RymdResa

Admit it; you're excited for No Man's Sky. The prospect of flying through infinite space and exploring more than 18 quintillion planets is more than my body can handle. Thankfully RymdResa exists, because this procedurally generated space roguelike is the perfect warm-up to Hello Games' upcoming science fiction epic. While not as ambitious as No Man's Sky, this intriguing adventure game is immediately addictive and bursting with fresh ideas.

Swedish for "Space Trip," RymdResa sees players piloting a small craft around the solar system and completing missions. But don't get too excited, because you're not Captain Kirk and this ain't the U.S.S. Enterprise. This is a game about collecting resources and dodging flying debris, not getting into massive space fights. It has a leisurely pace and soothing soundtrack that will likely turn some gamers off. But even as I continued to crash my weaponless ship into space rocks, I couldn't help but come back for just one more attempt.

RymdResa is played entirely from an overhead 2D perspective. The ship only flies forward, so a lot of the challenge comes from using your rocket boosts to get the ship going in to right direction. But be careful, because every boost eats away at your resources. And once those resources are fully depleted, your ship will explode and the game will be over. Players will keep their experience and ship modifications, but the galaxies will change and the missions will be reset.

The procedurally generated world is both massive and full of planets to explore. In fact, that's a lot of what you'll be doing in the early goings. As a young explorer with low levels, it's imperative to mine for minerals, investigate abandoned ships and explore the alien architecture. This is a good way to not only pick up extra resources, but also earn the much-needed spacebucks. This is what you'll use to buy new ships, which in turn makes exploring the open world that much easier.

RymdResa is split into three separate chapters, each with their own objectives, obstacles and diary entries. The first part of the game eases you into the mechanics and has you picking up objects floating through space. Before long you'll establish a home planet, allowing you to save materials and upgrade the perks in a number of fun ways. Once that's complete, you'll be thrust into a brand new galaxy far, far away from home. This will send you scrambling to pick up more items and, you guessed it, mine for more materials.

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While the story beats are straightforward, the game also packs a bunch of side missions to complete. There's a surprising amount to do in RymdResa, but chances are you'll skip past a lot of the content the first time through. The chapters are designed to be played over and over again, and chances are you'll like one more than the other two.

It's the role-playing elements that bring everything together. You're still earning experience points and spacebucks with each session, even when you crash and burn. There are also a lot of ship modifications to find and install, allowing players to customize their craft. All this carries over between games, so it always feels like there's forward momentum.

Even with the wide assortment of missions and the vastness of space, RymdResa does eventually become repetitive. The simple look is charming at first, but you'll see a lot of the same planets and obstacles from multiple playthroughs. The changing colors and diary entries aren't enough to keep the action fresh.

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It's also a shame that the story missions aren't more exciting. You'll see a lot of the same challenges recycled, especially in the final chapter. While I was impressed with the new obstacles, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had done all this before. The simplistic gameplay only compounds this problem. It would have been nice to see the mechanics evolve alongside the story, even if it was just adding a new move from chapter to chapter.

With its calm soundtrack and deliberate pace, RymdResa is not going to appeal to everybody. But I enjoyed the leisurely approach and got sucked into the light role-playing mechanics. It's an endearing adventure that is full of charming touches, and aspiring astronauts will get a kick out of exploring the far reach of the solar system. Just don't run out of resources.