Info about ASTRONEER: Official game description: Astroneers undergo rigorous training to explore the frontiers of outer space for the good of all humankind. Creativity and ingenuity are key to their survival! **RESHAPE THE ENVIRONMENT** --------------------------- Astroneers are trained to use the Terrain Tool, a powerful instrument which can dig, collect, shape, build, and color terrain in any way they wish. **GO HANDS-ON WITH BASEBUILDING** --------------------------------- Build custom bases throughout the solar system to survive and thrive anywhere! Objects are snapped into place in a modular system that allows Astroneers to create unique builds. Automation systems, crafting stations, power plants, resource harvesters, and railway facilities are built from the ground up and can be customized to suit any situation. **LEARN TO SURVIVE A STRANGE SOLAR SYSTEM** ------------------------------------------- This unrecognized system consists of seven celestial bodies. Each of them can be explored entirely, from the rounded surface all the way down into the core. Astroneers will have to grapple with their unique geography and challenging biomes if they seek to understand them. **UNCOVER THE MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE** ----------------------------------------- These strange worlds are dotted with mysterious structures and artifacts, while Astroneers themselves receive confusing comms from unknown sources. Curious Astroneers may seek to understand these anomalies, and with them, the secrets of the solar system. **ALONE OR TOGETHER** --------------------- While they're perfectly capable on their own, Astroneers are team players who are always happy to offer a helping hand! Group up with other Astroneers and work together in 2-4 player online co-op. Playing solo online allows fellow Astroneers to drop in and out of your world at their leisure. **WHERE WE ARE** ---------------- Astroneer began as an Early Access title on Steam in 2016, and reached 1.0 in 2019. We wouldn't be here today if not for our community's support, feedback, and ideation. As we continue on our journey, we want to reiterate our pledge to continue building on the foundation that is Astroneer with free, ongoing content updates. Release date: Feb 5, 2019 Categories: Base Building, Exploration, Survival, Resource Management, Crafting, Automation Game, Cooperative Multiplayer, Terraforming Feature scans: - MTX: score 90; verdict: Predatory; summary: The game employs several predatory monetization practices, including currency obfuscation, day-1 DLC, aggressive FOMO tactics, and a pattern of creating problems and selling solutions. These practices significantly impact the user experience and are designed to extract as much money as possible from players. - Wiki: score 50; verdict: Needs Improvement; summary: The primary issue identified in the user feedback is the heavy reliance on external resources such as wikis and guides to understand game mechanics, find resources, and navigate the game. The in-game wiki, while helpful, is not sufficient on its own, leading to a poor onboarding experience and frequent interruptions to look up information. This reliance on external data significantly impacts the user experience, often causing frustration and breaking immersion. - Steam Deck: score 55; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: The analysis of user feedback for the Steam Deck experience reveals several key themes. Controller support and stability/performance issues are the most significant problems, with many users reporting awkward, terrible, and frustrating controls, as well as frequent crashes and sync issues. Linux compatibility is also a notable concern, with users needing additional software to run the game. Camera and gameplay mechanics have been criticized for clipping and finicky controls. Despite these issues, there is a substantial amount of positive feedback, with users praising the game's performance and overall experience on the Steam Deck. - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: - Community fair range: $15.00 - $22.00 - Reasoning: The evidence shows that many users find the game enjoyable and worth playing, but primarily when it is purchased on sale. Several reviews explicitly state that the game should be bought on sale, with one user suggesting a price point of around 20 Euros. Additionally, there are mentions of the game not being worth the full price due to various issues such as lack of content or explanations of basic gameplay elements. - Playtime Metrics: - Game completion: 80.0h - Story completion: 14.0h - Session length: 2.0h - Endgame: 20.0h - Reasoning: The evidence shows players reporting their playtime hours, which helps to estimate the typical time required for game completion, story completion, session length, and endgame content. The mentions of 80+ hours and 100 hours suggest a long playtime for full game completion. The reference to 14 hours indicates a shorter session or partial completion, while the 66 hours in a group setting suggests extended playtime for achieving all in-game goals. - Time-to-fun: - Summary: The game has a steep initial learning curve and storage