Thrusty Ship

Man, I am old. I have been looking for games that gave me the excitement and joy I had when I was a kid. This game is just like those games unforgiving and requires skill to master. You get happy when you clear a level and get mad when you fail. This game gives you hard time but in acceptable doses. You get better and level gets harder. I like it and I recommend this game to everyone who likes the genre.

The best indie game ever, worth every dime. If you are looking for a challenge and love speed running, this is the only title you need.

Disclaimer: I have written this review based on 3 hours of game time, I received a key for free and spoke with the Developer directly, and have only managed to see maybe 1/3rd of the levels the game has available. So from an honest start, first glance at this game would not have led me to an initial investmet. Game title, and title card is not regularly something I would jump at playing. I typically find out about these games from word of mouth, random occasion, or happy accident. In this case, this would be one of those random occasions. The Dev gave me the opportunity to have a good look at this title, and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the time I had with it. I look forward to running the game as far as I can go when the game is finally released, and the leaderboards are live and ready to go. The concept starts very simple, with introductions to basic ship movement, and becomes radically more complicated as more and more features become available. (portals, lasers, black holes, and other physics based anomolies). You have very crisp control over the ship at all times, and can maneuver it into some seriously tight places to achieve the various objectives the stages manage to throw at you. True to the advertisements in the store, this game accomodates players ranging from the casual player to the hard core completionist. With only three hours of time that I spent with the game, (and I was shooting for "completionist" approach to the game, I managed to only see 18% of the game.) I had just managed to get access to the second tier of maps, which radically adjust the concepts I had been exposed to through the first 24 maps. The game does an amazing job with regards to its learning curve. Each stage introduces new concepts and new ways to approach map completion. There is a very minimal overlying explanation of each stage, and it is not needed due to how well crafted the stages are. The various mechanics that the game places before you provide little to no hand holding, as you are encouraged through basic visuals and practical experiences to explore and discover what things do, how things work, and how to solve each map. I had a blast exploring the first 24 stages of the game. The controls are crisp, and responsive. the graphics are simple, clean, and appealing. the sound is excellent, from the BGM (back ground music) to the explosive sounds that reward you for collecting cores, blowing up debris, or other such activities akin to bejeweled. I can feasibly see spending a solid 5+ hours to simply finish all 72 stages of the game. Given the effort I had to simply 100% the first 20 stages of the game, I can see many many hours spent completing all 72 stages. Even after you manage to collect all of the cores in the game, I still have not addressed the time attack mode, which changes the dynamics of all 72 stages. The Time Attack mode, effectively creates an alternative objective to each of the 72 stages, which will have you hunting the ellusive gold medals in each. The above being taken into consideration, this game has a sizable amount of content at launch, complete with leaderboards. The 10+ available ships also add to the variety of options that you have to solve each It is a very well put-together game from a one person dev team. So in closing, I personally believe this game is worth the 15 to 20 dollar price range. If you are looking for a retro styled game that focuses entirely on the gameplay, that is chock full of masterfully designed and challenging stages; then I can definitely recommend this game for you.

I absolutely love this game. It feels easy at the start, but gets really challenging level by level. The sound effects and music also make the game feel amazing. The progression system in the game is well done, and doesn't really feel grindy at all. Each level feels like they have something new to offer, although I am only 2 hours in, and can't say that for sure on the other levels. The dev suggest that you play on controller, but I didn't find the keyboard experience that much harder, and actually I preferred using keyboard. Is it worth the price? The games price might feel a bit too much for "arcady" kind of game, but this game has a lot more to offer than what's on the surface. Hell, I am 2 hours into the game, and already feel like it was worth my money. There is probably atleast 100 hours of content and challenges in the base game, and there is also the active workshop communtiy making new levels constantly. TL;DR: Worth the price, more so if it hits the sales.

