Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 Review Summary

Relaxing, Addictive Gameplay Loop: Players consistently praise the game for its relaxing, meditative, and stress-relieving qualities, often noting its addictive nature and how easily hours can pass while playing. The core gameplay loop is described as satisfying and enjoyable, making it a perfect 'turn-your-brain-off' experience, especially when paired with other media like podcasts or videos. Many found the game to be a significant improvement over its predecessor.

Satisfying Ship Dismantling: The act of dismantling ships is highlighted as incredibly satisfying and cathartic. Players enjoy the methodical process of breaking down massive vessels, using various tools, and witnessing the realistic destruction physics. The sense of accomplishment from completely clearing a ship and the puzzle-like aspect of efficient demolition contribute to its appeal.

Diverse Content & Worthwhile DLCs: The game offers a good variety of ships, with DLCs significantly expanding content and providing unique challenges. Players appreciate the detailed mechanics, realistic physics, and the unique perspective on shipbreaking. The DLCs are considered worthwhile investments, adding depth and extending playtime, with anticipation for future content.

Responsive Developers & Bug Fixes: The developers are highly commended for their responsiveness to player feedback and their consistent efforts in fixing bugs and improving the game. Regular updates and quick patches, especially for critical issues, have significantly enhanced the player experience and demonstrate a strong commitment to the game's ongoing development.

Rewarding Progression & Upgrades: The progression and upgrade systems are well-received, providing a motivating sense of accomplishment. Players enjoy leveling up tools, acquiring new equipment, and seeing their efficiency improve. The economic system and the ability to upgrade tools quickly contribute to a smooth and rewarding gameplay loop.

Game-breaking bugs and crashes: The game is plagued by an excessive number of critical bugs, frequent crashes, and performance issues, especially in multiplayer and with DLC content. Many players report the game being unplayable or experiencing constant interruptions, with developers seemingly prioritizing new content over bug fixes.

Repetitive gameplay and low content: Players find the game's core loop repetitive and lacking in depth, leading to quick boredom. There's a perception of insufficient content for the price, especially in the base game, with new ships often locked behind expensive DLCs. Comparisons to 'Hardspace: Shipbreaker' highlight a lack of complexity and engaging mechanics.

Multiplayer desync and physics bugs: Multiplayer mode suffers from severe synchronization issues, causing dismantled ship parts to reappear or float, making progress difficult or impossible. Physics bugs are common, leading to objects getting stuck, falling through the map, or not collapsing as expected, particularly on larger ships.

Tedious sorting and collection: The material sorting mini-game is widely criticized for being tedious, overly long, and boring, often leading players to pay a penalty to skip it. The overall gameplay loop involves excessive, repetitive item collection and truck loading, making the experience feel like a chore.

Save/load issues and freezes: The game has significant issues with saving and loading, including frequent freezes during autosave, lost progress, and corrupted save files. Initial loading times are excessively long, and crashes often occur during loading or when attempting to exit the house.

Ship dismantling core gameplay: The core gameplay loop revolves around dismantling various types of ships, from small vessels to massive cargo and cruise ships. Players use different tools to break down components, sell salvaged materials for profit, and use the money to upgrade tools and purchase larger, more complex ships. The game offers a progression system where ships increase in size and difficulty, providing a sense of accomplishment as players tackle bigger challenges.

Strategic dismantling and hazards: Dismantling ships involves strategic planning, especially for larger vessels, to manage hazardous materials like gas and electricity lines, and to efficiently extract heavy components using a crane. Players must consider the order of demolition to avoid destroying valuable items or causing explosions. The game incorporates puzzle elements, requiring players to think about how to safely and effectively break down structures.

Tool upgrades and bugs: The game features a robust tool upgrade system, allowing players to enhance their hammer, saw, torch, and other equipment for increased efficiency and damage. These upgrades are crucial for tackling larger and more durable ships. However, some players reported bugs where tools would disappear or get stuck, requiring a game restart or specific workarounds.

Material collection and sorting: A significant part of the gameplay involves collecting dismantled pieces and sorting them into various categories (metals, non-metals, liquids, equipment) for recycling. This often includes a mini-game where players load materials onto a conveyor belt and sort them into bins. While this sorting process can be skipped, it results in a loss of resources, making it a strategic choice for players.

Repetitive but engaging loop: While the core gameplay of dismantling ships is engaging, many players noted its repetitive nature. The game involves a continuous loop of breaking down ships, sorting materials, and upgrading tools, which can become monotonous over extended play sessions. Despite the repetition, the game offers significant playtime and a satisfying sense of progression as ships are completed.

Performance and Stability Issues: Many players report significant performance issues, including frequent crashes, stuttering, and low FPS, especially with larger ships or DLC content. While some users experience smooth gameplay, others find the game unplayable even on high-end systems. Recent updates have improved stability for some, but optimization remains a key concern.

Ongoing Bug Fixes: While some bugs persist, many players acknowledge that the developers are actively working on fixing them, and the overall bug situation is improving. Specific issues like floating assets and tabbing out have been resolved.

Inconsistent Physics Behavior: Physics simulation can be inconsistent, with ship parts sometimes levitating or being ejected unexpectedly. While some players find these 'quirks' amusing, others see them as bugs. Physics have reportedly improved over time.

Positive Visuals and Graphics: Players generally appreciate the game's visuals, noting high-quality 3D graphics and dynamic environmental features like real-time weather changes that enhance immersion.

Long Loading Times: Players note that initial game startup and loading times, particularly for larger ships, can be quite long. However, a recent update has reportedly improved loading speeds for some users.

Not recommended in current state: Many players do not recommend the game in its current state, primarily due to significant bugs, performance issues, and a disappointing multiplayer experience. They advise waiting for fixes or avoiding the game entirely.

Relaxing, repetitive gameplay: The game is highly recommended for players who enjoy relaxing, repetitive tasks, and the satisfaction of dismantling objects. It's seen as a good game to unwind with, often while listening to other media.

Inferior to Hardspace: Shipbreaker: Several players suggest that 'Hardspace: Shipbreaker' is a superior alternative for those seeking a ship dismantling experience. They recommend this game only if 'Hardspace: Shipbreaker' has already been played or if it's on a deep discount.

Critical bugs and crashes: Players frequently report game-breaking bugs, including crashes, and urge developers to prioritize fixing these issues. Some have even requested refunds due to the severity of these problems.

Mixed feelings on DLC: There's mixed feedback on DLCs, with many advising against purchasing them due to perceived lack of value or the base game's unaddressed issues. However, some specific DLCs, like 'Steel Giants' or those adding submarines, receive positive mentions.

Desire for more content: Players are eager for more content, including new ships, tools, and minigames. There's a strong desire for continued developer support through future updates and DLCs, with many hoping for Steam Workshop integration to expand the game's longevity and creativity.

Relaxing background activity: The game is highly praised for its relaxing and casual nature, making it ideal for multitasking. Many players enjoy it while listening to podcasts, music, or watching shows, highlighting its 'turn-off-your-brain' appeal and suitability for various demographics.

Developer communication and quality: There's significant concern about the quality of updates and DLCs, with players reporting bugs and a feeling that developer testing is insufficient. Some express frustration that player feedback is not being addressed, especially regarding multiplayer issues.

Similar to other simulators: The game is frequently compared to other popular simulation titles like Hardspace Shipbreaker and Powerwash Simulator. This indicates its genre appeal and sets player expectations based on similar successful games.

Repetitive gameplay loop: While the game can make time fly by, some players find the core gameplay loop repetitive and monotonous over extended periods. This suggests a need for more varied activities or progression to maintain engagement.