Deep Sky Derelicts makes me happy. I play through a lot of early access titles, and I’ve often had reasonable ideas on how games can improve- only to have them released with little to no changes. That isn’t the case here, with changes to balance and resource availability turning this into a game I don’t have a problem recommending.

Everything about Deep Sky Derelict seems to have been done right, from the synthwave soundtrack to the lore to the unusual combat system. It’s rare that a game with procedural elements holds my attention for long, and rarer still that an RPG can show me something new.

It doesn’t pull you in with the same force as Darkest Dungeon does, but this a more than decent alternative. If you like your turn-based tactics mixed with a hefty does of science fiction, this is definitely for you.

It's literally the embodiment of "easy to pick up, difficult to master" and it will provide fans of Darkest Dungeon with another terrifying journey into the unknown that will require nuanced and strategic gameplay in order to be successful.

If you're looking for a turn-based strategy game set in a dystopian world where you won't feel attached by your characters and don't need to pay attention to the story, Deep Sky Derelicts has a lot to offer. Keep in mind though that while it's easy to pick up, Snowhound Games' title is hard to master.

A sci-fi version of Darkest Dungeon. It has a weak story and its procedurally generated missions are tedious, but battles and development of your heroes are strangely addictive.

Delicious art style, excellent music, varied tactical combat – Snowhound’s tactical RPG got some things right, but there’s a strange dissonance between the game’s atmosphere of dark sci-fi and its absurd humor. Had the game offered a deeper strategic layer and something besides exploring wreck after wreck, I probably would have spent more time with it than those 14 hours after which it simply became boring. [12/2018, p.73]

It’s a real shame to see such great card/strategy combat bogged down by its interface, but perhaps there will be updates rectifying some of these issues. From what I’ve read of Deep Sky Derelicts’ early access development updates, the team behind the game seems responsive to feedback. So, here’s to hoping that the rock-solid combat and deckbuilding are supported by UI and quality-of-life changes in the future. Until then, DSD will likely drift around in the endless void that is my Steam library.

To me, Deep Sky Derelicts is a rare foil to the games of today. A title that hones in on creating exciting and rewarding gameplay systems is both difficult and rare. It’s the missing half to the atmospheric, but gameplay thin, Darkest Dungeon. That’s a real shame, too, because given the unique setting, there was so much space for creative expression. If you’re looking for another loot-based dungeon to crawl around in, there’s a solid game in here, but there’s just too many underwhelming things for me to get excited.

Craftsmanship-based science-fiction RPG fun with cards, which at the same time doesn´t offer any reason to why it should be memorized for a long time. Basically, all of its elements are good, but not exceptional. [Issue#291]

Fatally flawed with bugs, soft locks, and incomplete map generation, Deep Sky Derelicts is a fun game when it works. More often than not, however, it doesn’t work.