14 DAY TRIAL // Redshirt is one of a very limited number of video games that can tell an informed player almost everything they need to know about the experience by using only its name.
The original Star Trek series frequently had unnamed security personnel from the Enterprise escort Captain Kirk, Spock and other major character on their adventures.
They were often killed to provide dramatic tension or to allow the writers to introduce the threat that the crew had to deal with during the episode.
These heroes were named Redshirts by the fans of the series and the term quickly became used in the science fiction community to refer to disposable characters and their gruesome fates.
Redshirt, as a game, might seem unappealing because no one actually wants to see how the underlings live in the future when they can try and become Kirk or maybe Picard, even if a social network is involved to spice up their existence.
But the development team at The Tiniest Shark understands that a gaming world that embraced the Sims and their increasingly weird lives is ready to become a redshirt, living a simple life on a space station, trying to make sure that the next Away Mission does not kill them.
In the game, two landing parties are formed at random times and they then arrive on planets where members are placed in mortal danger.
The player cannot directly affect who lives and who dies but every mission shuffles the social order on the station and creates opportunities for the player.
I lost two girlfriends (one had tentacles) to away missions, which made me sad but once allowed me to get friendly with my boss and gain a promotion.
I lost friends I went out for drinks with to a sentient manifestation of the cosmos and I saw ambassadors annihilated by sentient rocks.
And most of the time I laughed while planning how to socially exploit their demise.