Faster Than Light is a real-time rogue-like game where you command a spaceship. I was initially very enthousiastic about the game but after having played for nearly 13 hours it is starting to become obvious to me that the outcome of this game is far too random and no matter how skilled you might be at this game, you can never recover from the strings of bad hands this game tends to deal out. The random encounters also have such devastating outcomes that you will at some point simply play it safe and always choose the same answer. Most unlockable ships are far too difficult to unlock as the requirements for them may or may not be present during your game because of the randomisation. The player makes is on the run from the a hostile fleet and has to make it to his own fleet where by jumping from star beacon to star beacon. Most beacons offer an rpg-like text-choice with varying results and a lot of them make the player end up in combat where he is asked to distribute power, crew and firepower in order to defeat an enemy ship that will be doing the same. There are a variety of weapons available to the player in different forms and although it depends largely on what you will run into and what you can afford with the scrap you obtain from encounters, you will be developing different strategies depending on your load-out. For example; you could have a ship that focuses on releasing attack and boarding drones in order to incapacitate the ship without actually having any (or much) firepower on your ship. Or perhaps you will turn your ship into one that is highly agile and comes with a lot device-disabling weapons so that you can tear the enemy apart with slow-firing heavy lasers. The graphics are nothing to write home about but they're not bad either, the interface is very helpful and the music and sounds suit the atmosphere. I would recommend FTL but not at its current price with its current gameplay… Expand

The randomness factor can prove frustrating, but it also adds to the re-playability Completion in the hardest difficulty is very satisfying. A simplel, solid game with very nice effects, sound design, and a cool soundtrack.

A game with a simple premise: survive long enough so you can get your little spaceship from one side of the galaxy to the other. Overcoming the many obstacles along the way is difficult and may be ultimately too frustrating for some gamers but if you acknowledge the fact you're meant to lose, it's easy to get yourself immersed in this retro-styled starship management game. To sweeten the pot, each time you play the map it's procedurally generated and the game is also super cheap.… Expand

After getting swarmed by all the hype of this game and playing it for myself, I can only call this title a mediocre experience and that's saying a lot considering how much I usually like these kind of games but at the end of the day, it had the same disappointing qualities as the latest XCOM minus the save-abuse which is replaced by mandatory "hardcore" mode frustrations instead where if you die, you die permanently and same goes if any of your crew also die. You begin by being thrown into a stringed-together series of space locations consisting of small "dots" as "locations" where random sh!t will happen, be it getting raped by some random enemy ship or just driving into some scrap (currency). And that's it. This is all that the game expands upon. A randomized stringed-together pile of event that gradually just gets harder and harder until you fail while having you abide by a timer (Invading rebel fleet "chasing" you). Looking at it now in retrospect, I guess a more fitting description for this game would be Tetris. But in space. So is it a good game? It's mediocre. Why? Because it's good enough to kill time, even if the fashion of killing this time is not very desirable which strives quite a stretch from what a GAME is supposed to be. FUN.… Expand

I admit that at first glance, I didn't really have much interest for the game. But, I noticed alot of people were praising its unique gameplay. I started to sort of want it after that. I got it as a gift and so I started playing. First of all, the graphics are beautiful and represent this kind of game quite nicely. After I learned how to use strategy to progress through the game, it was a real swell time after that. The game includes various intriguing situations such as enemy hostiles, helping civilians, trade, exploring, and all sorts of things you would expect if we lived in a Sci-Fi world where we travel the galaxy. If you are a big fan of simulators, and space exploration, then FTL is sure to delight. In the end, I give it a 9/10.… Expand

I played rogue as a kid, and I really enjoy crawling my way through random dungeon after random dungeon, with no two playthroughs being quite the same. FTL brings back that same feeling, only in outer space, in really cool space ships. The game mechanics are top notch, with lots of depth, but also a fun and intuitive general approach. As a final point, I'll mention that the difficulty level found here is very high, which is a bit refreshing in today's gaming market, but unfortunately, a lot of the difficulty factor is simply luck based. I guess that's a bit unavoidable with randomized maps / encounters, but it does make the game a bit annoying at times.… Expand

Brutally difficult. If you dislike game over screens, this is not the game for you. You will die, a lot. Sometimes it won't seem fair. Other times everything comes together just right and it's the greatest feeling in the world. The mechanics work really well here and if you like a challenge you owe it to yourself to pick this one up.

