Aged-well classic with nostalgic charm
Mentioned in ~2 in 3 positive reviews
“The game aged well.”
Steam review · 15.4 h played ↗
Startopia
Worth buying? What 210 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 210 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 91%Very Positive · 91%My Little Planet Ltd, Mucky Foot Productions Ltd2013Management · Simulation · Strategy
$6.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 2 h ago
The verdict
A charming, funny Bullfrog-style space station management sim from 2001 that has aged well. Skip it if you need a modern UI, a good tutorial, or trouble-free launching on new PCs.
Great for
Fans of Theme Hospital, Dungeon Keeper and Hitchhiker's-style humor who accept old-school graphics and UI
Main risk
Old engine may flicker, crash or not launch on modern PCs, and the weak tutorial and tiny text frustrate newcomers
What players love
Funny writing and great VAL voice acting
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“The voice acting simply put superb - no "in-game assistant" ever gave this much sass as VAL.”
Steam review · 2.6 h played ↗
Deep, engaging management gameplay
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“Surprisingly deep and chalenging”
Steam review · 34 h played ↗
Great music and atmosphere
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“I love the soundtrack which fits the game perfectly.”
Steam review · 12.8 h played ↗
Cheap and runs on modest hardware
Mentioned in ~1 in 10 positive reviews
“it'll run on a potato!”
Steam review · 34.1 h played ↗
Relaxing, cozy sandbox mode
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 positive reviews
“Play in sandbox mode for a chill time just building and hiring fun aliens.”
Steam review · 30.6 h played ↗
What players complain about
Fails to launch or flickers on modern PCs
Mentioned in ~1 in 2 negative reviews
“Horrible "flikering" issues.”
Steam review · 0.5 h played ↗
Poor tutorial and unexplained mechanics
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“Almost no in-game help or explanation for anything going on.”
Steam review · 1.7 h played ↗
Tiny text and poor high-resolution scaling
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“at 1920x1080, I can't read a single word.”
Steam review · 0.1 h played ↗
Dated, clunky controls and camera
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“The camera control is confusing and bad.”
Steam review · 13.1 h played ↗
Shallow, repetitive and tedious gameplay
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews
“A lot of tedious micromangement without many meaningful decisions.”
Steam review · 7.2 h played ↗
Weak, boring combat
Mentioned in ~1 in 15 negative reviews
“Combat with other station occupants is boring and gamey”
Steam review · 6.1 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable2 GB
Minimum
OSWindows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7
Processor1.8 GHz Processor
Memory512 MB RAM
Graphics3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 9.0c
Storage2 GB available space
OSWindows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7
Processor1.8 GHz Processor
Memory512 MB RAM
Graphics3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 9.0c
Storage2 GB available space
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