I’m doing things a little differently this week. In this episode of Scar Tries, I gave the recent Early Access title Outworld Station a go. This space logistic sim has enjoyed a fairly positive launch so far, and it caught my attention during Next Fest. I’ve found recently that my current layout for covering all these awesome games could be better. To improve that, I’m experimenting with a new layout, hence why you’ll see a table! Development is ongoing of course, so consider this a first impression. Let’s kick this off!
| Category | Overview |
| Genre | Outworld Station is a basebuilding game set in space that feels like a weird blend of Factorio and tower defense games. It’s a surprisingly solid combination, and its emphasis on empire building through churning out spaceships sets it apart from other games in the genre. |
| Visuals | Set in the cosmos, Outworld Stations visuals might not win any awards for stellar graphics or beauty, but they still look great. I particularly like the animations. With your pilotable drone to mine resources and drop them into the recycler, watching the machines work those raw resources into usable products, and the development of your growing space station is damn good. |
| Gameplay Mechanics | Outworld Station’s gameplay is solid. It’s that perfect mix of automation, exploration and mining that blends together well like a nice ice cream sundae. The progression and the unlocks with each level are so well designed, introducing you to new mechanics at just about the perfect pace. The gameplay loop of pumping all your acquired resources into building starships of increased size is great, with excellent tutorials to back it up. While a complex game, Outworld Station is a good pick even for beginners to the logistics genre. |
| Technical Performance | This is the only real downside I found with Outworld Station right now. While the performance with the game is still decent overall, it can tank framerates when your automation empire reaches a certain point. I also saw a couple of UI bugs when switching between the main control interface and piloting the robot in navigation, but it’s only the optimization that needs the most work. This is understandable given the scope of this genre. |
| Content for Early Access | For £14.99 in Early Access, Outworld Station boasts an impressive amount of depth and content for the price tag. While things like optimization need to be addressed, this is a great deal. Many games in this category are in the pricier tier of indie titles, with Factorio/Satisfactory in particular hitting the 30-40 USD price point. I won’t be surprised to see Outworld Station’s price increase during development. |
| Fun Factor | Fun is obviously a subjective term. How do you rate how fun something is? For me, it was how invested I was into playing the game and how excited I was between sessions. Outworld Station combines complexity with enjoyable gameplay with just the right balance for me. |
| Conclusion | This is an impressive showing by Outworld Station so far. Honestly, I need to have more time with it but that’s the purpose of this series: to determine if they are worth my time. The amount of content and depth on offer here is solid, with optimization the only downside I have found. Developer has been active so far, and I’m excited to play this game more. |