It seems people do not remember the old rogue like games of the past and are pretty quick to bomb this game because they got angry at their bad luck.... It is a shame really, because you can't win, with people complaining about games not being hard anymore and when one comes out, they can't handle it. Regardless, FTL is an awesome polished game with an amazing soundtrack, plenty of content and proves to be a fun, addicting and difficult video game for people who can handle it. Game mechanics are stressful, but well implemented and generally enjoyable. Ship unlocks provide a long-term and difficult challenge for people who are interested in unlockables and full completion. Like any rogue-like, it is difficult, unfair in some places and heavily dependent on luck once you learn how to play. But that's a good thing, it keeps the game varied and interesting. Getting lucky is not the whole story, success will come from making the right decisions with what your luck gives you.… Expand

A very simple game with very simple graphics, yet very addictive! The strategy is extremely well balanced and the progress in succeeding in the game is constant. So, the pleasure is always renewed, the replay value is big and the potentials are vast. This is a magic game that is at the opposite of any gaming hypes but is tremendously well done. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! One of the best games I've ever played in my 30 year gaming experience.… Expand

FTL is a very strategic spaceship simulator, where you must survive a harrowing trek across the galaxy with an army chasing you down. You have to decide how to configure your ship with what's available, and make tough mid-battle decisions that could mean life or death. And in this game, death is permanent.

This is one of those indie games that gets everything right. The gameplay is lots of fun. It's not hard to learn the basics, but winning is incredibly hard, even on Easy. Luck plays a big part, but skill can offset bad luck. There are lots of ship configurations, and with each, a new way to play. The music is very good, and fitting. The pixel art is beautiful. Controls are fairly easy to use.

I found myself playing this game over and over until finally getting my first win on easy on the 20th try. This game is definitely worth getting, and for strategy fans, it's a must-buy. The soundtrack is also worth the money.… Expand

I wouldn't say this beats out AAA games on length of play, but it's ridiculously fun for a few hours to start and then for random playthroughs here and there. I'm not a huge fan of the difficulty posed in the final boss where you might've not come across enough stuff to beat him thanks to the timer involved in each area, but that's roguelike territory for you. I wish there were more modes to where you could just explore or something, but for $9 I can understand that coming later or with mods.… Expand

FTL is often referred to as a roguelike, but it's more of a strategy/roguelike hybrid. You control a spaceship and its crew, attempting to outrun a rebel fleet and deliver vital information. On the way you'll face a series of random encounters you'll have to survive, while upgrading your ship and crew as best you can with your limited resources. At first, it all seems overwhelming, even on easy difficultly. It took me 12 tries before finally getting my first win, but I felt like I learned something I could use going forward with each loss. Each game only takes an hour or two, so even with permadeath, the losses aren't that punishing. There are also a number of unlockable ships and achievements to go for. Although it's not quite as deep as some other similar games, it's still a lot of fun.… Expand

I read a lot of after-action story so I pre-ordered it. If you are a roguelike fan, this is the 10 out of 10 game for you. For others, you will find this game is about randomness and luck, yet shallow and repetitiveness. This is my first roguelike game and this game helped me firmly believe roguelike is not my cup of tea. If you are deciding whether you will enjoy roguelike, give this a try; it is cheaply price anyway. I gave it 10 out of 10 because this is a good experience that I will avoid roguelike games from now on.… Expand

In a year full of original, old-school games, this is the most original, old-school game I