Thrusty Ship is a good game that's got similar controls to Lunar Lander and some of those other "space landing" games except you don't have to worry about running into walls with this one. It's a game where you want to get the best time when trying to get a perfect run on a level so you can beat everyone else on the leaderboards and also without dying. You can die in this but it's from running out of fuel or getting crushed in a level hazard. The controls are faily easy, thrust and reverse thrust with steering and of course you should definitely use a controller when playing this. There are a variety of different ships that handle differently and have different specialties that can make certain levels easier or harder depending on what you're using. The art style is alright, everything is easy to see and the menu and presentation are very nice. The music isn't so fantastic but it's okay and the special effects are okay as well. There are three different worlds and they each have their own style to them so that's nice. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, I would mostly recommend this to people who enjoy this style of gameplay and really love going after high scores and beating other people's scores on leaderboards, that's who this game is really meant for. There's a good number of levels, if you rush through it you can probably beat all the levels within 4 or so hours but you definitely won't have any good scores doing that. If you like to focus on levels and try to get perfect runs then this is probably something you will enjoy. The level difficulty is quite challenging even before the half-way mark, at least for myself. It's not challenging to beat the levels, it's more challenging to do it without dying even once so you can get on that perfect leaderboard. If there was one thing I could change in this I would make it so the reset button is instant rather than having to be held down for a few seconds. It sounds minor but when you want to keep retrying a level very fast it can be annoying having to hold it for 3 seconds each time. One other option would be a toggle in the options menu to switch your restart buttons so it's instant or held down for a few seconds, that would be cool because then there would be both ways and it would be up to the player. It does seem a little bit expensive unless you really enjoy going after high scores and perfects runs because if that's the case then you will get a lot of play out of this. If you just want to run through the levels but not go for the high scores or perfect runs and still want to play this you should probably hold off until a sale or something like that.

While it is true I did receive this Title as a Giveaway Promo, I challenge you to try this. I always say, You play The Game...Don't let it Play You. This Title steps up.

[i]Thrusty Ship[/i] is a precision-based, sci-fi themed, arcade game that is actually really fun despite it's insane difficulty. There's a huge skill ceiling but my meagre skills were able to beat the entire game (I did have to skip some levels, though). There's a lot of stuff to unlock, such as new ships with their own abilities. If you're someone who loves being a masochist and trying to 100% the most difficult games then this is the one for you.

The developer was kind enough to let me play-test this game while it was in late development. Normally I don't enjoy this kind of game, but I was impressed by the attention to detail as well as the variety of playstyles supported. For those who are looking for a real challenge, this game certainly will provide it. The levels start easy but gradually increase in difficulty to the point where no hardcore gamer would be disappointed. You can attempt to "perfect" a level by collecting all the green orbs without dying, or compete for the fastest time and rank on the leaderboards. On the other side of the spectrum, for those (like me) who enjoy puzzles and a more laid-back experience, there are checkpoints, "collect them all" objectives, and no time pressure. PROS: * Variety of game modes * Huge set of levels * Very polished graphics and sound effects CONS: * Ship controls are sensitive and difficult to learn at first; game controller is essentially a must * Some levels have tough spots where you might just rage-quit * Minimal ultra-wide monitor support (pillar-boxed to 16:9 aspect ratio)

Decided to check this game after watching the developer stream it's development for a while. This is definitely a hidden gem - it's a score chaser with a fairly high skill ceiling. Simple yet surprisingly challenging game play (some of those levels are just pure evil). The basic idea is you collect green cores to pass each level, but every time you boost your ship to move you burn fuel. So it's a combination of delicate maneuvering and carefully planning how you approach the level. All in all, the game is clearly a labour of love and I'd recommend it if you're looking for something simple yet challenging.

Simple enough game that is often frustrating. Also fun. The sense of accomplishment does give that high. It takes practice and if you like puzzles the game might be for you. I bought the game to give it a try and see if I could get into a puzzle like game where you will die and keep at it. The game is fun and interesting enough that I will get back to it again. The levels are short enough that you can get through them pretty quickly. I am more interested in simulations and other games. I do branch out to other genres to see if I like them.