ΔV: Rings of Saturn

November 27, 2022 9:28 AM

ΔV: Rings of Saturn is a physics-based mining sim, set in the thickest debris field in Sol.

ΔV: Rings of Saturn is what you get if you take Asteroids, with its simple physics model and 2D blowing apart space rocks gameplay, and give it the full hard sci-fi treatment, a career mode, ship upgrades, more physics, and radiation leaks. It currently has an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, and is getting regular updates.

posted by surlyben to A Videogame Club (4 comments total)

I fell in love with this game when I upgraded my mining gun to a laser, and then tried out the laser expecting to see the usual videogame pyrotechnics, and instead nothing happened. Nothing, that is, until I hit a chunk of ice and suddenly I could see the laser beam flickering in the debris cloud. It has been in my regular rotation for that last several months.
posted by surlyben at 9:36 AM on November 27, 2022

Sounds interesting, and new-to-me! For anyone else turned off by Early Access, this was released originally in 2019 (!). It says "ΔV: Rings of Saturn is feature complete now". There is a free demo.
posted by Nelson at 7:53 AM on November 30, 2022

I gave this a try. It's neat! Reminds me a bit of Space Pirates and Zombies or a variety of the other mining / space pirate / mission running games. But with the emphasis on physics and mining. I think it's not for me, particularly the 2d simplification. But it's charming.

The demo is currently unlimited with a note you should consider donating to a Ukraine-related charity. (The developer is Polish, FWIW.) The game is still for sale, too.

Here's the tutorial video if you want a taste. Their YouTube channel has a lot of introductory videos.

For an adjacent game, see Hardspace: Shipbreaker.
posted by Nelson at 9:49 AM on November 30, 2022

Oooooo interesting! This looks like it's right up my alley, thank you!
posted by lazaruslong at 3:01 AM on December 9, 2022