The most painful aspect of this game is that there is evidence of a game hidden deep inside FTL that I really want to play. The dominant part of the gaming mechanic interferes with my ability to play the game I want to play. There are numerous random elements which have overwhelmingly powerful consequences. This is not a game you can complete with sheer determination. It seems that the developer mourns the absence of games that make us lose more frequently. Desperately wanting to play the game which I saw with my mind's eye, I applied cheats and save game editors. No matter what I tried, I was not able to find a way to have fun playing this game, hence my score. Still, if you can get a free demo, I would encourage you to try it. Evidence suggests some people enjoy this kind of gameplay.… Expand

Amazing game, deep gameplay, plenty of replay value. Game breaks a good bit of new ground in strategy games, well worth the time and attention. avoid the subreddit and wikis however, more fun to discover things yourself.

A great little game for it's price. Fun, challenging, and original. Luck plays too much of a role, and there's no real save system. Value wise, it's outstanding though.

This is one of the best indie games I've ever played. It deserves every cent, I honestly can't wait to see what other games this company will make in the future.

One of my favorite indies so far. This game is such a blast and was well programmed and thought out. No bugs, a fluid experience and a fun challenge every time. You either love or hate rogue likes so know that before purchasing. Only way to improve would be to add more content but for the sale price on steam it is an incredible value. Ive put in 38 hours so far and still have yet to fully beat the game on normal. Trying to collect all the cruisers is a blast as well. Well done.… Expand

Some people consider the luck-element in this game to be bad, but personally i believe it's great, without it a great deal of the re playability wouldn't exist. and of course this game gets boring after a while, but honestly, after you've spent so much hours into it it doesn't matter.

FTL: Faster Than Light was something I really didn't expect. It gave you your ship, your crew, and an objective to reach. Little did I know that the road to the objective was filled with sacrifice, close calls, and tough decisions.

This might sound surprising, as this is a rogue-like game after all, but it encourages you to roleplay and to play the game multiple times, as you will die a lot. And when you die, your ship doesn't respawn, you, and your crew, are dead.

So to survive all this, you need to explore, gather scrap to upgrade your ship, hire new crew, each race having it's own advantages and weaknesses. If there is one major complaint to note, is that is relies a bit too much on luck. You might find yourself fighting a hard enemy while being hit by solar flares, making your ship go down really easily. However, it doesn't stop it from being a great game, and one you cannot pass.… Expand

Well I easily sunk in over 30 hours so far, for a simple premise its so addictive. Whats more is its proof that game don't have to have major budgets and high end graphics to be compelling, intuitive and enjoyable. The price is more then reasonable for this throw-back to the 90s in terms of game play and style.

It's a nice game with a beautiful soundtrack, that just happens to be surprisingly addictive. It's a difficult game, very difficult in fact I haven't been able to beat it on easy ONCE. I'm just not that persistent, and you can't save in the middle of your journey. It's pretty hardcore for a game that seems like such a peaceful quaint little game until you experience your first jump next to an active sun, or get boarded by a bunch of aliens that disable your oxygen and overpower any crewmembers you try to send in to fix it. It takes a few tries to get the hang of it, and even then you'll have a hard time just safely reaching the final sector.

If you want an addictive and fun challenge, buy this.… Expand

This is a great roguelike, but not a fun game by any stretch. You win or lose by the flip of a coin you have no control over - you might run into a (literally) unbeatable enemy, you may or may not find the upgrades you need, etc. It is incredibly unfair and this is exactly what they were trying for - it's a great gambling sim and addictive as heck because of that. The music's nice and the graphics are decent. Once you get past the (again, intentional) unfairness, the biggest problem is that almost all combat is a tedious "click same keys over and over" thing. However, if you get boarded - and you will, a LOT if the coin flips go against you - it turns into intensive micromanagement with a UI that is not very responsive - not fun.… Expand

