Castaway Station

I'm new to STEAM and this is the very first game I downloaded. Maybe bc I'm a newbie, but it was addictive. I skimmed through the directions bc I just like to play and explore first, and now I'm getting into it!

This game is an awesome experience! If you like turn--based strategy games, this is certainly one to try. It's engaging, challenging, and creative! The story is interesting, the art is beautiful, and the music is well-placed. It's challenging enough to make you feel accomplished when you finally pass a level or finish a fight, but not too difficult to where it's impossible or frustrating. This game is perfect for all ages, and the design is very well thought out. You seriously get what you pay for :D

My experience with gaming has come at the level of watching others play, like watching a long movie that constantly starts over; Groundhog Day for a gaming voyeur. I've seen The Legend of Zelda in its entirety (like 20 years ago, what version was that?) and I've watched Cuphead be beaten a few times. I even accidentally compared Castaway Station to Dungeons and Dragons while fully picturing Magic: The Gathering in my head (deckbuilders, world building…it's all the same right? I'm kidding, please don't @ me). Clearly, I'm practically an expert. Castaway Station perfectly toes the line between inviting for newbies and expansive for seasoned gamers. Is it the hardest game in the world? Probably not. Does it wrinkle your brain and frustrate you in the best of ways? Ugh, definitely. Personally, I'm using Castaway Station as my introductory course on deckbuilding games, and right off the bat, the little blue hand that pointed at all the things I needed to click was indispensable. I'm unfamiliar with how to move through gaming worlds, so I appreciated all the help I could get. The user-friendly interface made the basics easy to digest, which allowed me to focus more on the actual gameplay and logic my way through beating the planet's meanies. Digression with the beasts; I love the ability to name my own monsters (Little Red Dickpunch is my favorite so far), and I currently have a very angry relationship with the armored xenomorph that I have yet to name because he's such a jerk he doesn't deserve it. Also putting a call out for some xenomorph plushies. Please, and thank you Bad Zombie. I know that I'm not the type to enjoy games like Red Dead Redemption or Mario Kart (too shooty and too cheesy, respectively), but Castaway Station feels like a wonderful meeting point. It's not hyperrealistic, but it doesn't feel childish. It's intellectual enough to get my puzzle neurons flashing without going into an existential crisis. And it's difficult. It's a challenge. This isn't a child's word search on the back of a cereal box. But, it's meant to be hard! You're playing games wrong if you get through every level the first time, even I know that. I'm finding the joy of a deckbuilder game is that no matter how many times you replay a level, your ability to defeat your foe depends on the luck of the draw. In Castaway Station, it also helps to have a teammate! When I finally managed to locate my second character, oh man! Can't wait for the other two. I do appreciate that it's also a challenge simply to find all the main characters. It's like actually being stranded on an alien planet (I imagine); not everyone is just readily available. A number of the other elements I have only recently experienced, like creating my own card and the double-hit-deplete card function, and both were helpful in their own ways. I love being able to augment my card deck with either attack or defense cards (especially if I happen to be low on one or the other). And giving a monster a double hit before a card depletes was immensely satisfying. The expansion potential is huge; there is literally no limit on the number of creatures or locations to explore, which means I can just play this forever and it appears new to me each time. I'm still in the early stages of my journey, both with deckbuilders in general and Castaway Station specifically, but it gave me the bug.

This game is awesome! I love the permanent Death concept. It makes each attempt a different experience. It challenges you to adapt your play style. The game hasnt crashed once and there is never any stuttering. Overall a solid well though out and executed game. 5/5 stars.

Castaway Station is a total delight. This is my first deck-builder computer game, but I've played a lot of Dominion with friends and the randomized mechanics of the deck-based combat feel familiar enough that it was easy to pick up how to play the game. They took the permanent death very seriously! I have already restarted 3 times, and each time I progress past an enemy that thwarted me before it is so incredibly satisfying. The missions follow the same patterns when you restart, but the enemies are randomized in each encounter and the cards you picked up in your previous life stick with you on the new attempt which is super helpful. I've just dipped my toes into the two-character battles and the difference between my starter character (who has a pretty cool deck now) and the secondary character were pretty stark. Looking forward to carefully not dying and progressing more with this new character soon. Some of the mechanics are a little hard to get used to, but overall the gameplay is smooth and there are some cool opportunities for card combos that can get you out of some very difficult encounters. Hands down, naming the enemies however you want is the funniest and greatest extra this game could ever offer. I've been using various snack and potato chip-themed names and even when the fights are really tough this keeps it light and funny - I'm going to get you one day, Bugle of Doom! Overall I didn't know what to expect going into this game, but the stakes are just right and even having to restart with each death it has been fun and the perfect amount of difficult. Want to have a good time, stretch your deck-mastery skills, and gives some alien creatures some funny names? Castaway Station will keep you more than entertained.

Game doesn't work sometimes, rest of the time the systems are un-intuitive. Positive reviews seem to me mostly ai generated nonsense that is trying to cash in on slay the spire.