Slipways Reviews

Slipways is a sci-fi themed puzzle game about logistics that incorporates rogue-lite elements to achieve impressive replayability despite the apparent simplicity of its mechanics. Slipways is fun, inventive and manages to provide a sort of strategy-lite experience that can be enjoyed inside an hour, or as long as you prefer. A typical game of Slipways involves planets of various types, many of which can be colonised with facilities that will both produce and consume different resources. The idea is to connect each planet to another, satisfying their respective needs, boosting trade profits in the process and uplifting the prosperity levels of each planet in the network. Unfulfilled needs will negatively impact the happiness of your empire, as well as your overall score for the run, and if low enough, prematurely ends the game – so ensuring trade networks are planned out accordingly is crucial. Technologies play a significant role in deepening the strategic element to Slipways, with only a certain amount being available during each run, and many offering game-changing possibilities for optimising your trade networks. For example, Solar Panels can be used to produce energy which can be used to satisfy any outstanding needs of a planet, or planet-busting technologies can be used to destroy obstructions getting in the way of a trade route. Quirks are another game-changing element that can revamp the way in which score is accumulated during a run. For example, you might be scored based on the prosperity levels of planets of a certain type you have in your empire. This sort of variable meaningfully changes what technologies you may want available, like the ability to terraform planets into the sort you need. There is a campaign that introduces interesting gameplay variables as well an intriguing story about a fallen civilisation. The soundtrack and presentation are, in a more compact package, up there with something like Stellaris. A very easy recommendation.

A friend recommended this. I'm not into 4x strategy games and this was supposed to be a very user friendly way to ease into the genre - and it is! It took me a little bit to get the hang of it and learn how to be strategic, but then it became kind of addicting! Very fun and it's nice that it has difficulty options. I ALMOST completed a run on my fourth run. I'm sure i'll get it soon. Definitely worth a try if it's not what you're normally drawn to.

Very fun game, but I wish we had the option to remove the 25 year limit on a standard run. I know the sandbox difficulty allows it, but the sandbox difficulty is so easy it's no longer fun for very long. I like to be challenged, but at the same time, I hate knowing that my hand made galaxy expires while there is still so much more I could have done. Perhaps a version that keeps going while gradually reducing the amount that happiness can go down before you lose. That way the challenge is continuous, but the game doesn't have to expire provided your galaxy is efficient enough. Hopefully, the dev will keep updating the game. Either way though, it is fun enough as is to be worth the price.

Gameplay holds up, even if it gets a little samey after a while. A great fun 20-hour campaign with no major but still somewhat interesting twists on the core gameplay kept me coming back.

Less of a "fast paced 4X" and more a "tricky puzzle like boardgame that rewards strategic thinking". Can be frustrating if you don't take your time, especially at first, but the higher levels I'm certain will be rewarding to OCD strategy types (I mean that with love).

Great casual game with the depth of a puzzler with the feel of a space tycoon game to it. It brings me back to the fun I had with the very first Master Of Orion back in the days. Without the combat but with way nicer grapics

One of the best puzzle games around; brutally challenging, every decision you make really does have sweeping consequences. Late-game research helps bring everything together, and the campaign gimmicks are super fun. I am so bad at the game yet find it so incredibly satisfying. Would recommend to anyone into puzzlers.

I used to play a Pico-8 (A game engine meant to mimic the feel of a third gen console) demake of this game on Cool Math Games without even realizing it was a demake, and I loved it, and when I found this game, I bought it and the full experience is even better, just the sheer risk-reward thinking of how much of the sector you should map out before you start building makes it fun for me.

It's fun. I like it. It's the sort of space-based resource management game that appeals to my brain. Getting things to work is very satisfying! Not having that ONE RESOURCE you need within range is VERY FRUSTRATING! It's a good game to start up when you want to play SOMETHING and aren't sure what. Standard runs are pretty quick. There's still plenty of the game that I haven't interacted with, yet, at 10 hours in. If it looks like the sort of thing you would also like, I highly recommend it.

Tough. Annoyingly tough. Very fun though. Put enough time in and you'll get some of the rarer achievements before you know it, if you're into that.