The thing about randomness in core gameplay mechanics is that you are essentially gambling, while there is always a luck factor in other games, here its everything. The events that you run into are random at each planet, the problem is so is the result. Theres no thinking things through because theres no way to predict what will happen. You can have the finest tactical mind on Earth who knows to fire a beam weapon across six different rooms in the split second after the last shield goes down, but lady luck provides the opportunity to get a beam, then you're stuck flicking ion pulses at 4-shielded ships. I've always had a problem with any game mechanic the player is powerless to influence. So you can't pretend to play as Captain Pickard who has to find ways to get around situations by diplomacy or other smart alternative ways.
Even just the addition of a "luck" stat that can be influenced with upgrades or pickups would at least give a slight edge on which an informed decision can be made. So would hints as to what someone is planning when you speak to them. The addition of more diplomacy options or even a graphic representation of the person your talking to would do wonders for the "thinkers" out there.

I had a similar problem with XCOM along these lines, but in that case I was being asked to make a much bigger investment. Playing through the campaign and gradually building up your capability is a far longer operation and while randomly UFOs appearing or not appearing does dictate what you do, but not your progress! You are always building, upgrading or researching new equipment... while a game of FTL might last about an hour due to a lack of depth, balance issues and progress thats way to fast or way to slow. Randomness I can tolerate better in the shorter Roguelike style of game, but in longer games it can't be the 100% determining factor.… Expand

I want to like this game, I really, really do. But it's so frustrating that I'm not willing to take any more time to play it.

Yes, it's a rogue like- and yes, rogue likes- are heavily dependent on randomness but FTL takes it to the extreme. I lost and lost and lost (and losing sees a restart from scratch - only the hardcore need apply); it's not even that there isn't a component of skill. One does need to be skilled: managing your crew, sub-systems and power takes a lot of effort whilst also pinpointing attacks on the enemy.

But chance and the increasing difficulty curve as you venture further across the universe outweigh the skill component solidly.

Rather save money, get a dice, roll it till a six; then declare yourself a winner. It'll be far less aggravating all 'round.… Expand

I bought FTL on a whim when I saw that it involved space ship command with a tactical bent. My expectations were low - but when I got into it I was surprised to find myself really engaged and enjoying the experience. The visuals aren't that flash but the gameplay fires the imagination such that the visuals remain functional and incidental to the core experience. Different scenarios are presented to you as you warp into each new sector and you are required to make choices that influence where the game goes; a lot of these choices result in combat but it's refreshing to see that some do not. A lot of sci-fi games focus too much on combat but the whole star trek experience is just as much about managing crew and making decisions as it is firing the phasers. FTL is perhaps leaning toward too much combat, but it does make significant efforts to give you other things to do as well - and to good effect. The soundtrack is delightful and the sense that you are in command is palpable. On my last game it was me and Jean Luc (you can name crew members) and we made it alone to stage 4 (of 5) and had some amazing scraps and adventures along the way. We started we 3 crew members (you can recruit more along the way) but Beverly died after we were boarded and the oxygen levels in sick bay dropped to the point where she suffocated. We were really cut up about that but pressed on. It's a great little game - could perhaps have benefited from just a little more depth but as is it's heaps of fun and for the price... you can't lose. Highly recommended.… Expand

An impressive Indie game which is very surprising: With random sectors generated with each playing, combined with an array of weapons, equipment, encounters and crew which leads along a short storyline which can be completed in several different ways; this truly is a game travelling at Faster Than Light.

