Available in a demo version during the Steam Neo Fest, IXION is a game using the different codes of the well-known FrostPunk by adding many elements. It must be said that the studio behind the game, Bulwark Studios, is not at its first attempt with in particular a game that I liked just as much when it was released: Warhammer 40K - Mechanicus. However, let's look at what this prologue that the studio concocted for us for the festival is worth!
The basic pitch is quite basic: humanity is at its lowest in view of the various crises that planet Earth is undergoing. To overcome this, the DOLOS company has several times developed avant-garde technologies that could provide an answer to the various crises. This time, they went even further by creating a space station that you, the player, will control as well as an overpowered engine, the Vohle. You will then be tasked with transporting this large pile of junk through space in search of a new cradle for humanity.
The idea of the game is quite simple: you must lead the Tiqqun station by managing everything related to its production, the management of its resources and its inhabitants/workers. As you are in space, you will have to manage the delivery of resources from the outside and deal with the various crises that may arise in the station. Interestingly, the laws aren't really established in space yet, so you can pretty much do whatever you want in terms of choice. Even if those we were able to have in the demo were rather Cartesian, the developers implied, even in the game help, that moral choices could be more than questionable in the game. To see of course what we will have on this side...
The game demo serves as a prologue but above all as a tutorial for the basic game. You will begin your story aboard one of the sectors of the Tiqqun where you will learn the different mechanics of the game and what it is possible to do there. You should know that, later, it will be possible to open new sectors of this pile of scrap to enlarge your productions and also your needs. Everything is, in short, a question of balance. Like any city-builder, even if it is on a small scale, you will have to think carefully about the placement of your buildings to optimize the space and the profitability of your installations. Resources being scarce in space, you won't be able to do anything either.
Each building has its use in the Tiqqun, the warehouse will allow you, for example, to store 100 resources of a very specific type that robots will transport there, as well as to your various constructions if necessary. The constructions in the game are quite simple, you have to provide the required number of resources and then a builder from the Workshop will do the necessary for a while to build them. There are also other prerequisites for the proper functioning of a building such as being connected to a network of roads, supplied with energy or having a number of resources and workers to make it work properly (otherwise it will run at a lower speed) .
The common good is an important thing to take into account in the game. First of all, your workers will have to be fed and housed correctly otherwise there could be injuries/deaths but also possibly uprisings. Even if it will be possible to use certain buildings like the infirmary to solve these problems, if we can avoid them upstream or reduce their effects it is always better. Events play an important role in the game and the choices you make in accepting/declining will have a huge impact on your colony. You will often have to deal with grievances from your workers asking that certain needs be heard and fulfilled. For example, creating a new mess hall so that there is enough food for the inhabitants of the space colony.
Subsequently, and thanks to the expansion of your colony, you will discover two more than interesting mechanics: research and stellar exploration. Regarding research, there is nothing very complicated, some buildings and events during exploration allow you to earn research points that you can spend to unlock improvements that will make your buildings more efficient. Stellar exploration is a more than interesting mechanic, because you will have three types of ships at your disposal, each of which will have a use. The exploration vessel will be able to navigate the galaxy and interact with the different planets to discover resources or unlock new elements (represented by a magnifying glass). The purpose of the cargo ship will be to transport resources between planets and your Tiqqun so that you do not miss anything. Finally, and even though we didn't see it in the demo, the mining ship will mine previously discovered resources to help you expand your positions in your ship.
As I could note in the title, IXION has many points in common with Frostpunk and the studio behind the game does not hide it either. If I just refer to the demo, the game looks a lot more accessible than Frostpunk because there is, for example, no heat management to deal with. Energy is also much easier to calculate, as it is external to the Tiqqun, allowing you to have a lot more space in your sectors for other needs.
Even if, at the end of the demo, we were able to move the Tiqqun (which had impacts on energy management), there are still many elements to discover that have not yet been revealed. . In any case, as with Frostpunk, the game looks more than promising. The studio will leave the demo online for a while longer, which will allow you, if you have an hour to spare, to get an idea of it!
