The gameplay is relaxing and nice but i couldnt go through the whole story
É um jogo que simula uma situação de trabalho horrível, com uma história interessante. O trabalho que você faz é muito legal, e me fez ficar viciado. Perto do fim do jogo era bem dificil.
O maior problema é que ele simula o trabalho te dando muito trabalho. Chegou um ponto que eu já não aguentava fazer sempre a mesma coisa, então acabei parando antes de ver o fim da história. Mesmo assim minha nota é alta porque me prendeu bem.
O maior problema é que ele simula o trabalho te dando muito trabalho. Chegou um ponto que eu já não aguentava fazer sempre a mesma coisa, então acabei parando antes de ver o fim da história. Mesmo assim minha nota é alta porque me prendeu bem.
10/10 would vomit again
This game is currently in the Humble Choice for November 2023, and this is part of my coverage of the bundle. If you are interested in the game and it's before December 5th, 2023, consider picking up the game as part of the current monthly bundle.
A casual game about ripping apart giant hulking spacecrafts.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker could easily have the word simulator added to the end of it. This is a game in the same vein as House Flipper or Powerwash Simulator. Each ship almost feels like a puzzle box with players needing to split the ship apart and then sort it to be broken down. It's a strange but rewarding experience for the right type of people. There is also an upgrade system for your tools and a rank system that will provide harder and harder ships to break apart.
The one thing that never really worked for me in this title after 30 hours, is the story. I can rip the story apart, but it’s more how it’s told. Rather than having chatter while you’re working on a ship for 15 minutes, instead, it’s a very passive experience where you’re forced to stand or sit still while the game lectures in a blunt way. There’s also not a ton to do after you finish the game, and this is only going to appeal to some people who like that incremental type of game where they grind down a large debt. Kind of like real life.
Pick this up if you like the simulator genre. This is a very slow game, like I said, I spent about 30 hours here, but it’s also extremely chill and relaxed and honestly, I enjoyed the entire time I played it. My biggest issue is I want more, more challenges, more ships, and maybe some unique challenges. That’s a pretty good complaint after spending 30 hours with a title.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/NSoVlkgy0D0
A casual game about ripping apart giant hulking spacecrafts.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker could easily have the word simulator added to the end of it. This is a game in the same vein as House Flipper or Powerwash Simulator. Each ship almost feels like a puzzle box with players needing to split the ship apart and then sort it to be broken down. It's a strange but rewarding experience for the right type of people. There is also an upgrade system for your tools and a rank system that will provide harder and harder ships to break apart.
The one thing that never really worked for me in this title after 30 hours, is the story. I can rip the story apart, but it’s more how it’s told. Rather than having chatter while you’re working on a ship for 15 minutes, instead, it’s a very passive experience where you’re forced to stand or sit still while the game lectures in a blunt way. There’s also not a ton to do after you finish the game, and this is only going to appeal to some people who like that incremental type of game where they grind down a large debt. Kind of like real life.
Pick this up if you like the simulator genre. This is a very slow game, like I said, I spent about 30 hours here, but it’s also extremely chill and relaxed and honestly, I enjoyed the entire time I played it. My biggest issue is I want more, more challenges, more ships, and maybe some unique challenges. That’s a pretty good complaint after spending 30 hours with a title.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/NSoVlkgy0D0
After finding out that one of the "Narrative Designers" for this game is a guy i find obnoxious on twitter, it made me think more about the biggest failure of this game's plot. (not saying it was his fault or that he had any hand in this, though)
I really didn't like how in a story about the loss of agency and freedom at the claws of capitalism, labor exploitation and the dystopic future, the choice to join the unionization efforts is made for you. You don't get to talk it out with Lou, show interest and a willingness in fighting for better working conditions and a dignified living, she simply adds you to the Union Newsletter on like, your second day on the job, which apart from being a gross violation of operational security, ironically takes away your agency and any sort of weight this represents. I get that this is because you're a blank slate silent protagonist, and the only choices you get to make is your savegame name and the kind of pain grunt sounds you make, but it just makes this sort of plot all the more alienating.
I find that the games that have you doing meaningful acts, for better and for worse, are more powerful if you have the capacity to do the opposite. I find that, for example, becoming a communist in Disco Elysium is made more meaningful because you can just as easily be a neolib, a fascist or simply wallow in your own insanity, but you carved your way into class consciousness and infighting, and enjoy the kind of character you made.
