Recent reviews by Detrital Narwhal

I have 11 hours on the game

8 if those ours have been spent looking at a “server capacity full” message

The other 3 hours were fun

It is like animal crossing except you build an entire city and there's more freedom

The game very effectively blends moments of suspense, exploration, and teamwork--making it easy to both learn and continue playing with friends. An approachable take on the horror genre, Lethal Company generates moments of thrill that are not too overwhelming.

Its like Risk of Rain but I can actually run it....and crabbing with friends is fun

This game is cheap, just buy it and play the damn crab game

One of the most relaxing and intuitive puzzle games I've ever completed.. all while basking in the nostalgia of timeless childhood memories... The game took me just a few hours to complete and was a peaceful experience. I'd say it is well worth the full price (cost/minute), though I must admit I got it for $6.

Onboarding/Ease of Use: :2017catheart::2017catheart::2017catheart: (4/5)
Story Progression: :2017catheart::2017catheart::2017catheart::2017catheart: (4/5)
Visuals: :2017catheart::2017catheart::2017catheart::2017catheart::2017catheart: (5/5)
Sounds::2017catheart::2017catheart::2017catheart: (3/5)
Personal Enjoyment: :2017catheart::2017catheart::2017catheart::2017catheart: (4/5)

**Final Score** = 80/100

Paid: $6 (usually 20)
Time to complete story mode: ~3 hours (180 minutes)
"Cost" per minute: $6/180min = $0.03 ($20/180min = $0.11)

Interpretation: You can get this well-developed, beautiful, interactive story for a low price, especially during sales. Short time to completion of the story mode makes it a quick but thought-provoking journey from start to end.

Took a few months off from the game (for no particular reason) and came back to loads of new content, character reworks, and general quality of life changes that have made a previously great experience even greater

I'm especially a huge fan of the character reworks that have really digged at some of the community's most common suggestions and complaints. Still very happy to play for hours after owning this for 2+ years.

Yes

Yes

Yes

This is a great game! I played 25+ hours within the first week of getting the game. If you like Stellaris, Cities Skylines/Simcity, Civ, and in general mass resource management, you might enjoy this game like I did.

Graphics: 4/5 - Wish that cities were bigger/more prominent, but zoom in for nuanced details

Replayability: 4.5/5 - Addicting! There are so many build paths with several cultures, unit types, and biomes that make each experience slightly different. Some game elements need some work, though that is expected with an up-and-coming game.

Difficulty 4/5 - Learning the games takes some trial and error. There levels of difficulty and pace. Higher difficulties are ruthless to beginners.

Multiplayer Experience: 4.5/5 - Games run smoothly with friends and ability to add a timer to turns AND battles for all players is a huge time saver, especially with 2+ players.

Strategic Elements: 4/5 - I wish I could give this a slightly higher score. While the game is very fun and provides dozens of hours of enjoyment, there is a point at which certain elements start to become mundane. The developers are actively implementing changes and are active on their Discord, where they often preview beta.

I'm excited to stick with HUMANKIND as it is further developed.

**Pros**
- Plenty of thematic content to explore.
- Many DLCs (which go on sale often) that bring new ways to play and a provide an intricate look into the "lore" of Stellaris.
- Easy to play with friends (hot join system) and simple server hosting. Multiplayer games can be saved/loaded and you can switch the empire you play as when you rejoin.
- High customization that allows for loads of creativity.
- Many levels of difficulty, as well as a "scaling difficulty' setting that scales the difficulty of your game as you progress.

**Cons**
- Learning curve as a new player is somewhat steep (based on personal experiences with friends). The first few games for my friends were very confusing and frustrating. After a day or two, however, we were all able to play well through the mid-game with relative ease.
- User interface could be more compact and looks a bit outdated. There are many mods (mainly for single player games) that upgrade the HUD, but not many for multiplayer servers.
- When playing alone or with just another friend, smaller-medium sized galaxies can feel massive or cluttered depending on how you tweak your settings, Be careful when selecting the amount of stars in the system, advanced AI starts (empires that start with some infrastructure/naval power already in place), and number of empires (I like to do 6-10, anything above 10-12 starts to feel too busy for me).

Personally, I picked this game up really fast as I'm a fan of colony sims (ONI, Planetbase) and found that the many, many parts that make up the game are perfect for people who enjoy micromanagement games :). 8.5/10, because I feel that the game is thematically and strategically captivating--yet lacks the presentation/interface to help users (especially new ones) learn exactly what everything does and how to grow their skillset quickly (slow learning curve).

I have been a supporter of this game since it was in alpha. Since the start of its development, Oxygen Not Included has only gotten more exciting for me to play. In its current version, the game allows you to start a colony on 5+ types of "asteroids", each with its unique resources, vegetation, and mechanics to keep you entertained for hours on end.

In my opinion, ONI is very much a trial and error game that will have you restarting your base over and over for the first couple of days, but once you begin to get a hang of things, it is a truly rewarding game with plenty of things to do.

Many of the bugs that were present in earlier versions are gone, and most gameplay elements that used to be imbalanced/inefficient are no longer in the game.

If you are someone who enjoys multi-tasking, managing complex systems, and carefully planning layouts/infrastructure, then this game is 100% for you!