Our vision of endless space exploration draws mostly from games where you could travel from planet to planet, basically the 8- and 16-bit versions of
Catan with mostly contained choice and gradual progression. Otherwise, space games tend to lean in on combat and dogfighting a la
Star Wars or other franchises. Nothing against those approaches, but the idea of exploring an endless galaxy generated by a computer is so much more on trend. Not only are there a huge number of highly detailed 3D space combat and exploration games in development, but think of all the roguelikes just in the last year or so set in dungeons or open worlds. Most have heaving Platforming elements, or at least tend to be character-driven in an RPG-lite fashion.
RymdResa takes a different approach by pulling the camera back to the simple view of a roving craft, plowing an endless field of stars.
If you’re imagining some similarity to F.T.L., you’re not entirely on the wrong track, but where that game stressed more simulation, resource management, and trading, RymdResa goes more for simple interactions, gathering, and twitch reflexes. Flying a ship in space comes with all kinds of hazards, requiring close attention to how much fuel you’re burning, your speed, and your orientation. Eventually you’ll find new craft and customizations that improve your experience in some ways, but can also make things more interesting. RymdResa also isn’t as open-ended as it may seem at first. There are three chapters that you unlock by finding marked waypoints. At first, this feels nearly impossible because your ship is in a puny state, so leveling up and earning special abilities is paramount. Depending on your piloting skills, the first chapter can be mastered quickly, but there’s always opportunities to replay and improve your ship.