This is not the case in Hardspace.
Another thing that really irked me was how at the end, after having fought the corporation through Industrial Action and the Union reps having gotten to the bargaining table, instead of fighting in any way for safer working conditions for the shipbreakers (take care of the active fusion reactors on the ships before processing, make sure the rooms are not pressurized, no fuel or coolant on board, etc.) they simply demand that they be exempted from the ban on the human cloning scheme, which is being outlawed for "human rights violations". And YES, I get that this is because there's an endgame with you paying off your contract and flying away on your fixer upper ship that you need to work towards, but it's putting the gameplay before the plot, in a game that already has an endless mode. I really do consider that this plot is so bad it actively detracts from the experience, moreso than the unexplicably unskippable audio calls, in a relatively mindless gameplay loop kind of game.
I really didn't like how in a story about the loss of agency and freedom at the claws of capitalism, labor exploitation and the dystopic future, the choice to join the unionization efforts is made for you. You don't get to talk it out with Lou, show interest and a willingness in fighting for better working conditions and a dignified living, she simply adds you to the Union Newsletter on like, your second day on the job, which apart from being a gross violation of operational security, ironically takes away your agency and any sort of weight this represents. I get that this is because you're a blank slate silent protagonist, and the only choices you get to make is your savegame name and the kind of pain grunt sounds you make, but it just makes this sort of plot all the more alienating.
I find that the games that have you doing meaningful acts, for better and for worse, are more powerful if you have the capacity to do the opposite. I find that, for example, becoming a communist in Disco Elysium is made more meaningful because you can just as easily be a neolib, a fascist or simply wallow in your own insanity, but you carved your way into class consciousness and infighting, and enjoy the kind of character you made.
This is not the case in Hardspace.
Another thing that really irked me was how at the end, after having fought the corporation through Industrial Action and the Union reps having gotten to the bargaining table, instead of fighting in any way for safer working conditions for the shipbreakers (take care of the active fusion reactors on the ships before processing, make sure the rooms are not pressurized, no fuel or coolant on board, etc.) they simply demand that they be exempted from the ban on the human cloning scheme, which is being outlawed for "human rights violations". And YES, I get that this is because there's an endgame with you paying off your contract and flying away on your fixer upper ship that you need to work towards, but it's putting the gameplay before the plot, in a game that already has an endless mode. I really do consider that this plot is so bad it actively detracts from the experience, moreso than the unexplicably unskippable audio calls, in a relatively mindless gameplay loop kind of game.
break ship, throw part in bin, easy
Wasn't feeling very confident in the controls.
Shzeuuum voom pull you into the furnace
Had a nice gameplay loop. I wish there was more content to get through or more world building. Only part I didn’t like was having to click like crazy to load up the barge with tiny lights n panels. Also the story was a little stereotypical with flat characters.
incredible concept that is brought down by a very unnecessary story, and lack of ship variety.
This game is awesome and it comes very close to being perfect. I'd like more ship variety and a storyline that explored the more creepy parts of the lore regardind the AIs and such. Don't really have a problem with the story as it stands, besides the fact that it's current presentation makes going through the game a second time a huge slog (it wasn't very fun first time around too).
This review contains spoilers
actually i hadn't completed it on the last entry, now i did. it's really good on the gameplay department but it really loses me on the story, it comes off as very rushed, and even with the positive, pro-union message, it's done so poorly it's unbelievable.
I mean, first off, since your character has no interaction options, characters sometimes do stuff on your behalf, which is most evident when your co-worker, Lou, signs you up for the Union newsletter on your second day, which is really stupid to do from the standpoint of being risky for the Union, since they do not know what alliegances or values the protag might have off the bat (or if they're likely to be very easily pressured into giving them up, like how it happened with Kai), and also to involve somebody with the union who is not informed about the potential risk of even being caught with union messaging and not immediately reporting it is insanely dumb.
Then, at a time where the Union is being ACTIVELY TARGETED, to the point of sending in managers to investigate work crews, they publish a newsletter entry with Lou's full name and position in the company.
Then, at the end, when the Union gets a foothold into negotiations with the Company, they both trigger a policy change to ban the clones the company used in lieu of providing any sort of safeguards for the workers, and also make it so they are exempt from the cloning ban, INSTEAD of, again, providing the workers with any safeguards whatsoever.
