I got the game this morning and managed to squeak in half an hour before going to work, and then I played this evening for an hour with my brother (restarting since there was a new build).
I'm barely into it, and I have to say that this game may be my favorite that y'all have produced so far. AI War will always have a special place in my heart, but this is exactly the sort of game I've been looking for.
I haven't played all that much. My second game is just about to hit the point where problems are cropping up faster than I can solve them, which is when I think the real game starts. My first impressions are excellent, though. I love not having to manage units, to move my workers (or automate them). I love that most the buildings are related to industry and housing and economy rather than military. I feel like I'm playing turn based sim city in space, which is awesome!
Not only that, but I was able to sit down with my 10 year old little brother this evening and we planned out our city, talking every turn over before building, figuring out which research would be best, where we want our farming or residential areas to be, etc. Every turn it felt like there was a major decision to make. Sometimes that decision was whether to risk skipping the next few turns to build up income, but it always felt like an important decision.
The thing that I'm most worried about at this point is clarity. I agree with not wanting the developers to baby the players, and there is a lot of this game that just intrinsically makes sense. People need food and happiness. If you build houses next to a factory, they won't be happy. That's obvious, and it directly flows from what you'd expect in real life.
Some of it, though, can be hidden away. Sometimes I bring up the more info panel on a building and find that an important bit of information is hidden in its description. Some of it might be stuff that will be in the tutorial, and I'm certainly figuring it out on my own so it can't be too hard, but I do wonder what things I'm missing sometimes.
The only bit that I'm just absolutely not figuring out on my own is the job percentage bar at the top. I made a ticket for this in mantis, but I honestly have no idea what that means. With food it feels obvious. 200%? Cool, that means I'm producing twice as much as my people consume. Good. With jobs, though... It will be %300, and yet I have 50 people unemployed. They seem to be happy because they're entertained. Then I have 238% and it turns red, and people are unhappy. Except, I still have all the unemployed people entertained with room to spare. What's the tipping point that makes it light up?
I haven't yet had any interactions with other races yet, so I'm super stoked about that. Also, I'm really curious how it'll work out once I start running out of room in my section of the planet. I figure that I can colonize outward, but I know that space usually becomes a concern with these sorts of games. How will I keep making jobs and houses when the whole planet is covered in buildings?
Loving this game!
Also, the music is stunning as always.
