RymdResa

Venturing into the vastness of space has always been an appealing concept, and it’s one of the reasons why so many books, movies, and games exploit it. Since space is infinite, so are the possibilities in which it can be conceived.

RymdResa’s creators have envisioned their version of space and interstellar travel as a beautifully atmospheric roguelike that, through design minimalism, proves to be thought-provoking. It’s nice to meet you, little indie.

Most of the time I tend to leave the technicalities of gameplay towards the end because I often find myself enjoying the atmosphere of a game and favor presenting that at the beginning. This time around, I can’t decide, it’s all very nice and worth talking about in an equal manner.

Gliding through space in RymdResa is done using your mouse and with that alone you can play the entire game. All you need to do is point the spacecraft into the direction you have to go and fire up the thrusters with a simple left-click. The other mouse button is reserved for interaction between the craft and the countless objects, planets, and phenomenons you will encounter.

Out of all the games I’ve played, I can confidently and comfortably say that RymdResa has one of the most intuitive control schemes ever. Everything in its design seems to be focused on channeling the features into a relaxed experience.

RymdResa proposes that you explore three worlds, each one seemingly infinite. Being a roguelike, you don’t know what to expect, the game will catch you by surprise in more than one way.

I find this roguelike very well-balanced. Exploration can be both peaceful and treacherous at the same time. You can max out your speed and glide through the cosmos care free, and in one second you can smash into an asteroid that’s being carried around by who know’s what star’s gravitational forces. The game gets so relaxing at times that you forget danger even exists.

It would have been a shame for a game with this kind if setting to omit gravity and its behaviour. RymdResa is far from disappointing when it comes to that aspect. It’s light years away from disappointing anyone (astrophysicists not included).

The gravity related mechanics in RymdResa are excellent. I actually got stuck into a planet’s gravitational pull and had to remember that you can slingshot yourself away. Thanks, physics! In other instances I got too close to a giant star who’s pull got me so much off course I crashed into an asteroid, and the ship blew up. That’s how good space roguelike should work. They let you enjoy the journey until it says ‘Enough, start over’.

RymdResa is not just about exploring, finding tech, researching, scavenging, completing missions and so on. It’s not entirely focused on being a game, something you constantly interact with. The pilot of your spaceship will spend year after year in the infinity that lies ahead of him. The mind starts to wonder.

As so, you will get glimpses of his thoughts, you’ll listen to some profound questions, messages, and confessions. The game is rigged with all kinds of silent encounters as well. They can take the form of text that’s just floating there in space, or your own thoughts while flying.

At one point, I was flying in one direction for a few minutes and actually started to feel a sensation of loneliness grabbing hold of me. Since when do roguelikes make you feel stuff? For me apparently, that starts with RymdResa.

To sum things up, if you like roguelikes, you’ll pretty much love this one. However, keep in mind that RymdResa was built to offer the best of all worlds, gameplay, content, and an experience. It’s not perfect, it can’t be.

It has a simple yet charming visual style. You might be bothered by the fact that for a good period of time your ships will just be contours. I know I was. Bare with it, you have a long journey ahead of you, and it’s wonderful.