To give a short description, this game feels like Candyland IN SPAAAACE! Fundamentally, this game feels like it was only half-built, and all the parts that should have been actual gameplay that made the game fun were replaced with completely arbitrary dice rolls. Games are short to the point of feeling abrupt and unfulfilling when you complete them, but the reason why is obvious: Once you have any halfway-decent equipment, all challenge to the game is over. Basically, the game is won or lost in the first sector, and you'll be restarting the game 10 times for every 1 time you get past the second sector. It's a game you don't so much play as have happen to you. You can screw up the game, definitely, but you can't win it through any of your own power you just have to keep restarting until the game lets you get lucky and suddenly be handed powerful weapons that let you beat the game easily, and from then on, it's just a matter of not screwing up what you have. I just wish there were more actual GAME in this game to play.… Expand

This is a truly excellent game with lovely artwork and an easy pick up & play style. However, it is EXTREMELY difficult. I've been playing it non-stop for weeks since I bought and still haven't beaten it on easy. The randomisation of loot/encounters is done very well so the game never feels unfair but it's still bloody difficult.

17OCT2012 - It's an alright game. I wasn't expecting much from this simple looking game but I really enjoyed it. Haven't beaten it yet but I'm still working on it. First impressions for me was that the game looks crappy and a cheap throwback to games from the 1990's. Still though, gameplay is fun and addictive. If the price remains low I would recommend this game.

There isn't really anything bad I can say about this, really. The difficulty is insane, and there isn't much of a story there, but everything else in FTL is just so damn good that you don't really care. Also, the soundtrack is freakin' awesome. Seriously, get this game.

Great game. Hard, unforgiving, maybe too dependent on luck, but extremely addictive and fun. Yes, it could be deeper, less repetitive but it is still a small unexpected masterpiece. P.S. Don't try Normal difficulty until you complete it on easy. On Normal some random encounters will kill you rather frequently unless you you have a lot of experience and skill already. On Easy you can usually survive most situations even if unprepared.… Expand

If you like maddeningly difficult old school games then this one is for you. The graphics are primitive, but I feel like that just adds to the old school feel of the game. The game play is simple enough to pick up quickly, yet complicated enough to keep you thinking and coming back for more.

The basic mechanics of shields, weapon systems, drones, and boarding parties make me feel like I'm the captain of a Star Trek vessel in a way that previous Star Trek and other Sci-Fi games have failed to do so well.

For an inexpensive indie game with such a small team the design is nearly perfect. Aside from having not quite enough different random encounters (expect to play through the same encounters over and over again) I don't think I have any complaints for this title. I hope a AAA studio decides to make something like FTL, or picks up these guys and makes FTL2.… Expand

A glorified waste of time which punishes any poor sap the longer he sticks around. Poorly designed, with all the addictiveness of a flash game. Steer well clear, you'll be glad you did.

Beware the Rogue fanboys. This is a randomly generated rogue-ish statgrind with no saving your game (except upon "save & exit"), randomly generated encounters and therefore random overall difficulty, and permanent death. The game is entirely randomly generated ship-vs-ship combat and the combat itself is slow, generic, and tedious. This is the kind of game you can easily waste hours on, though only because of the carrot-stick statgrind aspect where you fight just one more battle to get just one more point so you can buy just one more upgrade, but not because the gameplay itself is actually fun... unless you consider statgrinding inherently fun. Statgrinding is basically the entire game. And dying in impossible encounters. Can't forget the classic dying in impossible encounters.… Expand

When I heard that FTL had achieved it's kickstarter goals and been released I was actually thinking of another kickstarter project with a similar focus that I had donated to months earlier. I hadn't heard of FTL before this point, but I'm glad I bought it. The game is basically Nethack in space, although while I find nethack frustrating to the point of wanting to throw my computer out the window, FTL, while still being hard as nails doesn't frustrate in the same way. Yes it's going to take you a while to have a game where you make it to the final sector. Yes it's going to take you even longer to beat the game, but each and every journey you find yourself telling the stories of your crew, living through their little pixelated lives and it really tears at your heart to lose your captain to a pack of killer spiders, or that engi slave you freed to a pirate boarding party. Deep under all the repetitive scenarios and mechanics there is this tiny little random heart beating life into the game in a way that even big-name titles seem to fall short of, and if you're a perfectionist, or a completionist there are some difficult unlockables to catch but even though I've basically seen all the game has to offer I keep going back, because it's easy to get into and hard as hell to master.… Expand

