with locals, collect the loot from planets and if necessary, fight with alien ships. The latter is very simplistic RTS-style combat, but with an active pause. There is one problem with this particular part - usually, you're travelling alone and you don't have a chance alone against multiple ships (or a single, but strong ship). Some elements seem to be a bit underdeveloped. Like the lady who always steals one thing from your cargo - appearing randomly on one of the planets. Basically, you don't have a chance to either expect her or stop her. I also wish we could have a bit more of the talk with alien races, usually, they're either peaceful and ignoring you or aggressive and trying to fight you if you won't decide to escape. That being said, I still had a surprising lot of fun with this game. It's probably one of the most convenient "small games" you can launch in the window and play a bit whenever you need to keep other stuff on your desktop active.

Weird Worlds is minimalistic in many ways. First the price: for the money you have to spend you would not even get 2 cups of coffee in a fast food restaurant, if on sale it is even cheaper than a single cup. Thus to expect an epic game with high end graphics and / or a deep story would just be unfair. Second the time: depending on the galaxy size you will spend between 20 minutes and an hour. Third the game play: it is really simplistic. So why bother? Weird Worlds is loads of fun. Just sit down, relax, take neither the game nor yourself too seriously. Each session starts with a random setup so each one is different. It is a game of discovery, encounters and collecting items which have to be brought back home in time. The discovery part wears off a little with time as sooner or later you have found out which objects or creatures are important. And you will be surprised: not everything is what it seems to be. When all secrets are unveiled the challenge is to strive for higher and higher scores – or to solve the very rare special quests, if they appear at all. As all the games are short I never got really upset in the rare events of failure such as gotten too close to a supernova, being defeated by a superior fleet etc. BTW there are ways to defeat most fleets easily and (other than MartiusR says – no offence meant, of course) there is even a remedy for Esmerelda, the annoying thief. Just find out for yourselves ;-)

It's a roguelike thats actually fun to play! Hidden gem.

The game generates a random quadratic 2D starmap of a size of your choosing with random events placed on planets to explore by clicking on them. Your goal depends on the ship you select upon start. There is a time limit: After x number of turns, you must return to the starting planet. The limit is as such, that you usually won't be able to visit all planets before time runs out. A playthrough will last around 20 minutes, depending on the size of the map you pick. No real story is provided, and for long stretches, it does feel like solo-playing a board game against yourself. Even though randomized, there is a limited number of planets and events. Every time you move to a planet, you draw 1 event card, with many planets triggering no events at all. Events displayed to you are limited to stamp size stills and one or two paragraphs of flavor texts (the same that would fit on a paper card). If you look at the screens above, you already see all there is to them. The event card informs of what has happened, with minimal choices for you to interact. Occasionally, you get the option to avoid or fight a battle. The battles are small 2D minigames, where you get to tell your ship(s) to attack or retreat. The actual "action" is left to the computer. Graphics and options during battles are bare bones. While it feels like there is some resemblance to Master of Orion et al, the controls are incredibly limited, and tactical options don't really exist. In practice, most battles serve only as a roadblock. Since they can't be won, they are best avoided all together. After 30-60 minutes, you will have seen every event type the game has to show you. Beyond that, it is repetitions of the same. In short, it very much resembles a casual mobile game or solo board game experience. The price is reasonable, but no bargain. You get exactly what you pay for, nothing more, nothing less.