issues, but once players understand the mechanics and progress through the storyline, it becomes enjoyable, especially in co-op mode. - Stance: Fun then drops - Anchor: Understanding the mechanics and progressing through the storyline - Time to anchor: 2h 0m - Friction: Lack of proper tutorials; Early game storage issues; Steep learning curve - Unlock drivers: Learning automation mechanics; Exploring various progression paths - Conditions: Playing with friends; Focusing on sandbox aspects; Progressing through the storyline - Player Archetypes: - Chill Explorer (sale) - Motivation: Relaxation and casual exploration. - Playstyle: Casual, relaxed, and cooperative. - Experience: newcomer - Purchase stance: sale - Labels: newcomer; casual player - Reference games: Minecraft - Lore Seeker (buy) - Motivation: Learning and discovering lore. - Playstyle: Explorative and educational. - Experience: familiar - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: lore enthusiast; explorer - Reference games: No Man's Sky - Automation Engineer (buy) - Motivation: Building and maintaining automated systems. - Playstyle: Strategic and methodical. - Experience: veteran - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: automation enthusiast; crafting expert - Reference games: Factorio - Frustrated Multiplayer (deep sale) - Motivation: Seeking a functional multiplayer experience. - Playstyle: Cooperative but frustrated. - Experience: mixed - Purchase stance: deep sale - Labels: multiplayer enthusiast; bug reporter - Reference games: Minecraft Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Enjoyable and fun gameplay (weight 0.4): Players consistently describe the game as fun, enjoyable, and interesting. The gameplay experience is often highlighted as pleasant and satisfying. - Rich and diverse content (weight 0.22): The game offers a lot of content, including exploration, base building, and automation. The content is regularly updated and provides diverse gameplay experiences. - Relaxing and engaging atmosphere (weight 0.18): The game offers a relaxing and satisfying experience with a calming soundtrack and easy-to-play mechanics. The atmosphere is often described as cozy and engaging. - Suitable for all audiences (weight 0.13): The game is suitable for both children and adults, making it a fun experience for the whole family. It is described as enjoyable for all age groups. - Intuitive and engaging mechanics (weight 0.12): The game has good and intuitive mechanics, including a simple yet addictive crafting and building system. The mechanics are well-designed and optimized. - Beautiful and colorful visuals (weight 0.11): The game features lovely and colorful graphics with vibrant colors on each planet. The visuals are often described as beautiful and pleasant. - Long and addictive gameplay (weight 0.1): The game offers long playtime and is described as highly addictive. It provides a lot to do, including mining and terraforming. - Cooperative multiplayer elements (weight 0.09): The game features cooperative multiplayer modes that enhance fun and interaction. Players enjoy cooperative play and exploration. Common complaints: - Game-breaking bugs and issues (weight 0.53): The game is plagued with numerous bugs, some of which are game-breaking and halt progress. Players also report issues with the save system, multiplayer functionality, and constant crashing. - Poor controls and user interface (weight 0.51): The game suffers from unintuitive and frustrating controls, along with a poor user interface. Players find the control scheme clunky and the UI impractical, leading to a subpar gaming experience. - Ineffective tutorial system (weight 0.5): The tutorial system is either missing, insufficient, or confusing. Players report a lack of clear instructions and direction, making it difficult to understand the game mechanics and objectives. - Repetitive and boring gameplay (weight 0.33): The gameplay becomes repetitive and tedious over time, lacking variety and excitement. Players find the gameplay loop boring and grindy, leading to a lack of engagement. - High price not justified (weight 0.07): Many players feel that the game's price is too high and not justified by the quality of the gameplay experience. The value for money is perceived as low. - Terrain tool issues (weight 0.06): The terrain tool is reported to be annoying to use and causes crashes. Players find the terrain manipulation rough and poorly functioning. - Problems with automation system (weight 0.05): The automation system is criticized for being awkward to set up and not well thought out. Players compare it unfavorably to similar games. - Issues with rails disappearing (weight 0.05): Players report issues with rails disappearing, which affects gameplay and can be frustrating. Gameplay feedback: - Resource collection and management (weight 0.3): Players frequently mention resource collection, processing, and management as core mechanics. This includes mining materials, exploration, and survival elements tied to resources. - Base building and automation (weight 0.24): Base building in various forms, including space base construction and automation mechanics, is a frequently