I'm playing FTL: Faster Than
Light, a spaceship management roguelike by Subset Games.
It's a “roguelike” because it's
very challenging and purposely unfair, with permanent death to seal
your fate. This approach makes every victory taste better, and the
sting of losing a really good ship hurt even more. The game features
procedurally generated maps, so you’re never quite sure what you
will encounter: nebulae (that disable some ship systems), asteroid
fields, plasma storms, and solar flares, just to name a few. Also
included are trading ships and short quests (usually just warping to
a nearby location for a resource reward) as you jump towards the exit
of each sector. While you start out with a standard ship design,
there are eight others that can be unlocked by completed multi-step
quests. FTL does not offer the user the ability to crease custom ship
layouts, though. The tutorial does a decent job teaching the basics
of the game, and cooperative multiplayer could have added even more
chaos to the already hectic formula. During your time commanding the
ship, you'll manage the crew, weapons, and energy distribution. Your
energy budget can be distributed to shields, engines, oxygen, the
medical bay, weapons, cloaking, or a teleporter, all of which are
housed in separate rooms on your stately vessel. In addition to the
cockpit, sensors, and doors, all of these locations can be disabled
by damage and fire, and your crew will have to run around repairing
things, fighting aliens that have teleported in, and putting out
those pesky flames. Assigning specific target rooms for your weapons
is easy, although manipulating the door system can be a bit picky, an
issue when you are attempting to quickly vent out the oxygen to
extinguish a widespread fire. Resources earned by destroying ships
and completing quests can be spent upgrading your systems, adjusting
the characteristics of your ship toward the abilities of your crew
and your play style. Overall, FTL is a fantastic adaptation of
rouglelike conventions to a great theme that is immediately engaging
with the panicked chaos of running your ship.
