Little-Known Galaxy

Game Title: Little-Known Galaxy
Released: May 20, 2024
Game Length: 49 Hours
Grade: B-

Setting

Space: Contrary to the typical cozy farming game, this one follows a different set of rules since it's set in outer space. For starters, there are no seasons that distinguish the kind of crops you grow. So instead, the type of vegetation you receive will depend on the type of planet you are visiting. Instead of traveling across the landscape horizontally, you will be using an elevator to travel vertically. Because there are no fish on board your spaceship, you will be using a scanning device in search of different kinds of microbes. Since you don't have the commodity of using resources while in space, you will need to retrieve soil from the planet, metal scraps from rocks, and build solar panels to grow your crops.

Time Delay: One major aspect that comes into play is the lack of convenience when performing actions. They are more realistic in the amount of time it takes to do things. The time dilation means furnaces and other stations take roughly a full day to craft a single item. Upgraded versions do not improve the time but offers you the chance to queue up to five items at a time. Traveling between planets takes approximately three days. You will not be able to mine or dig during this time. When you upgrade your equipment, be aware that the mechanic actually takes them away from you for a few days. Thankfully, the crops only halt their progress if you don't water them. Hatching eggs will naturally take a few days. Repairing broken down sections of your ship will take the bots a few days as well.

Progression

Crafting: Every item seems to require material taken from a wide-range of activities. Hardware parts are generally found respawning in various parts of the ship. Recycled parts can be obtained by tossing some trash into the recycling bin. Scrap metal parts and stone can be found by tearing apart rocks on the surface of a planet. Sand and soil is found from digging in the soft areas. Wire can be found cleaning up miscellaneous junk around the ship, both inside and on top of the cabin area.

Planets: Every planet has their own couple tiers of items that advances your tools, equipment, and buildings on your ship. Aluminum can only be found on the base planet, but you will have a chance to revisit it multiple times for story purposes. The others will provide copper, silver, gold, and titanium. Visiting every planet will offer you four different goals: (1) find routes through 15 levels of the planet by mining or digging until you collect a unique set of decorations, (2) turn in a number of new items to one of the locals on the planet to retrieve a new destination planet, (3) grow some new crops for the gardener to obtain a new device, and (4) set up a home for a new feature by repairing part of the ship. Each mission can be completed at their own pace, but it is recommended to do them all before leaving the planet.

Coins: One very specific problem for this game is always being short on cash to buy things. You will be spending every ounce of your goods trying to build planters to grow food, animals that shed things, upgrading your tools, and repairing the ship. If you aren't careful, everything will appear superfluous when all you want is more money to advance the story. You can spend your time gathering things on the planet or spend your time trying to sell microbes for around a dozen coins each to buy what you need from the store. The Task Board can help shorten the time by paying a little extra for defeating enemies, collecting items, or turning in crops. A large portion of the advanced machinery is only there to help you prepare different types of meals. While they normally take a full day to transform your ingredients, they can help double the value earned when you sell them. Do not underestimate how much you earn through selling a hundred carrots.

Features: Another problem is how you don't immediately have access to some features until much later in the game. You will be obtaining all kinds of things that will clog up your inventory until you reach the appropriate planet. Breaking down rocks to see what's inside doesn't become available until the second planet. Turning artifacts and gems into a museum won't happen until the third planet. So make sure you keep anything shiny you might come across until then! Xeno eggs can be hatched once you get a pod, but you never know what kind of creature pops out. Figuring out which material is necessary to advance can be problematic. Puff fur or vials of nectar don't appear to have any useful features. On the other hand, ink is required to create colored tiles and feathers are needed for a few paintings. One last important thing: there is a secret area on the ship where you can recruit a pet for you Captain's Quarters! It is very easy to miss if you aren't paying attention.

Cosmetics

Decorations: After reaching the 15th level of a planet, a chest filled with decorations will be made available for purchase in the store. Though, you can always craft a number of decorations from your workbench as soon as you stumble across the material through your journey. After some time passes, you will be visited by a weekly merchant bot at the shuttle bay that offers some goods at a premium price. These can include some exclusive items such as recipes and wallpaper. You may only decorate within your quarters (marked with house icon), within the crafting area, or outside (marked with star icon). Things can be placed off the grass inside a Xeno pod. Some items can only be placed on walls. Trinkets cannot be placed on tables. Some items can be rotated such as tables, chairs, and bookcases. The description on the items will indicated if they can be used as storage devices.

Finer Points: The game does offer you a small number of different colored shirts and attire at the start of the game. You can alternate them out as soon as you craft a wardrobe. New hats and clothes can be bought as soon as you recruit someone for and repair the Boutique. Make sure to talk to your crew every chance you get. Their dialogue will be very specific to practically every kind of situation. They will talk about their worries when you are traveling through space, their excitement before you head down to the planet, their opinions on what you discovered, what you are building, and regards to the time of day. Their likes and dislikes for gifts might be difficult to discover unless you pay attention to their dialogue but they will provide exclusive rewards after some time passes. Once you build a museum, you can be treated with some details if you only turn in one item or read their label on display inside. While the Holo-sim can slowly regenerate your energy at the beach or spa, the library does provide a lot more information regarding various aspects of the game. Your map will inform you of each of the floors, where each member is located, and your current status.

 Summary

Review: The developers clearly wanted to design a game with some realistic expectations regarding time and money. It is not uncommon to juggle around multiple activities at once. Revisiting the planet multiple times to obtain more material, cycling through the floors to talk to people, and setting up shop are all things that must be maintained. However, they push the limits on your patience when you can spend more than a month in-game on a single planet. Each day feels like it needs to be carefully planned ahead of time before you must head back to bed before midnight. Even after various patches to shorten the time to craft items and adjust the overall difficulty, there will always be a bit of a struggle to get ahead of the situation.