Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Reviews

This game suffers from severe padding. You can't speed up the game so it takes like 30 minutes just to get enough resources to build one Pod. There's also no options to show specific Pods, which would be helpful for when things become intricate and layered. There's just so many QoL features that are common in every other RTS/city builder style games that are just not present here at all. I enjoyed the first planet a lot but afterwards, you realize that's it. The leveling up feels inconsequential to the actual gameplay and barely unlocks anything of value. It took me nearly two hours for that first planet and I unlocked 2 settlers and a new mode. Honestly, I feel like I just wasted my time.

The game uses poorly-generated AI art for the in-game characters. It is also locked at 60 FPS, which may not sound like too big of a deal for a colony sim game, and you'd be right. But it's still nice to have access to more FPS, as it just makes everything smoother. I played on a 4K 240Hz monitor, and one thing I noticed is that the GUI elements are kind of low res, which is unfortunate. The anti-aliasing is also pretty horrendous, and the models are pretty low quality too. I totally get having an art style, and I love art styles, but think of Astroneer and how clean that game is. This is not on that level. The game definitely needs more settings. Specifically to do with graphics. I bring these things up because they make the experience slightly less crisp, which kind of sucks for a game that seems to be designed to be clean and relaxing. In terms of game-play, it's too easy. There really aren't many complex concepts or anything which makes the game challenging. You simply get resources in order to get other resources with no compromise. It's just kind of boring. I also received a quest telling me that an asteroid had crashed and that I had to salvage the remnants. However, I COULDN'T FIND THE ASTEROID. It was no where to be seen. I refunded the game soon after to get my £5 back; But I'm pretty sure that was a soft-lock. Overall, I strongly advice against wasting any amount of money on this game.

Great little game. Not very far but so far enjoying it. Space, resources, construction management...what's not to love! Well done developers!

In the state this game is in it is currently unplayable. The bugs make smart decissions impossible. The numbers around income and loss of resources are practically irrelevant, the rocket building is simply broken and without better statistics it is almost random what does and does not have an impact on your economy. I still don't eveb know why moral decreases, but keeping it above 90 is so easy I don't even care. As a cassual builder with much less resource management acceptable graphics and simple grid lock system would be fun and worth the price, but lack of ability to fullfill big ambitions has lead this game down a dark path.

I am a bit conflicted about Stellar Settlers, but in it's current state, I don't think I can recommend it. I got it because it looks like a cute small city builder or colony sim, and it is to some extent. The main gameplay revolves around placing pods with different effects, like generating resources, treating sick settlers or acquiring research points. Some of those pods only work above a certain floor and all have to be connected with tunnels to work, so you quickly end up with a big interconnected pod maze which looks really cool; that is definitely the biggest strength of the game. The main problem though, however, is that the game overall fails to be engaging. To reach the goal of building a rocket to escape the planet, you have to often wait around to generate resources and research points, with no real way to speed it up as there is no fast forward option. At the end of the game, I had to wait around 20 minutes not doing anything until I had generated enough resources (with quite a few resource generators built and settlers assigned) until I actually had enough resource points to launch the rocket. That part is kind of cool as you have to build the rocket yourself, stacking parts cleverly while keeping the malfunction chance low, but overall most of every round will consist of a lot of waiting. And when you finally manage to launch the rocket (which is also a bit iffy overall thanks to it being physics based), the game just instantly ends, unceremoniously. There are also some bugs (i.e. sometimes resources don't get picked up by miners, an event that was supposed to disable my settler bonuses did nothing, etc.), the interface is pretty clunky and there is no real sense of urgency or challenge aside from random dangerous events that are more annoying than threatening. The graphics are simple, but serviceable, and the music loop, while nice and soothing, gets very repetitive very quickly. I finished one entire round just to give the game a good chance, but I don't really see myself returning to it and requested a refund. There are some good ideas here and building up your maze-like pod structures can be fun, but the game lacks the overall "drive" to really keep you engaged, even in one of the slower modes like Sandbox. I feel like Stellar Settlers could be good if it just had a bit more pizzazz, but it won't keep your interest for very long.