I get that they wanted to give the game a post-end stage, but in an (ideally) story-driven mode, it would be kind of wanted to have it changing the gameplay. So, for example, you'd have less hazards in the ships, shorter shifts and less stringent quotas, at the cost of maybe for example nerfing your tools so that it would be harder to say, have a seat fly into your helmet at terminal velocity. Fuck it, you have a Freeplay mode already.
i know, it's a small indie studio and they probably would have to put dozens, if not hundreds of hours into implementing even one of my suggestions, but it would've been a much better game without the half baked plot put into it.
I mean, first off, since your character has no interaction options, characters sometimes do stuff on your behalf, which is most evident when your co-worker, Lou, signs you up for the Union newsletter on your second day, which is really stupid to do from the standpoint of being risky for the Union, since they do not know what alliegances or values the protag might have off the bat (or if they're likely to be very easily pressured into giving them up, like how it happened with Kai), and also to involve somebody with the union who is not informed about the potential risk of even being caught with union messaging and not immediately reporting it is insanely dumb.
Then, at a time where the Union is being ACTIVELY TARGETED, to the point of sending in managers to investigate work crews, they publish a newsletter entry with Lou's full name and position in the company.
Then, at the end, when the Union gets a foothold into negotiations with the Company, they both trigger a policy change to ban the clones the company used in lieu of providing any sort of safeguards for the workers, and also make it so they are exempt from the cloning ban, INSTEAD of, again, providing the workers with any safeguards whatsoever.
I get that they wanted to give the game a post-end stage, but in an (ideally) story-driven mode, it would be kind of wanted to have it changing the gameplay. So, for example, you'd have less hazards in the ships, shorter shifts and less stringent quotas, at the cost of maybe for example nerfing your tools so that it would be harder to say, have a seat fly into your helmet at terminal velocity. Fuck it, you have a Freeplay mode already.
i know, it's a small indie studio and they probably would have to put dozens, if not hundreds of hours into implementing even one of my suggestions, but it would've been a much better game without the half baked plot put into it.
I started going through the Xbox Game Pass, and continued on Steam.
I recommend it to those who like meditative gameplay, simple puzzles with an understanding of the case, an interesting plot (surprisingly). The atmosphere in places resembles Deep Rock Galactic, a prison from Star Citizen and hard workers from the factory.
A game for those who like:
Titan A.E.
https://youtu.be/uv7QROVpyhw
ΠΛΑΝΗΤΕΣ/PLANETES
https://youtu.be/igmZSI3kILY
The Orbital Children
https://youtu.be/a3J4KbvIslA
Techies and space engineers should definitely pass. You immediately understand the rules of occupational health and safety at work, because you want to keep within 1 shift, even with large vessels, and you start immediately with a burner by area (instead of step-by-step disassembly of the cladding and removal of dangerous combustible /electrical / nuclear, etc. elements). And an accident at work will not keep you waiting.
It may seem that HARDSPACE is monotonous, but this can be said about any game in which you will understand the mechanics. There is also a high variety of situations and a new gaming experience.
After passing, I advise you to watch a documentary about the company and the unions of AMERICAN FACTORY 2019.
I recommend it to those who like meditative gameplay, simple puzzles with an understanding of the case, an interesting plot (surprisingly). The atmosphere in places resembles Deep Rock Galactic, a prison from Star Citizen and hard workers from the factory.
A game for those who like:
Titan A.E.
https://youtu.be/uv7QROVpyhw
ΠΛΑΝΗΤΕΣ/PLANETES
https://youtu.be/igmZSI3kILY
The Orbital Children
https://youtu.be/a3J4KbvIslA
Techies and space engineers should definitely pass. You immediately understand the rules of occupational health and safety at work, because you want to keep within 1 shift, even with large vessels, and you start immediately with a burner by area (instead of step-by-step disassembly of the cladding and removal of dangerous combustible /electrical / nuclear, etc. elements). And an accident at work will not keep you waiting.
It may seem that HARDSPACE is monotonous, but this can be said about any game in which you will understand the mechanics. There is also a high variety of situations and a new gaming experience.
After passing, I advise you to watch a documentary about the company and the unions of AMERICAN FACTORY 2019.
I made someone throw up with this. I will not explain how. I don't like this game.
I haven't played much, if anything, like this. In this game you work as a Shipbreaker. You float around in space in a port and disassemble starships. It's an oddly cathartic experience as you are essentially just working a job not many would opt to do.
