Even though the content of Void Bastards quickly runs thin, an expertly crafted loop and eye catching aesthetic is enough to make players invested in the galactic journey. Everything in Void Bastards revolves around your decisions and risk mitigation. Do you need food, fuel, resources, or upgrade parts enough to engage with the threats on each ship? Are you out of options and have to take on an unfavorably rolled ship anyway? These are the questions players face every turn, with consequences for those decisions perhaps appearing as soon as the next ship. Even on the ships themselves, players have to constantly weigh whether continued looting is worth the hit to their health or ammo.

Yet, when decisions do go sideways, Void Bastards is forgiving. Upon death, players retain all item upgrades and materials and are placed only a few ships back from the next objective. It may hurt to loose a character with great perks and a mound of food or ammo, but it is relatively frictionless to start again know each run has made progress.

Which is a blessing since the game’s RNG can birth ships with wacky attributes that are truly fun and some that are complete BS. Runs can be ruined by a bad succession of RNG. Further, the game itself, while delightful with its cell-shaded art, almost immediately starts becoming repetitious in its use of art assets, locations, and gameplay encounters.

Thus, it is necessary that Void Bastards keeps the pace that it does. Its risk/reward tension never ceases to be engaging and overall the game’s duration doesn’t outstay its welcome. It’s not for everyone, but there is fun to be had for those that enjoy this decision making loop and seeing the games systems interact in surprising ways.