Life Aboard the International Space Station
There have been a number of space station sim games over the years, but in the past most have been firmly of the tycoon game style--that is, primarily about building modules and expanding your station, with some notional flow of dollars increasing if you do it well. SpaceStationSim takes a somewhat different approach; it's more of a hybrid of a life sim (the granddaddy there being The Sims) and a tycoon game. You create an astronaut, and the gameplay involves both building out your station and satisfying the needs of your crew. Which includes, naturally, things like making sure they have enough to eat and time for potty breaks--and also enough to breathe. Life on the final frontier isn't always easy.
It's interesting reading over some of the reviews SpaceStationSim has received over time--it was originally a commercial, in-the-stores release from Enlight--because some take it to task for its alleged difficulty, while others think the tycoon aspect, at least, is fairly easy. (Which it is, at least once you learn what the various modules you can add do, and how they inter-relate with each other.) It sometimes seems like the reviewers are playing different games--which, perhaps, they are: Bill Mueller has been tweaking the game periodically since its initial release (it's now up to version 2.1), and has made it rather more newbie-friendly over time.
You'll most likely be interested in SpaceStationSim if you're a space buff and like the idea of operating the International Space Station; while this isn't a hardcore simulation, it is based on data from NASA, and does a good job of portraying the station visually, with some nice elements of verisimilitude, including the need to keep the many contributors to the station (the European, Russian, Japanese, and Canadian space agencies as well as NASA) happy.
But from the perspective of a game design aesthete, this game holds considerable interest as well: since the release of The Sims, I've been expecting developers to build on its basic paradigm to produce a whole genre of "life sim" games, but with only rare exceptions (e.g., the, ahem, Playboy game), this hasn't happened. SpaceStationSim shows how some of the concepts of that game can be fruitfully applied in a very different environment.
Given the title and nature of the game, you'd expect a self-consciously serious and perhaps even dour sim; actually, SpaceStationSim is charming, and even a tad humorous at times.
The developer says:
SpaceStationSim puts the player in the middle of the action at NASA, controlling the International Space Station, making both long-term strategic decisions as well as short-term moment-to-moment mission critical decisions. It provides entertaining game play based on management of resources, project planning, and research and development. It lets the player control individual astronaut characters (Pilots, Mission Specialists, Scientists, and Engineers) each with their own unique abilities and personalities. It does so with a real-time simulation that cleverly incorporates the first non-tile based 3-D engine, and is based on a design intended to appeal to a wide range of ages and both sexes. Stealth Training encourages the player to enhance his/her skill through free discovery of the science and psychology of life in space.
SpaceStationSim puts you in charge of creating the greatest wonder of the modern world, the International Space Station! Man's greatest engineering achievement in space...More than just a model - now you can create and manage your own living spaceship and crew!
Created in collaboration with NASA, SpaceStationSim is complete with highly realistic space modules to build your station, astronauts who learn as they gain experience and life support, experiment and entertainment components.
You will win by building a great station, keeping it in good shape, keeping your astronaut crew happy and managing their day-to-day activities
Features
- Plan your ISS design and launch new modules
- Plan your component layout and launch new components
- Create and launch your crew of Astronauts
- Launch supply missions
- Review political conditions (flags) and manage agency relationships
- Command your crew aboard the station to repair equipment and perform experiments
- Select internal components and experiments to monitor and adjust performance
- Track resources, keep your crew happy and healthy, and monitor system status
- Collect information for mission planning, as well as supply and re-supply missions
- Manage the relationships between astronauts
- Watch out for the Space Tourist!
- Keep your station functioning and in orbit or your crew will abandon ship!
Reviews
"As far as simulations go, SpaceStationSim is one of the better ones. The game takes the basic structure of The Sims and applies it to scientific research in space, allowing you to custom build an entire space station using realistic components and to hire user-created astronauts. The graphics are good enough, and the gameplay uses just enough automation to eliminate tedium. There is actually more variety here than in The Sims (at least before the 2,531 expansion packs). Plus, the game can be quite challenging, as bad conditions can deteriorate rather quickly if left unaided. The game lets you know of impending doom, although the user interface could be better. If you’ve ever dreamed of building your own space station like Billy Bob Thornton but just lack the start-up capital, SpaceStationSim is an entertaining substitute."
- 6/8, Out of Eight PC Game Reviews
"Like Sims, this one allows the player to drive the action and the outcome is a result of your (in)abilities. Once in space, you control what happens and how far you take it. The missions are a nice escape from traditional sim missions, but playing freely is an open ended zone where you can thrive in your modules and truly learn about living in space. Without bogging you down like a all-day science project, you will learn the day to day procedures and requirements of prolonged life in space."
- 7.5/10, GameZone
"SpaceStationSim eschews the hard-core management focus and deserves merit as the first simulation of space station life, bladder-challenged astronauts and all. It is an immersive and endearing game that, although ultimately a bit shallow, those with a love of games and space should consider picking up."
- The Space Review
"Overall I would highly recommend this game, as it is a great game and you will spend countless hours toiling over creating the best home in space."
- 8.3/10, Just Pause