discussed feature. Players appreciate the building and automation aspects of the gameplay. - Exploration and survival (weight 0.24): Exploration is a big theme, with players emphasizing the survival sandbox experience, space exploration, and interplanetary travel. - Multiplayer and cooperative gameplay (weight 0.17): Multiplayer functionality is highlighted as a significant aspect, with players enjoying cooperative modes and the potential for online co-op experiences. - Progression and objectives (weight 0.12): The progression system, including quests and objective-based gameplay, is noted by players. Mission logs and objectives provide a structured gameplay experience. - Crafting and building mechanics (weight 0.11): Crafting and building are key mechanics, with players mentioning the crafting system and the modular behavior of building components. - Terraforming and terrain mechanics (weight 0.09): Terraforming and terrain transformation are key activities, with players mentioning specific mechanics for flattening terrain. - Level design and open-world exploration (weight 0.07): Level design and open-world exploration are noted, with players appreciating the sandbox gameplay mechanics. - Achievements and quests (weight 0.05): The achievement system and quests are noted, providing additional goals and structure to the gameplay. - Rail network and transportation (weight 0.05): Building and managing rail networks and transportation systems are mentioned as part of the gameplay. - Community and social features (weight 0.04): Community features and interactions are mentioned, highlighting the social aspects of the game. - Vehicle control and movement (weight 0.04): Players mention vehicle control and driving custom vehicles as part of the gameplay experience. Performance notes: - Optimization problems (weight 0.15): The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to various performance issues. Players report that the game requires a decent PC to avoid lagging and low FPS. - Physics and vehicle issues (weight 0.13): Players encounter glitchy physics, including items and rovers falling through the ground, vehicles getting stuck underground, and vehicles flipping. These issues affect gameplay immersion and can be frustrating. - Server and performance issues (weight 0.1): There are significant server issues and overall performance problems. These issues affect the gameplay experience and cause instability. - Save file problems (weight 0.08): There are frequent issues with saving games, including freezing during saves and the inability to load large save files. This can result in lost progress and frustration for players. - Mouse and camera issues (weight 0.08): Players encounter mouse snap/lock issues and camera control problems, which can lead to motion sickness. These issues detract from the overall gameplay experience. - Frequent game crashes (weight 0.07): The game experiences constant crashing, particularly in multiplayer mode. This issue severely impacts gameplay stability and user experience. - Graphics and rendering problems (weight 0.06): There are issues with poor rendering and low resolution. Players also report FPS drops to single digits and the game being unplayable on medium graphics settings. - Netcode and multiplayer issues (weight 0.05): The game's netcode is fragile, leading to issues in multiplayer mode. Players report lag and other connectivity problems that affect the multiplayer experience. - Map and loading issues (weight 0.05): There are problems with map loading and various technical issues that affect gameplay. These issues can cause delays and interruptions in the gaming experience. - Buggy releases and updates (weight 0.04): The game had bugs at launch, and specific releases like the Megatech update have been particularly buggy. These issues can affect player satisfaction and game stability. - Miscellaneous bugs (weight 0.04): Players report various other bugs, including buggy headlights and issues with the fullscreen option. These bugs, while less frequent, still impact the overall gameplay experience. - Gameplay instability without DLCs (weight 0.03): The game experiences instability when played without certain DLCs. This can affect the overall gameplay experience and cause crashes or other issues. Recommendations: - Wait for sale to purchase (weight 0.15): Many reviewers suggest that the game is not worth buying at full price and recommend waiting for a sale to get better value. - Recommended for exploration fans (weight 0.12): The game is highly recommended for players who enjoy exploration, relaxation, and light survival elements, especially with friends. - Try other similar games (weight 0.1): Some reviewers suggest playing other games like Satisfactory, No Man's Sky, or Subnautica instead of this game. - Addictive and rewarding gameplay (weight 0.05): The game is praised for its addictive and rewarding nature, particularly for those who enjoy exploring, crafting, and base building. - Good features and customization (weight 0.04): The game is recommended for its features and customization options, as well as frequent updates. - Recommended to everyone (weight 0.04): The game is recommended