One of the best games/story generators I've ever played, especially if you like Dwarf Fortress. This game is HARD; you *will* lose colonists or even whole colonies if you don't know what you're doing. Even if you do, to quote MF DOOM: "That's just the way the cookie tears." It's a hostile planet, and a lot of factions on it + the environment wants you dead, even in temperate climates. Storms, solar flares, plagues, heat waves/cold snaps, enemy raids/sieges, insectoid infestations. You'll have to weather it all in a bid to escape the planet through your own devices, or getting in good with the Empire.

A lot of tragic and triumphant ♥♥♥♥ can happen in a single playthrough. One of my best colonies was a mountain base on an ice sheet, growing Noku mushrooms for food in heated underground greenhouses. Another colony was a desert base that traded with friendly towns for necessities, capturing raiders to sell (or convert to my side if they were good.)

You can be as ethical as you want, ranging from wholesome to straight-up war crimes. Depends on how you approach it. Pacifist vegetarians that love nature? Sure. Transhumanists that augment themselves like the Mechanicus from 40k? Why not? A colony of psychopathic cannibal slavers that harvest organs from captives? Swayze. Want to conquer the whole world with an imperialist ideology and hardened troops? Go nuts. Want to drop pollution on tribal settlements? The only limit is your imagination.

All expansions + a lot of mods are a must have. The ones that I like are Terrain Reclamation, Prepare Carefully, SRTS (airborne craft), Hygiene, stationary bikes that produce electricity when pedaled by pawns, and more. There's even mods that add spacecraft/moons/asteroids/etc. Amazing!

Overall, this game is worth it. Buy it, Tynan made a masterpiece.

4.5/5