Spacing Out

Spacing Out has some good ideas which could have been made into a pretty promising game. The worldbuilding is pretty solid as far as short and free HG games go. There are a couple of interesting scenes. Unfortunately, the plotting and writing is on the weaker side.

The writing is rough. Some parts of it feel technically correct but still strangely written. There are a few typos, as well as code typos. (Basically when stat changes are not correctly typed and show up in the game as text instead.) The short plot has a good dose of adventure as you meet a new alien species and build a relationship with them. Still, it felt a little hard to follow at times, and I was spacing out towards the end.

There is something of a stat system here. Some decisions can increase your stats. I didn't see anything which looked like a failed stat check, so maybe I was lucky, or maybe the stat checks weren't too hard. You'll get prompts whenever stats or relationships go up or down, which is a plus in my book.

There is romance... in a sense. I had pretty much forgotten about the RO until they showed up at the end. When they did, I affirmed our relationship, the achievement popped, the game ended quickly and I shrugged my shoulders.

Still, it's a short and free HG, so might as well take a look for that little bit of entertainment.