Duskers Review Summary

An immersive, addictive exploration game with a unique command-line interface and tense permadeath, though its limited content and variety may wear thin.

Atmosphere and immersion praised: Players consistently highlight the game's incredible atmosphere, immersion, and vibes. The combination creates a deeply engaging experience that draws players in.

Unique command-line interface: The command-line style interface is frequently mentioned as original and immersive. It gives a hacker-like feel and makes controlling drones more realistic.

Fun and unique experience: Many describe the game as fun, unique, and enjoyable, with a distinct identity. It offers an experience unlike others, often called a hidden gem.

Addictive and replayable: The game is highly addictive and offers strong replayability, making players want to return for more. Its simple but effective loop keeps it engaging.

Engaging drone control mechanics: Directing drones to board derelicts and manage them is engaging. The active approach to controlling a fleet adds to the gameplay loop.

Harsh failure and permadeath: Losing one drone often means game over, such as being unable to open doors or running out of fuel. The game is brutally difficult and features frequent resets.

Lack of content and variety: The game lacks sufficient content, with only four enemy types and limited gameplay variety. Many reviewers feel there isn't enough to keep the experience consistently fun.

Roguelike elements and difficulty: The roguelike formula and brutal difficulty mar the experience for many, with annoying mechanics and high lethality. Players often find the game excessively punishing.

Game becomes repetitive over time: After around 20 hours of play, the game becomes increasingly repetitive with little variety in gameplay or content. Many players find the experience dull after extended play.

Drone navigation and stuck bugs: Drones frequently get stuck on walls, each other, and obstacles, similar to malfunctioning robot vacuums. This causes severe problems as drones cannot escape or navigate past simple obstacles.

Drone command line gameplay: Players primarily direct drones by typing console commands and terminal-style instructions. This text-based interface supports core actions such as movement, scanning, and resource gathering.

Salvage derelict ships with drones: The main gameplay loop involves sending remotely controlled drones into abandoned spaceships and stations to loot fuel, scrap, and upgrades. Players explore and scavenge these derelict vessels while managing their drone squad.

Roguelike survival space game: The game is a roguelike with permadeath and strong penalties for death, often described as a space strategy roguelike with horror elements. Its structure emphasizes harsh survival and tactical decision-making.

Direct control option available: Players can switch to a Drone View to take direct control of any drone using arrow keys, complementing the command-line interface. This provides a more active and zoomed-in perspective.

Upgrade drones and ship: Drones can be upgraded for speed, equipped with modules, and the mothership can also be improved. Resources collected from salvage are used to enhance drone capabilities and progress further.

Low system requirements and smooth performance: Players consistently report that the game runs well on very old or low-end hardware, including minimal specification devices. It is praised for being highly performant across various operating systems.

Occasional crashes reported: A few users have experienced crashes, though they are described as low frequency or infrequent. This does not appear to be a widespread issue.

Collector ship upgrade causes freezes: Using the 'collector' ship upgrade may cause the game to freeze for some players. This is a specific, reproducible bug that can disrupt gameplay.

Challenge mode resets graphics settings: In challenge mode, graphics settings are reset every time the player enters. This is a persistent bug that affects user experience.

No bugs encountered: Some players have not encountered any bugs during their playtime. This suggests the game is relatively stable for many users.

Niche appeal and specific tastes: The game is niche and appeals to specific tastes: cosmic dread, command-line interfaces, 1980s micro-computers, stealth, puzzles, and survival. It is not for everyone, especially perfectionists or those seeking frantic action.

Positive recommendations dominate: Many reviewers strongly recommend the game, often with high praise or unconditional thumbs up. The positive sentiment is widespread and consistent across multiple clusters.

Price sensitivity and sales: Many reviewers suggest buying on sale or feel the game is not worth full price. Specific price points like $5-$10 or £5-£10 are mentioned as fair, while others say it's not worth $20.

Negative reviews and refunds: Some reviewers do not recommend the game due to punitive difficulty, lack of content, or abandonment. Others uninstalled or advise steering clear, and some suggest refunding after a short trial.

High difficulty and learning curve: The game is challenging, requiring patience, quick wits, and mental preparation. It offers a tough learning curve and brutal difficulty, but adjusting settings can help.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $15.00.

Session length: 0.7h.

Endgame: 12.0h.

Duskers is often fun and tense early, but many players report that repetition, limited progression, and shallow content make it wear off after the first few hours.

Friction: Steep learning curve and brutal difficulty; Keyboard-only command-line input can cause more trouble than enjoyment; Early attempts are designed to fail and require resetting progress; Tedious maintenance tasks compared to filing paperwork or spreadsheets; Bugs such as unreachable scrap or getting stuck; Lack of variety and progression perceived almost from the start.

Console Command Tinkerer: Writes custom aliases and chained commands, fine-tunes drone tool loadouts, and personally takes the wheel to avoid collisions and mistakes. Motivation: Mastery through automating drone behavior with custom command chains. Stance: buy.

Hardcore Roguelike Survivor: Runs long survival campaigns, adjusts difficulty options, and weighs each jump against fuel and supply risk. Motivation: Beating permadeath and surviving as long as possible on dwindling resources. Stance: sale.

Dark Sci-Fi Atmosphere Seeker: Plays in a dark room at night, reads corrupted communications for lore, and explores derelicts for mood rather than pure efficiency. Motivation: Immersion in the loneliness and dread of a dead universe. Stance: buy.

Comparisons to FTL: Frequent comparisons to FTL: Faster Than Light highlight similarities in real-time crew movement, map appearance, and addictive gameplay. Some suggest alternate upgrade strategies inspired by FTL.

Grim desolate atmosphere: Reviewers consistently praise the game's grim, desolate atmosphere and sense of being a lone survivor in an impossible situation. The spooky, minimalist aesthetic enhances immersion.

Rich lore through corrupted logs: The story is told through fragmented logs and corrupted communications, with multiple storylines running in tandem. Despite being light, the narrative elements and world-building are praised.

Comparisons to Alien and horror: Reviewers compare the atmosphere to Alien: Isolation and System Shock 2, emphasizing the lone survivor theme. Other comparisons include Voices of the Void and Lethal Company.

High difficulty and steep curve: The game is described as brutal with a tough learning curve, and difficulty can be finely adjusted via options. High default difficulty may contribute to low achievement percentages.