Voyageur, a light space exploration narrative
Note: Voyageur is available for IOS and Android. It is a paid game, $3.99 in the ITunes app store.
Description taken from app store:
The Descent Device: faster-than-light travel at speeds no human should go; an alien mystery. But it only goes one way, falling from star to star towards the centre of the galaxy. Voyageur is a literary RPG where you take the helm of a trader-vagabond vessel, looking for adventure, wealth, and answers in an infinite galaxy full of procedural cultures and civilizations.
Assemble a crew of misfits to travel with you on your one-way trip to sail on seas of liquid methane, descend into the clouds of heavy-atmosphere worlds, and unveil the secrets of the alien life that created the Device.
Voyageur's world is full of diverse cultures and societies, inspired by contemporary science fiction authors such as Iain Banks, NK Jemisin, Ann Leckie, and Cixin Liu.
A product of Failbetter Games' ; Fundbetter initiative, it should appeal to lovers of interactive fiction and literary gaming, including Fallen London, 80 Days, and Sorcery!.
This game is a little bit of several things, and not too much of any one thing. On each planet, you're given the option to do a few things that range from buying more supplies for your ship, required to travel onwards, recruiting officers to add to your crew, or seeing a bit of the culture of that planet. There's very basic trading from which you can make money. You can be attacked by pirates, but your options are limited and there's no real combat to speak of. The most interesting part of the game, at least for me, are the bits of information you pick up along the way. For example, I discovered some kind of revolution happening in one region and was given options to either ignore it or help out in various ways.
I've only finished one playthrough of the game, but at the end, i was given a pi ece of information that hints at a wider mystery to be solved. Since the game is procedurally generated, I don't think there's a deep narrative outside of that one alien mystery the description mentions. However, I think the game rewards multiple playthroughs as I've been told that I've unlocked more options for my next run. I'm also starting out with more supplies and money than I did the first time.
Accessibility: I played this on an iphone. I have no trouble with getting anything done, although it could be a little more smooth with voiceover. The most frustrating thing is not being able to scroll pages with 3 finger swipes, and not everythig is always available on the screen. However, there's never that much content at any given time, so swiping left and right to get to the beginning or end isn't that bad.
Screen layouts for those that are interested.
There are 5 tabs across the bottom of the screen. If you're exploring th e screen, you may find the image just above the text name of the tab. From left to right they are: location, depart, market, character, and crew. More details next.
Location (image reads, globe showing Europe and Africa). At the top is the name of the planet you're located on. Taking up the main part of the screen is a description of the planet. Below this is a list of actions you can take. It might be as few as one option to re-supply your ship. Finally, there's a display of how many supplies and money you have.
Depart (image reads, rocket). From here, choose the next planet to travel to. You're told a brief description of that planet and how many supplies it takes to get there. You'll be told if you can't select one because it's too far away, or maybe you have too much cargo and you need to sell some off before you can leave.
Market (image reads, band of American dollars. Or something like that). You're given at most, i think, 4 or 5 things you can buy from any planet. I find it easiest to swipe by headings which will take you from one item to the next. Below the items you can buy will be anything in your cargo hold that you can sell off. A little more about the cargo hold area because it confused me at first. Swiping right from the name of the item, the first number is the price you'll sell it for. The next number is the difference between the buying and selling price. So if you bought something for $10, and you can sell it for $30, it will display $20 here. But don't worry, if you just want to know if you're making a prophet, it will also tell you if selling will be a "prophet" or "loss".
Character (image reads silhouette of 1 person).). Information about your character. Self xplanatory.
Crew (image of 2 people). Information about your crew.
Lastly, a link to the web site: Voyageur web site
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