broadly to all types of players. - Bug fixes needed (weight 0.03): Reviewers suggest waiting until major bugs, particularly in the Megatech aspect, are fixed before purchasing the game. - Minecraft in space experience (weight 0.03): The game is recommended for those looking for a Minecraft-like experience set in space. - Worth the price (weight 0.02): Some reviewers feel that the game is worth its current price point. Other player notes: - Co-op partner search (weight 0.03): Players are expressing a desire or need to find partners for cooperative gameplay. - DLC content (weight 0.02): Players are discussing or inquiring about downloadable content (DLC) for the game. Emotions: - Frustration (weight 0.38): Players are frustrated primarily due to a multitude of technical issues, including constant game crashes, game-breaking bugs, and save system problems that result in lost progress. Additionally, the game's poor UI/UX design, unclear objectives, lack of proper tutorials, and confusing controls contribute significantly to this frustration. Multiplayer issues, such as server problems and bugs, further exacerbate the negative experience. - Disappointment (weight 0.24): Players feel disappointed due to the game's unmet expectations, including lack of depth in mechanics, poor optimization, and repetitive gameplay. The handling of DLCs, paywalls, and monetization practices also contribute to this sentiment. Additionally, the game's technical issues, lack of guidance, and unfulfilled promises lead to a generally negative experience. - Enjoyment (weight 0.09): Players enjoy the game for its visually stimulating and engaging gameplay, beautiful graphics, and relaxing mechanics. The freedom of gameplay, exploration, and variety of activities such as crafting and base building are highlighted as positive aspects. Additionally, the cooperative multiplayer experience and the game's music and mechanics contribute to the overall enjoyment. - Anger (weight 0.07): Players express anger due to the developers' focus on DLCs over bug fixes, leading to a buggy and unoptimized gameplay experience. Poor controls, camera issues, and game-breaking bugs that result in lost progress are significant sources of frustration. The introduction of a premium cash shop and high pricing for cosmetics, along with multiplayer issues and server problems, further fuel this anger. - Joy (weight 0.03): Players find joy in the game's beautiful universe, relaxing atmosphere, and engaging multiplayer experience. The emotional attachment to certain game mechanics, such as the tether system, and the community interaction contribute to this positive emotion. The game's atmosphere, exploration, and cooperative features are also highlighted as sources of joy. - Excitement (weight 0.02): Players are excited about the game's exploration and building aspects, as well as the hidden story elements and multiplayer experience. The thrill of discovering new features, such as the planet's curvature, and setting up dedicated servers adds to the excitement. The high entertainment value and unique gameplay scenarios also contribute to this feeling. - Positive (weight 0.02): Players have a positive view of the game due to its originality, unique features, and mechanics. The calm and measured gameplay, flexibility of playing with friends or alone, and the complex progression system are appreciated. The interface, controls, and cave generation system are also noted as positive aspects. - Excited (weight 0.02): Players are excited about the game's features and activities, as well as the charming and delightful moments it offers. The anticipation of future game releases and the enjoyment of current gameplay contribute to this excitement. - Confusion (weight 0.01): Players feel confused due to the lack of a proper tutorial and unclear gameplay mechanics. The absence of explanations for gameplay mechanics and the discrepancy between their experience and positive reviews from other users add to this confusion. - Nostalgic (weight 0.01): Players feel nostalgic while reminiscing about past experiences with the game and playing with friends. The emotional connection to the game and its memorable moments contribute to this sentiment. - Love (weight 0.01): Players express deep love for the game due to its art style, ambience, and gameplay mechanics. The environment, style, and sounds are particularly appreciated, contributing to a genuine love for the game. - Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Players feel nostalgic when comparing the game to its previous version and rediscovering it after a long time. The familiarity and emotional connection to past experiences with the game evoke this sentiment. - Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Players show enthusiasm by providing detailed tips and strategies, and recommending the game to others. The excitement about the game's features and the desire to share this enthusiasm with the community contribute to this feeling. - Annoyance (weight 0): Players are annoyed by obnoxious shop icon animations and continuous begging for purchases. These intrusive elements detract from the overall gaming experience and cause irritation.}