Have you ever envisioned a Moon colony? You can do just that in THE CRUST! This cool strategy game puts you in a sci-fi world where the planet is collapsing. You have a mission: lead a Moon colony and help humanity survive!
Not all sunshine and moonbeams though. THE CRUST combines economic strategy and survival issues – you’ll want your colonists happy and healthy as you dig up Earth’s desperately needed resources. There is even a story thrown in, so you can carry the potential future of people on your shoulders. Get ready to make tough choices and overcome whatever dangers the Moon throws your way!
A Lunar Landscape Worth Exploring
The moon is beautiful. The desolate beauty and harshness of the lunar landscape are captured, giving the viewer a real sense of space. Its base building mechanics are solid, and there are numerous structures to construct and manage. However, the fun starts to crater when it comes to progression.
A Progression Problem
It takes a long time in research – some things are available for up to 200 in-game days. This is more like padding than a natural progression curve. The frustration is compounded by the lack of proper explanation – especially in the tutorial. While it covers the basics, crucial aspects like research are left completely in the dark.
This often leaves new players stumped as to how to progress efficiently. The constant maintenance further complicates the situation. Modules disassemble every few minutes and must be manually repaired. This becomes a tedious chore, especially for sprawling bases.
Another head-scratcher is the inability to easily adjust machine resource output. Once set, you’re clearly stuck with it. The only solution? Demolish and rebuild. These design choices make the game loop feel clunky and repetitive – which isn’t conducive to general enjoyment.
A Look Towards Launch
Reminder that The Crust is in Early Access. Expect glitches and bugs, but the developers appear to be extremely active with the community, handling problems and giving feedback. The core idea is solid, and with some tweaks to pacing, explanation and gameplay mechanics, The Crust could be a truly compelling factory builder.
Verdict: Hold Off for Now, But Keep an Eye Out
Do you dream of building a moon colony to save a dying Earth? The Crust might just be the game for you, but with a caveat. The idea is certainly intriguing, but the Early Access release has some challenges. The lunar landscape is quite beautiful and shows the desolate beauty and harshness of space.
The base building mechanics are also solid, providing you with a range of structures from which to run your lunar empire. But it can be rocky – with slow research, unclear explanations (particularly in the tutorial) and endless maintenance tasks.
So, should you jump? It depends on how tolerant you are with Early Access. Core gameplay and the lunar setting are available for patient players who enjoy troubleshooting and giving feedback. But in case you would like a polished experience, you may want to wait till developers fix these problems and also provide more content.
Space colony enthusiasts should take note though! Dynamic environments, challenging resource management and moral decision-making make this a very replayable game. The Crust could be a must-play for space colony fans if The developers can fix The current problems.