You start in massive debt and the game is very tongue in cheek about the abysmal capitalist hellscape that becomes the near future as you, as an employee, are treated more like equipment than a person. That actually becomes the focal point of the frankly obvious story of the game in which members of your crew decide enough is enough and try to fight the system which results in varying consequences. Despite the predictability though, I did find the characters quite engaging. The sympathetic ones really got to me and made me care about the struggle and the antagonist in this is written to be real despicable. All that works well and plays out passively as you continue your work. Hell the only time you do anything of consequence to the story ultimately doesn't matter much but the character moments and flavor text make it enjoyable enough to go through anyway.
The actual gameplay is superb. I was on the "normal" difficulty which places you in work shifts that last 15 real world minutes each. You start out simple enough learning to separate pieces and to place them in appropriate places like a furnace, processor, or a barge. You gain familiarity with your cutting tool and a grapple gun and then gradually you are introduced to various hazards and dangers. While you work you have to keep in mind your oxygen levels and thruster fuel, which can be restored at a vendor near your work space. You also have access to medkits and repairs for your tools and suit. Everything wears down and must be repaired over time. You also have to be aware of hazards such as fires or explosions that can happen through mishandling certain parts, freezing that can occur from broken coolant pipes, electrocution that can spark from removing electronics, and radiation damage from handling certain filters. It sounds like a lot but as I mentioned it is all introduced gradually.
All the hazards and upkeep and the story that occurs with chatter from coworkers combined with the general day to day feel of working and paying your debt ultimately leads to a really immersive future job sim that I absolutely loved chipping away at over the last few weeks. I imagine it's not a thing for everyone but if you enjoyed games like PowerWash Simulator or more of a Papers, Please type game with some tension in the mix then I definitely recommend Hardspace: Shipbreaker.
You start in massive debt and the game is very tongue in cheek about the abysmal capitalist hellscape that becomes the near future as you, as an employee, are treated more like equipment than a person. That actually becomes the focal point of the frankly obvious story of the game in which members of your crew decide enough is enough and try to fight the system which results in varying consequences. Despite the predictability though, I did find the characters quite engaging. The sympathetic ones really got to me and made me care about the struggle and the antagonist in this is written to be real despicable. All that works well and plays out passively as you continue your work. Hell the only time you do anything of consequence to the story ultimately doesn't matter much but the character moments and flavor text make it enjoyable enough to go through anyway.
The actual gameplay is superb. I was on the "normal" difficulty which places you in work shifts that last 15 real world minutes each. You start out simple enough learning to separate pieces and to place them in appropriate places like a furnace, processor, or a barge. You gain familiarity with your cutting tool and a grapple gun and then gradually you are introduced to various hazards and dangers. While you work you have to keep in mind your oxygen levels and thruster fuel, which can be restored at a vendor near your work space. You also have access to medkits and repairs for your tools and suit. Everything wears down and must be repaired over time. You also have to be aware of hazards such as fires or explosions that can happen through mishandling certain parts, freezing that can occur from broken coolant pipes, electrocution that can spark from removing electronics, and radiation damage from handling certain filters. It sounds like a lot but as I mentioned it is all introduced gradually.
All the hazards and upkeep and the story that occurs with chatter from coworkers combined with the general day to day feel of working and paying your debt ultimately leads to a really immersive future job sim that I absolutely loved chipping away at over the last few weeks. I imagine it's not a thing for everyone but if you enjoyed games like PowerWash Simulator or more of a Papers, Please type game with some tension in the mix then I definitely recommend Hardspace: Shipbreaker.
The story is kinda meh (although I love the sentiment), but the gameplay is SO solid. Such a relaxing time as I inevitably blow up after I forget to remove a power cell.
Shipbreaker scratches the same itch that Powerwash Simulator does for me. That being said there are issues I take with the game:
- I can't play it for any extended period of time due to motion sickness.
- I don't care for the story, let me skip that shit, I want to do campaign without the story or with ability to skip dialogue.
- Like Powerwash Simulator, after a while it gets really repetitive and tedious.
- I can't play it for any extended period of time due to motion sickness.
- I don't care for the story, let me skip that shit, I want to do campaign without the story or with ability to skip dialogue.
- Like Powerwash Simulator, after a while it gets really repetitive and tedious.
La mejor ost que he escuchado en mucho tiempo, un loop de gameplay muy guay pero a la vez se me hace demasiado pesado, la curva de dificultad pega un subidon muy fuerte en el segundo tercio del juego y no puedes cambiar los ajusted de dificultad en mitad del save, tienes que crear uno nuevo para ello, a si que simplemente lo voy a tener que dejar porque ha dejado de ser divertido. Probablemente lo juegue otra vez en algun momento con otras opciones de dificultad.
