Quite an enjoyable time sink. The gameplay loop is fine: Collect resources to manufacture or trade, make money, complete the planet area, and then move to a different area or planet.
The main goal (as far as I can tell) is to visit each area and find the hidden artifact. The only way to do this is by buying Scanner modules from the trader and dropping them across the terrain. There are different scanner "levels", each scanning progressively more land at once, and each can only be used 5 times. In theory, you can scan an entire planet with (I would guess) no more than 4 level 3 scanners... However, if you somehow manage to miss a small bit of land, this suddenly becomes incredibly tedious. I ended up using around 6 level 3 scanners on my last area before giving up; the hidden artifact is clearly somewhere my scanner isn't quite reaching.
Back to the pros, each planet is slightly different, requiring different base designs (though the overall base-building mechanic is simplistic), offering different combinations of enemies, but generally presenting the same gameplay loop.
Overall, an okay little game. I would hesitate to pay more than £5 for this really... It's quite simple and whilst a project of passion, doesn't have much depth. I have played free games at and above this quality. That said, in the grand mire that is cheap Steam indie games, this is a good one.
As a single point, the dev has mentioned he's moved onto a new project. Whilst he's said he'll finish off this little game, I don't see what more there is to add beyond polish. That said, this is in a perfectly playable state.
