Some of the most well-known games in history don’t have especially fast-paced gameplay or deep narratives but instead focus on providing a sense of progress to players. When that is boiled down to its purest form, games like Starvester developed by Syphono4 are made, where the goal is to allocate resources in smart ways in order to create more resources. The space theme takes the genre a step further by allowing scale of projects to be visualized and explored. This week, the game was announced alongside a reveal trailer showing off some of its key features.
A few days ago on December 26th, the Steam store page for Starvester went up, giving players the glimpse of what the trailer would expand on. The goal of the game is to make small incremental progress by building up larger and larger structures in space. Players will start with simple drones able to harvest resources from across the galaxy, slowly letting them buy upgrades and create more efficient collection structures. Eventually, players will be able to harvest the energy generated by the largest and most powerful celestial bodies such as stars.
The game will offer a few additional features, such as a short 5-hour campaign and a prestige system. The latter is a staple of Starvester‘s genre, allowing for new experiences on subsequent playthroughs. The trailer gives a look into the specifics of what players can hope to build, such as massive elevators, satellites for every kind of resource, and mining stations for asteroid fields. Planets also come with unique sizes and names, with the resources allocated to each affecting how valuable they are to any given player.
What some players may find boring, others find calming or even thought-provoking as they attempt to find the quickest way to build up their structures. The success of Starvester remains to be seen, with players only knowing that the game is coming soon to Steam.