Summary
Space Prisonis a unique new hybrid title that combines roguelike elements with survival and relationship mechanics in a sci-fi setting, the titular intergalactic penitentiary. It’s the debut from indie developer Wooden Alien, and published by Firesquid, which previously helped release games likeCrab GodandReus 2. Though it faces some issues of repetition and has a few areas that could use more depth, the title explores a very interesting subgenre of its own making with engaging combat and an aesthetically distinct world.
To establish itself as a roguelike,Space Prisonuses a conceit of a player’s consciousness being transferred via a collar from one to another when the previous being perishes. The layout of theprison in the gamealso changes from day to day, explained as a way of keeping prisoners from escaping, andgiving these mechanics a narrative explanation adds fun extra depth to the world. The game builds upon this further with elements of survival and social rankings, making for a sci-fi combination that’s undoubtedly unique despite imperfections.
Caring For Your Prisoner
Survival Mechanics & Body Switching
When players first begin, they’ll choose an initial character build consisting of both a race and crime - essentially their class - which all come with pros and cons. There are humans and fun alien races, like the Nex which can hover to avoid hazards, and the chosen crime will give one positive and one negative - Thieves, for example, receive double loot, but their crime makes others distrustful, making them build relationships slower. After death, players can choose one of three random builds to put their consciousness into,which adds randomization, though it would be fun to be able to more freely explore race and class combos.
Prisoners have three main stats which players will need to monitor: health, hunger, and hope, all of which are difficult to keep numbers high for in their own way. Health is easily lost and much harder to regain, hunger requires either purchasing meals or finding and cooking food, and hope is sometimes the hardest to come by, having to be sought out from things like special flowers or heartening social interactions. Having very high or low hunger and hope comes with positive and negative status effects, like extra AP or receiving additional damage.
Combat In Space Prison
Multifaceted Tactics That Keep Players Thinking
Fighting inSpace Prisontakes place on a grid system, with each race starting with a slightly different move set. Many of these are multistep, combining things like movement and damage, and cost a set number of Action Points. Over time, players can acquire different weapons that will change these move set options, as well as things like consumables and one-time attacks like poisoned projectiles.The multistep aspect of attacks paired with how much movement is necessary for success makes forturn-based combat that feels unique, though limited beginning move sets can get repetitive whenever players change bodies.
10 Best Turn-Based Tactic Games
Factions take turns taking out their opponents, creating the niche turned based tactics genre with several great games from XCOM to Phoenix Point.
The grid itself is often littered with obstacles that block routes, dangers like poisonous patches and explosives, and the occasional boon like loot crates. Thankfully, prisoners don’t have to face the battlefield alone - rats that roam the prison can become party members by feeding them, and there are other prisoners that can be recruited to fight for money or through gang affiliation. At the beginning of combat, players can place party members in starting places on the grid, which in itself can have great strategic value, and starting to recognize good opening placements for different enemies is satisfying.
The Day-To-Day Of Space Prison
It’s A Hard Knock Life For An Intergalactic Criminal
Space Prisonuses a day/night cycle, with each day having a set number of actions that can be completed before prisoners must return to the cellblock or face dire consequences - players don’t actually need to backtrack on the map, however, and can be returned automatically. The map is intypical roguelike style, showing branching paths with combat or events, andfights are marked with a difficulty rating, which can be invaluable when traveling with low health. Events are simple but entertaining, though they can also be quite impactful, often resulting in things like health loss or relationship gains.
Though the layout changes daily, there are some rooms that remain constant, like the bathrooms and medical bay, and as players progress, they can gain access to new areas like gang hideouts and places locked behind doors. Each day there’s also some kind of random modifier applied to the prison, like a change in gravity causing damage when players move in battle. There are many resources to be found scattered about that have a fun sci-fi slant to them, like tentacles and strange fungi, as well as special contraband that can be stored in a secret inventory slot.
Making friends with other prisoners and joining one of the two prison gangs is essential for survivaland the potential for eventual escape. After completing the initiation for either one, players can move up a multi-tiered gang hierarchy by doing jobs for other members, allowing them to speak with higher-level prisoners. Each character has a relationship meter which can fluctuate with things like gifts or botched jobs, and once reaching a certain point players can begin asking them for prison intel and buying certain wares from each one, though there isn’t much in the way of actual conversational options.
Though most things - like weapons, money, and supplies - are lost when a prisoner’s body dies, there is incremental progress to be made in some areas. Relationships with fellow inmates remain intact, as do things like any secret stashes that have been placed throughout the prison. The semi-frequent loss of nearly everything can be rough going, but these small glimmers of progress help a lot - and technically, items can be reclaimed through a sneaky trip into the morgue.
Final Thoughts & Review Score
3/5 - Good By Screen Rant’s Review Metric
Space Prisonvery much leans into the misery of prison life, for better or for worse. This can be amusing, particularly when it comes to interacting with fellow inmates, but other parts like the repetitive beginning for any new prisoner body and the overall deeply drab nature of the locale can make it hard to stay engaged sometimes. However, it should be noted that the review build of the game wasn’t final, only about 75%, so it’s hard to get a complete picture of what it has to offer, and some shortcomings may be addressed in the release version.
The multifaceted way combat works as a whole in the title is still impressive despite the aforementioned repetition, however, as is the overall gang hierarchy system concept. It’s not perfect, but it has a good baseline of gameplay and has one of the most important qualities a roguelike can have, which is feeling a sense of learning something new each time around. For players looking for a new way to try out tactics in a rich sci-fi setting,Space Prisonis certainly worth a look.
Screen Rantwas provided with a Steam code ofSpace Prisonfor the purpose of this review.