[h1][b]Is the game fun?[/b][/h1] Yes. The game is a 'chill' game that focuses on factory building, eventually building a rocket to gain XP and then going to the next planet, which is 'harder' then the previous one (and a different world style/look). [h1][b]But then why not recommend it?[/b][/h1] It's a bit inbetween for me. The €5 was okayish, barely worth it. But the full price is a big nope. Even though the game by itself is nice, the gameplay changes a bit untill 1,5 hours if you know how to organize and are experienced in base-building games. After 1,5 hours, it just became 'replacing' the same building on top of each other and thats it. I even restarted because I finally thought of a 'proper' and balanced design, and just was 'going around' without any issues. Within 1,25-1,5 hour I finished the FULL FIRST PLANET by over-mass producing stuff (not even min-maxing) The second planet is the exact same as the first in building wise, only less tiles are available (making it not harder, just more time-consuming). [b]About the buildings[/b] I think the buildings are fun and the connections they give make for some creative use to make it look 'clean'. But the mid-game is [u]completely[/u] useless. Once you have a research station, just go straight to the end to start mass-producing. [b]About the settlers[/b] The settlers are fun, but it feels like you need to micro-manage them for a game that is meant for mass-producing and macro-management. [b]About the 'progression system'[/b] It's not really something I was hoping for. For planet research, just leave it AFK if you don't want to overproduce technical points. For the XP research (by launching the rocket). It really is unclear what is possible, how big the rocket CAN be based on your thrusters, and how much XP you need to get to the next necessary level. I launched one rocket with what I thought 'at least next planet', but it returned me into 4 planets further (reaching me level 28). The rocket really should add a harder difficulty building it and some more 'fun' stuff so designs can be fun instead of purely practical [i]NOTE: I did refund the game after 2 hours as I think €5 should be worth >5 hours[/i] [i]EDIT: I noticed a screenshot with enemies(?). So maybe there is more gameplay?, but this is really hidden feature then sadly :( [/i]

Note for Steam Deck users; The controls do not currently work properly, nor does the game save input options when you change them. If you are playing with a Steam Deck, be prepared to use a custom keyboard layout to play the game. I can't recommend the game until it actually works on Steam Deck like advertised. (Performance is not the issue, controls are)

For $5ish this was fun. There were I think three buildings which weren't working as intended. The amount of organization and planning I could do was rewarding the first two times, but after that it felt monotonous and there really isn't anything new to find that I felt was worth while. You build your ship the right way once and then you really just do it the same way each time. For 8 hours I had mild fun but I'll probably never touch it again.

(As a preface, I don't have much time in the game yet. So if I need to change some of my opinions later; I will.) So.... This one is weird. There are some questionable choices made about the game's UI and QOL. I feel like there are a lot of simple fixes that could make this game great, but for some reason they just didn't do it..... for example: 1: You can pause time but can't fast forward time - Why? There has already been a couple times where I was just sitting there waiting for more resources in order to progress. I mean, that is the exact reason for a fast forward button. 2: When you pause the game you can't do ANYTHING - You can't place down objects. You can't move the camera. You don't even get the pop up window that tells you what materials you need to build parts. I get what they were trying to do here. They want to create a sense of urgency by only allowing you to make changes while the clock is running. I get that... Mostly. But even with that sense of urgency I would like to be able to simply MOVE MY CAMERA to see my buildings on the other side! There really is no need to make it so restrictive. 2-a: Also, you are describing this game as a "Chill" space builder and have nice calming music and yet trying to create urgency with the pause thing? ... Doesn't really make sense. 3: The UI/UX is just.... weird. I can't really go so far as to say that it is bad. Technically, it works. Just not well. It almost feels like it was made to be a phone game in the way that it is laid out, but there are a few things that wouldn't really make sense in that case. It feels like, maybe, half way through production they switched gears from a mobile/console game to a PC focused game and didn't want to change the UI. Like the buttons are big (As if to be pushed by a finger), and are positioned on the left and right sides (Where your thumb could reach easily). It just doesn't flow right, but it is still manageable. 4: It is very easy to get confused as to where your parts are. So, for example, I only have a handful of colonists that can give me boosts to my buildings (And some building require a colonists to operate). Eventually you will have more buildings than you have colonists, so you have to move them around, but the only way to move them is to go to what building they are at then unassign them just to go to the new building and reassign them. It would be much easier (and much less aggravating) to simply allow you to select the colonist in the new building. Those are just a few things that stuck out to me in less than an hour. To be honest, these are all things that should have been fleshed out in Early Access. I wasn't here for that so I don't know what happened. It kind of feels like they just pushed it though to full release. Again, this game could be great with just a few simple fixes!... As of now I would say.... Wait for like a 50% off sale...

Nice idea, but a hell of a lot of bugs When saving, raw materials lying around are not saved Trucks often stand around and don't deliver, for example. Repair module is available and connected but not repaired etc etc etc etc etc examples : https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432450677 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432450907 It's just like always... As a game tester I have to say dear developers get testers, get testers, get testers! Don't use the buyers as testers. Players don't report everything, they're not as attentive as real testers...