Starfreighter

In this custom choice-based game, you are starship captain looking to make a living through commerce!

Gameplay
The gameplay centers around fielding job offers, most of which involve being paid to ship goods to other planets.

Vyphoo Turul: I have a job for you, Captain. Can you deliver this shipment of exotic matter to Toedud?

Some opportunities feature NPCs willing to pay for passage to a particular destination.

As a choice-based game, the layout is well-organized. The left side of the screen displays your inventory and crew roster while the right half has a star map and panel that displays information on any links you click on.

Procedural generation appears to be the game’s key feature and is used for the names of characters, planets, species, and more.

Sasow is an inhabited planetary system. The majority culture is Tawaw. Primary exports include gold, grain, and water. Major imports include antimatter, livestock, and synthstim.

Tawaw is a distinct culture in this region of the galaxy.

There are helpful features that streamline the gameplay. For example, if you linger for too long, a crewmember will nudge you and say the equivalent of "hey, maybe we should leave and travel to [planet name]." Planets that have active content- delivering goods or dropping off passengers- are also flagged on the map. This visual reference is helpful so you don't have to worry about mixing up Eathlowthu with Eathlouthu.

But this strong implementation does not make up for the fact that the gameplay lacks any broader objective beyond completing the same kind of jobs in exchange for payment. No way of upgrading your ship (repairs are occasionally possible) or aligning yourself any faction or characters.

[NPC name]: I’ve got a job for you, Captain. Can you deliver this shipment of [cargo] to [planet name]? I’ll pay you [$ amount] – half now, and half when you make it to [Planet name].

That's it. Over and over again. After about 20 minutes I realized, "I’m done.” As far as I'm aware, it only ends if (Spoiler - click to show)your ship falls apart or you fail to pay back a loan. (To top it off, loans give you little upward mobility in the gameplay).

Story
None, really. There is no narrative introduced at the start of the game. But I suspect that might be the author’s intent, instead choosing to showcase the procedural generation behind the game’s world.

Visuals
Emoji icons! Not too many, just enough to provide visual metrics and make the game’s appearance livelier. Like how you can see the morale of your crew at a glance.

😃🙂😐😒😡

The most impressive feature is the large, clickable, colour-coded planetary map on the right side of the screen. It makes a great impression and sets the mood for hauling goods across solar systems.

Final thoughts
I'm a big fan of another work by the author: Epitaph. It, too, is heavily structured around procedural generation. However, I didn’t get the same satisfaction with Starfreighter.

Starfreighter, as a space commerce sim, demonstrates one possible way procedural generation can be implemented in a choice-based game. Unfortunately, the end product lacks trajectory. It is worth playing to sample what it has to offer, but beyond that, players will likely lose interest after 15-20 minutes.

On the flip side, you pick up this game and set it down without feeling guilty about abandoning a story halfway through. (And I still enjoyed those 20 minutes of playtime.)

Before you go…
If you like this game or enjoy elements of it, I suggest Star Tripper and 4x4 Galaxy.

Star Tripper is a ChoiceScript game with a mechanic of buying and selling units of resources akin to that in Starfreighter, along with the colourful use of emojis. While not without flaws, it is easily one of the most ambitious and innovative ChoiceScript games I've played. It does have a long intro, but after that, it's all space exploration and economic-driven gameplay. Recommended for those who like the technical micromanagement of buying and selling various goods.

4x4 Galaxy is made with Twine and involves exploring a grid of 16 planets. It has multiple stories to choose from and the commerce component is easy to master. I would recommend it for anyone in general, especially if you’re interested in economic gameplay that is more casual and simplified.