It’s like the Oregon Trail but in space…

What has this game done to me? It somehow turned 4 AM while I was playing FTL. How did this happen?

Game developers are geeking out mostly because it was the first Kickstarter game. But once that fades, the truth of what FTL represents is going to piss people off.

There is no 3d. How can you enjoy a game without the 3d? Oh noes.

And there are no cutscenes. Where are the characters? Every game has to have characters. The game has no narrative except the one you imagine to string together the random events.

And I don’t see any links to twitter or facebook. Game Industry says those links are necessary to get people to play games.

The itch the game is scratching reminds me that of Star Control where it is a game of space ships that star trek fans and sci fi nerds can geek out to it.

I’m wondering how we will be playing FTL a year from now. I imagine we still will be. The game is very easy to start and very hard to stop. More importantly, there is nothing really like it.

I wouldn’t mind a sequel where you would get to stick with your ship and crew longer and journey the universe more.

One interesting thing about this game is that it could have been made in 1990, over twenty years ago. There is no technology that only allows it to be made only today. Consider the games the Game Industry is preventing due to its existence.

If I was the FTL developer (and I’m not), I would actually make a sequel but totally drop the sci-fi ship aspect to it. Instead, adopt a fantasy setting and use boats. Sci-fi games just don’t sell unless they’re a FPS. Every game mechanic would translate cleanly into the fantasy mythos, and it would be more inviting. Women won’t touch sci-fi games, but they do purchase fantasy games.

But it is a damn shame about FTL. The Game Industry said that only 3d games with a ton of cutscenes with facebook links are what is wanted. How dare these indie games do something different! How dare they!