It's a very interesting concept but after about 30 hours Its pretty obvious that the game really is in need for a wider range of events as the "random encounters" soon become predicable and even the choices you make seem to return the same outcomes (e.g. a ship offers to sell you a "mystery weapon" saying yes means you get ripped off nearly EVERY time (as in they don't give you anything let alone just a bad gun) while it would be more interesting if they gave you just one of the weapons at random. or trying to free a trapped ship will nearly always result in damage to your ship which basically encourages you to say no to everything.

It's a shame as it's a nice concept and it's written by a indie company of just 2 guys. I hope more content and patches comes soon.… Expand

At long last, a game that doesnt underestimate people. In a time when pretty much every single game takes you by the hand until its very end, its refreshing to play something like this. Yes, you die a lot, and yes, sometimes it does get frustrating, but thats it. The gameplay seems simple yet its fun and addictive, loved the music and really liked the customization of your ship.

I absolutely adore this game. It gives anybody the chance to nerd out so much and is a perfect example of a community creating a game and making it near perfect. The ONLY thing I can fight bad about this game is that It doesnt give you enough to manage. Just four or five rooms while any extra crew just stands arounds. An amazing rogue-like strategy science fiction game. Even if you don't like these kind of games, at least try it because it redifines the genre. Perfect 10 out of 10.… Expand

I never imagined this game would give me this much fun. Really. The graphics will not impress you.
But they get the job done. Soundtrack is amazing. Creates a nice atmosphere. The gameplay is really great. I love it. And yeah, this game is not easy You will probably die a lot. But that is part of this game.
But the controls and everything are really easy to pick up and play.

Fun game, have logged ~20 hours into it and for $10 it's pretty solid.

The graphics are simple and easy to understand, the UI is well laid out and lays all need to know information at your disposal, game's got some difficulty and the game's skill/luck system is pretty balanced.

The problems are there's just a lack of content for random encounters. After a few replays you start to see patterns in encounters and know what path to pick even before you read the whole thing. Some encounters just seem predetermined for you to fail or lack any substantial rewards to risk your crew and ship over. It just gets a tad old.

Another problem is un-lockable ships aren't the easiest to unlock and it'd be nice for the developers to include maybe an extra ship or two at the beginning to allow new people for more flexible game play initially. If you've got $10 and enjoy tactical game play with some luck involved, you won't be disappointed.… Expand

This is a difficult game. When I started, it took me five tries to get to the end on easy. Two hundred hours later, on normal I can finish nearly every time. The fighting looks simple, but if you stick with it you'll find amazing tactical depth.

Very simple, yet original and addictive game. If you played games in early 90's, this one will remind you a lot of these times. Earlier, people did not necessarily have to spend tons of money to write a good game, so there was more room for experiment. This game is in that spirit. And still, it doesn't feel outdated, and it's not casual-browser-game simple. It actually has a lot of variety to offer. You basically just shoot ships, but you can do it in many ways. Not just with lasers and missiles, you can board and attack the crew, set them on fire, use attack drones, etc. Fair warning: there's no save/load, and you will die a lot. It's OK. This game is like Tetris: it's intended to be played for the process, not for the end result.… Expand

FTL is just one of those Unique games that you can't say anything bad about. It is so simple but allows the player to get engrossed and continue on their mission. Faster than light is a game you can go to any time and have a great time, never seeing the same ting twice is a bonus which is rare within games these days.

I'll be honest I first downloaded this game illegally but after I played my first game I enjoyed it that much I went back and bought the game to support the developers in their great work. I have never played a game like this and you will never have the same play though of the game twice. I can't wait until more content comes out for this game. I would highly recommend this game.… Expand

Having the most fun playing this game that I've had in a looong time. Love the permadeath. And remember people the fights are just as hard on "easy" you just get a bit more money. When I was very young about 24 years ago there was a turn based Mech Warrior RPG.......I loved that then. And I love this now. They seem very similar.

