Developer: Blackbird Interactive
Steam Deck Compatibility?: Verified
Rrp: £29.99 (Gog.com, Steam and Epic)
This is yet another game in the genre of ‘Post Dad’ game and I think this is the most well polished one I’ve played to date. The concept is pretty simple, you’re a shipbreaker otherwise known as a ‘cutter’. There are actually a few games out there about shipbreaking but this is the only one that is about shipbreaking in space.
Unlike most other games in this genre there’s actually a story to follow in the career mode. Though I have to say the story mostly happens around you rather than with any input of your own. It progresses as you gain in rank through your shipbreaking activities. I won’t go into too much detail about the story other than to say that in this futuristic society has progressed from late-stage capitalism to hyper-capitalism (in a dystopian way).
You have several tools at your disposal but the two you’ll use the most will be the grapple and the cutter. All your tools can be upgraded using points you gain through stripping the ships, you’ll also gain money to spend on buying little luxuries, like oxygen. Oh, I should mention in this game you don’t really earn money but instead lessen your debt. At the start of the game you start off with a balance of -$1,252,594,441.92 that gains interest and you have daily expenses. Thankfully, shipbreaking can be quite lucrative.
This is definitely a game I’m going to keep returning to, probably on my Steam Deck. I quite like how the shifts you have in the game are fifteen minutes, giving you a natural stopping point if you wish to use it as one. If you enjoy a meditative experience you could certainly do much worse, just be careful not to blow up too often.