Awesome. Loved taking my time in it
Very good and original idea, extremely well executed. Just thought the progression gets really slow, so the game gets very repetitive halfway through, and I ended up abandoning even though I was very interested in where the story was going.
I think the progression is stalled by two major reasons. First, is the 15 minutes time limiter that completely breaks the pacing for no reason at all (I think it even goes against the story that the game is trying to tell. I would be very happy with my employer if I had 15 minutes working days). Secondly, is just the overall progression of equipments and ranks. I understand that dumping too much information to the player may be overwhelming, but in this case it's just too slow, and you end up repeating the same ships without much progress.
I think the progression is stalled by two major reasons. First, is the 15 minutes time limiter that completely breaks the pacing for no reason at all (I think it even goes against the story that the game is trying to tell. I would be very happy with my employer if I had 15 minutes working days). Secondly, is just the overall progression of equipments and ranks. I understand that dumping too much information to the player may be overwhelming, but in this case it's just too slow, and you end up repeating the same ships without much progress.
This is very much a game for a mood where you just want to zone out and perform similar tasks over and over. It is a game of chores. The very premise is that you're stuck in debt slavery doing dangerous labor under awful conditions, and the labor you're doing is the heart of what it is to actually play the game.
There's writing too, and the writing is good—a classic spacepunk satire of capitalism and the bonds it forces us into as it tries to sap everything human from our lives. But it also places the game in an odd position: the steady repetition invites the player to put on an audio book and vibe, but the infrequent moments of dialog and text push in the opposite direction. It asks for a lot of patience, either with not much happening or with abrupt context switches.
After interrupting my playthrough for Armored Core VI, I found myself reluctant to pick this up again. I'm happy to assume that as the levels progress the player gets more and more interesting abilities and complex ships to disassemble, but the repetition of the basic actions of crawling through the ship looking for cut points and popping back for oxygen was just exhausting to think about. Maybe another time, when I need exactly this level of semi-engagement.
There's writing too, and the writing is good—a classic spacepunk satire of capitalism and the bonds it forces us into as it tries to sap everything human from our lives. But it also places the game in an odd position: the steady repetition invites the player to put on an audio book and vibe, but the infrequent moments of dialog and text push in the opposite direction. It asks for a lot of patience, either with not much happening or with abrupt context switches.
After interrupting my playthrough for Armored Core VI, I found myself reluctant to pick this up again. I'm happy to assume that as the levels progress the player gets more and more interesting abilities and complex ships to disassemble, but the repetition of the basic actions of crawling through the ship looking for cut points and popping back for oxygen was just exhausting to think about. Maybe another time, when I need exactly this level of semi-engagement.
Quite mechanically satisfying, in its methodical way. Lost some luster once I realized I had seen all the ship variations and complications a bit sooner than I'd anticipated.
I fucking love debt.
Gets boring really fast. Progression is slow with unnecessary unskippable dialogue.
"Hey, hey, did you know unions are good? Hey do you wanna join the union? Hey did you know the corpo is b-" shut, shut, shut the fuck
Great concept executed very professionally. I wish there were more games that allowed for interacting with large machinery in such a detailed simulated way. The last few ships to complete the story felt a bit like busywork however, and a few isolated times stuff blew up in my face with no clear reason.
Truly a novel concept. Gets half a star knocked off because of the fact that YOU CAN'T SKIP THE FUCKING RADIO CHATTER WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY DID THEY DO THAT?
it's fine. cozy but the controls can be annoying
Couldn't get past the tutorial, I could never grok either the gamepad or keyboard controls. Such a shitty casual. :(
Definitely an interesting game, and has a very good gameplay loop, but honestly it started to get a bit boring after a while. It takes a long time to break a ship apart, like multiple 15-minute sessions per ship (sometimes 6 or more sessions). You also gain certifications very slowly. I feel like the story is interesting, but I don't get enough of it, and what bits I do get are very small and far between when I gain cert levels.
Again, not a bad game, as the gameplay loop is still very good. Just didn't keep my interest for longer than a few hours, and got a bit monotonous at times.
Again, not a bad game, as the gameplay loop is still very good. Just didn't keep my interest for longer than a few hours, and got a bit monotonous at times.