I’ve been sorely tempted by Space Haven since it released into Early Access last week. Reviews thusfar are pretty stellar for a game still in Alpha, it looks like a game I would love, and I’ve been craving a great new base building experience.
Instead of making an impulse purchase, I decided to instead muddle through my library to see what else might scratch that itch, and I realized that I’ve picked up several games that – at least at a glance – are pretty similar and played almost none of them.
Meeple Station came out of Early Access in April of this year, but it’s been sitting in my library far far longer. I initally backed the Kickstarter for this one (along with the long-delayed Starmancer), but when the campaign failed to make its goals, I instead picked it up on Humble for $15.29 back in January of 2019. While the reviews on this one aren’t nearly as good, it does have the advantage of being something I already own.
Going even further back (but looking no less similar) is The Spatials: Galactology, a game I received for free for purchasing its predecessor The Spatials back in 2016. I confess to not being wild about the first game, so I figured I’d wait until full release of the sequel, but um, that happened in April of 2018, and the few meager hours Steam shows for it were spent idling for cards.
Those are just the most visually similar examples. I also own an unplayed copy of Oxygen Not Included, and a bunch of other colony sims and base builders in various settings that I’ve never touched. That’s in addition to Rimworld, which I played obsessively for over 200 hours, and the classic space station colony sim, Space Colony, which I have now purchased three separate times.
Putting aside for a moment how bad I am at actually playing the things I buy, I can’t imagine that I’m the only one who keeps searching for what basically amounts to the same game over and over. Sure, the details are different, but I expect the play style and process behind all of these titles is pretty similar. This one I can clearly trace back to its roots – the hours upon hours I put into Space Colony when it was fresh and new.
Is there any game you keep buying different iterations of?
Nerd Girl Thoughts 
I keep collecting various iterations of singleplayer spaceflight games where one can pilot a spaceship around, exploring various planets, interacting with aliens (hostile or friendly) and trading goods. I almost never play them, mostly because I can never get my head around how to properly fly the spaceship or dock with a space station in an enjoyable manner.
All I seem to be doing is trying to look for another 1993 Nomad, which has always had a special place in my heart for how distinctive each alien race is, and how valuable story/lore clues are buried within the necessity to interact with said aliens. I vaguely think that I need to play more of the retro classics or check out some of the slightly more modern takes on the genre, but never seem to find the time for either.
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DikuMUD MMORPGS! Until they stopped making them, that is.
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