Battlevoid: Harbinger

I suppose some grace can be given for where video game design was 10 years ago but nevertheless, this game is full of wasted potential. The basic gameplay is compelling but the progression is nonexistent. It's not even a proper roguelike since your failures don't even lead to meaningful progress. It's super slow progress to unlock new ships and every freaking ship is just as weak in the early game as any other, no matter what stats it carries. And why is it weak even when it has 3 times the shields or hull of the starter ship? Because rng of ship placement and map layout just kills you plain and simple. So despite what some of the advocates may say, no, losing is not fun.

kind of wish there are more of this kind of games.

If you ever have a few spare hours, definitely check this out.

I really enjoy Battlevoid! I got this game because I liked Space Haven from the same devs, which I also recommend. I am not sure how best to convey what I enjoy in this game. It looks simpler on the surface than it really is. I did need patience to get better and discover a few tactics that make winning easier. I had a lot of fun at first, just running in there "guns blazing" and getting my azz kicked pretty bad each time. Then I felt a bit frustrated for a while, because I had not figured how to improve yet. There are a lot of details to learn (like weapon types, distances, timing of attacks) and I was making many mistakes. Once I improved this became fun again, and I am still having fun after 54 hours in. About "grinding": I read some reviews complaining about grinding. I would not call this grinding, but it is a careful progression while getting stronger, and any mistake can be fatal. But each time I lost a good ship or got game over, I knew I had only myself to blame, it was not RNG but my own lack of care. Only part where I can (partially) understand why some players get impatient is the unlocking of the bigger ships. I did not unlock most of them yet. I am not even sure I will continue playing long enough to unlock them. Is it bad design, unbalanced? I am not sure. It keeps me looking forward to next game in case I unlock a bigger ship. The ones I have are already big, heavy and slow enough (like the heavy carrier) and it already takes a while to fully equip such a beast. My usual gameplay loop looks like this: - destroy a couple of helpless enemy ships - use the weapons or scrap they dropped to upgrade my ships - think a lot about which combination/upgrade of weapons will make me stronger - feel powerful, forget humility - attack another "helpless" target, except this time I did not look at the map properly so reinforcements arrive and land right on top of my ships - panic for the rest of the battle, trying to save all my ships - if I am lucky, not lose the game in a few seconds - become careful again for a while... until I feel powerful again and make the same mistake

Well polished roguelike space combat sim.

I really wanted to like this game, but it's just so unfinished. The balancing is horrendous and your doing is arbitrary. It takes (tedious) ages to get to a point where your fleet is somewhat capable and then you just get wiped out by random encounters. This has little to do with strategy, it's just frustrating. Don't buy it.

Nice little 2D space battle game. Responsive Devs proven to solve problems :)