This is an indie game, made by two fellas like you and me, and because of that, I'll try to be as constructive as possible in this review. My rating is 2, and it's OBVIOUS that this game would deserve more. So, why do I give it only two? Well, there are a couple of reasons. A bit more actually. As someone else pointed out, this game is interesting and provides a strong "sci-fi experience". This is for the bright side. I've backed this game on Kickstarter, and I've had the chance to play it before its release. According to steam, more than 18 hours. To be honest, I must have spent the first 15 hours almost in a row, right after downloading it. The rest corresponds to a few tries I gave it from this moment until now; to see if the flaws were corrected yet. In fact, once a wave of enthusiasm has passed, the game becomes really boring : its main problem is re-playability. The experience which feels great at start becomes repetitive really rapidly. Each play-through is really not different. And the game is quite difficult, you find yourself dying all the time (this is relative to the genre, I think), which doesn't help at all about that. Indeed, the difficulty lacks a normal mode : the easy mode is damn easy, and the so called "normal" mode is kinda hard. The second complaint I have is : things are WAY too random. The fact that you flee before an entire fleet means that you don't have the leisure to explore your surroundings. As a consequence, you either are lucky enough to find some weapons, a new crew member or some good stuff; or you have bad luck and your only outcome is usually to start a new game. I could throw dice instead, I would have pretty much the same feeling. And because of the "balance" of the game, you often don't have the choice but to upgrade your shields ASAP, and pray to find good weapons soon enough. So the "freedom" upon upgrade choices isn't really there, at least if you want to survive. Your skills are very rarely involved, it's only gambling. To such extent, that after a hundred of games or so, the only new things you have are a bunch of unlocked ships which don't modify game experience that much. Same goes for the music : it's really entertaining at first, pleasing and so. And after some time, you find yourself muting it, and listening to Internet radio or so. So, even if this game is made from good ideas and obviously a lot of work, it lacks a lot of polish to reach the intended replayability. I was hoping something really different and way more satisfying. I really hope I will have to rewrite this review because the developers corrected these mistakes. Until then, that's not worth buying, really.… Expand

I've read some reviews warning you about this game to be "random", "unfair" and "stupid" (to name a few). Yes this game is random: Each situation is not from a fixed story line, making you powergame after two playthroughs. Sometimes a situation may be unfair, i.e. you run into an enemy with the perfect counter setup for you ship, ripping you literally apart IF you try to win by any means necessary. And for the meaning of a game it serves no purpose....but to entertain and challenge you from time to time. It is like playing a card game, sometimes with a bad hand but encouraging you to try hard enough to win anyway. There is no Golden Path to the Holy Grail I beat the game in three totally different ways so far and each of them was fun. If you need to save and instantly load the game after getting hit even once (like in some round based shooter), this game is not for you! BUT: Each Sector you reach should be a checkpoint to retry from there.
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This game does not teach you how to beat it!? Learn vital upgrades, learn your weapons, learn how to use what you have!
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This game has no high replayability!?
Does a "Call of Duty" with no choice at all have that!?
Different Ships in this game offer you different play styles from the start you may try. A playthrough is about half to one hour, so ideal to get your mid of something.
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Is the game worth its money? If you see it for 2,49$/€, GET IT!… Expand

There plenty of reasons to complain about FTL. Luckily for this little game? None of those reasons are that it isn't fun. It is a one of a kind game there really is nothing like it out there. Let's call it an epic space flight sim? If you're after graphics this is not the game for you. Yet I consistently find my room mates and friends watching me play this game. It has real decisions, 'real' stakes and 'real' consequences. Huge replay-ability and a truly fresh feel. Definitely pick this one up.… Expand

