Space Choice: Data Analyzer

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=== Medium-length Review (no spoilers) === Hi folks! This review will have a closer look at "Space Choice: Data Analyzer" ("SCDA"). Let's have a look at the facts before switching my subjective views: The basic principle of SCDA is that two fleets of large and small spaceships are battling each other in the void. You - as commander of one of those fleets - have to make rapid and strategically sound decisions every few seconds which define the type of ships and which weapons /armaments your reinforcements will have (and indirectly also where the reinforcements will spawn). You will fight enemy fleets in 20 different levels (3 difficulty levels are available) where at the end of each wave / level a tough boss will spawn which you need to take down rapidly before it decimates your fleet. Apart from that, you have to make quick calls to ensure that your mothership does not get killed at any time - otherwise you have to restart the level (which you can do infinitely). Every few seconds in the game you have the choice between picking either a new type of reinforcements and their weapons, a buff / debuff that can affect both you and the enemy ships or a permanent upgrade for your weapons systems, shields or your mothership. Permanent upgrades are retained throughout the levels and can also be a key to beating later stages, if chosen wisely. Apart from those choices, there is nothing the player can do to change the outcome of the battle – it is pretty much like the classic “rock, scissors and paper” principle: Anti-fighter weapons are good for taking down fast and small ships, but potentially less effective against slow-moving main ships. Lasers never miss their targets, but need to penetrate the shields before making any damage. Bullets ignore shields, but can be taken down by point defense weapons, etc. While this all sounds rather straight-forward and hardly challenging, the frequency with which you have to make (the right) decisions creates a dynamic of its own. Now let’s switch to my subjective views: What I liked: I like this game very much, because it clearly proves (like almost all other titles from “Sliver Dollar Games”) that it is possible to create a complex and involving game with just a few of the simple most controls and game rules that easily fit a one-pager tutorial. The simple controls and quick-paced decisions / results of your actions deeply engage you in the game and if you finished a level (potentially after six retries), you realize to your astonishment that another hour has passed which seemed like 5 minutes to you. SCDA is not a very long game – I finished it on “Medium” difficulty in < 5 hours. Nonetheless, these hours were intense and I would not want to miss them for anything. The combination of the simple, yet somehow fitting artwork, the driving soundtrack and the consistent, engaging game flow made me make this review and give out a clear recommendation to all players who like strategy, space battles, and – last, but not least – original and fresh gaming principles / concepts. What I didn’t like: - though the soundtrack is cool, it only consists of one track. If wish there was a little bit more, e.g. a new track every two or so stages. - achievements didn’t trigger for me, even though I completely finished the game on “normal”. I also tried to finish a stage in “easy” or “hard”, but to no avail. That was quite a turn-off after finishing the game - the variation between levels (new ships / weapons, etc.) is rather low. - pausing the game forces you to restart the level. While I understand why the devs made this decision (probably in order to force the player to make real-time decisions and not cheat by hitting “pause” and pondering your every pick), I do not agree that this is a good choice: If you do not have the luxury to play a level through without interruption, this can be very frustrating – especially when you are close to victory in a very hard level and you really need a break... The verdict: With SDCA, Silver Dollar Games delivers a fresh and simple (but not simplistic), yet very engaging tactical game that is worth a look if you like tactics, strategy and space battles. This will keep you entertained quite well for a few hours (unless you want to beat the game on “hard”, where you might need to try and practice a lot more). Considering the fact that the devs give out this tiny nugget for free and that the main dev is – IMHO - a very humble and likable person, I see absolutely no reason not to give this one a try. Oh, and by the way: If you like the way they make their original indie games, be sure to have a look at “One finger death punch 2” (or 1), which I can also recommend without hesitation if you like games that “get you into the flow”!