Space Tales! Woo-oo! Vibrant RTS Demo On Steam

Space Tales is a broad title, and with this early preview, it’s difficult to ascertain where it could go story-wise as only the survival mode was available to play. Normally that wouldn’t be such a big deal, but for a game that’s asking you to build units, source materials and defend against an invasion without a tutorial, one might think we’re pretty much doomed.

But hold your horses. Currently in a Kickstarter, it really is early days for the RTS from Saigon Dragon Studios. They’ve pitched the premise, and it’s essentially colonising hostile planets full of nasty aliens who will call you names and deface your buildings. Fortunately, you can bite back with your troops and set up a fortified base to protect that. If you last that long.

Space Tales follows the format of Command & Conquer – you know, that game from 20 – almost 30 years ago, but we won’t get bogged down with the details as it was a benchmark for the genre, and this game mostly follows that. Click on a unit and they’ll repeatedly give an affirmative response as you march them off to their death, or explore the outer regions, a.k.a. march them off to their death.

Visually, it’s a lot more vibrant and almost cartoony compared to the dreary palettes of combat strategy games we have seen of late. This is a false pretense – don’t pay attention to the bubblegum rainbow that is your play area: this is bloody hard. How the hell do you source materials? Without any guidance, this was on repeat play so that I could understand how to do it. You can’t place that building here, there, or anywhere else.

That’s a bit of a bummer when you want to get stuck in. Kind of juxtaposed with a survival mode where that’s exactly what happens. Alas, with only foot soldiers to initially push back the threat, this lacks the introduction it deserves. Still, Space Tales shows potential. Personally, I’d rather play a campaign option in the demo rather than survival, and at least have a guide on how to build.

Have a look for yourself though as a Space Tales demo is available on Steam at the time of these words.