The game starts off as fun, but once you peer past the curtain you quickly become annoyed/frustrated. Once you realize that every single action in the game is random, it quickly dawns on you that there's little point to playing the game. Its like solitaire, everything is pre-determined, you simply go through the actions and pray the RNG comes out in your favor. There's absolutely zero strategy involved, each turn you 'pull the level' and hope the slot machine rolls in your favor. Quite disappointing.… Expand

A decent game ruined by the unfairness of the gambling based game play which more than often rolls the dice against you. After playing this game for about 30 hours just to beat it once on normal difficulty i have given up because, honestly, its almost impossible to beat the last boss on normal unless you are one lucky sun of a B, and receive every upgrade along the way without losing one crew member and everything always goes perfect for you. For 5 10 dollars its a fun time killer (don't spend more money), but no where near an epic game.… Expand

I have looked at the screenshots on Steam and I have to say the game looks absolutely TERRIBLE!!! Your basically just watching over a spaceship and controlling what people do! The graphics look horrific as well, it's just a **** 2d model of a spaceship!! What the developers of this game didn't realize is that people like to BE INSIDE of the spaceship and DO MISSIONS like in mass effect 2!

Although I haven't played this **** game, it would be safe to say even for me that this is one of the worst games ever.… Expand

I truly love this game. Lot's of replayabiliy but I would have appreciated if there was a bit more randomness to the boss... but the overall experience starting and going to the boss area is really fun. I love the selection of weaponry, the number of passengers, the shields and the how you have to strategically utilize all of this using careful management of energy.

Better than any game I've played this year at a fraction of the price. It offers so many things that the industry seems to be completely devoid of these days. First off, there's an actual learning curve. You have to learn by doing in FTL, and it usually results in a few miserable failures before you have any chance of success. There is no hand-holding, no quicksaving- you're simply expected to go down with the ship and then give it another go. But when you do, you're prepared for more contingencies. What was your flaw? Did you get boarded and defeated because you lacked a strong crew? Did you over-invest in weapons while neglecting defensive subsystems like shields, engines, and cloaking? And if so, which subsystems should you have invested in? The gameplay is about preparing for contingencies, and there are only so many. Once you learn all of them you can adequately spec your ship to be able to counter all of them. However, the game makes it VERY difficult to cover all of your bases, mostly due to a simple lack of resources and time. Not a single player, no matter how experienced, enters the final boss fight with every contingency covered. And as a result, the final battle is always rewarding no matter how prepared you are.

On top of all that, there are unique random events that can happen in the game that can really change your experience for the better- or the worse. I will always remember an event where my female human pilot was killed trying to save an alien crewmember from a civilian ship- there's no cutscene, no fanfair, just a dialog saying that your pilot is dead and the crewmember survived. That alien crewmember became my new pilot and led us to victory. Sometimes it's more harsh and less dramatic. Find an alien artifact in space? Be careful approaching it. It might cause one of your crew to rapidly age in reverse until they disappear.

There are lots of achievements, which I'm not usually fond of, but in this case I think they complement the game well. Everyone's going to make multiple attempts at the game, so why not make certain starting options unlockables? I really don't mind achievements when they're not half-ass. Either the entire game should be based around them or they shouldn't be there. The designers of FTL seem to feel the same way.

Most importantly, the game offers challenge. The "Easy" gamemode is almost inevitably what everyone will start out with, and everyone will likely die several times on it. The difficulty is what made me nostalgic more than any of the excellent retro music and graphics- what happened to side-scrolling action games without a save option, where the last level was legitimately SCARY just because you were afraid of losing your progress? I haven't felt that way about the final battle in a video game in a long time. In almost every game today, you die at the hands of the final boss- and then you're instantly resurrected in the fight again. For example, I remember in Batman- Arkham Asylum where the best strategy was to die in the second phase of the boss fight, because it would instantly resurrect you during that specific phase with full health. Ridiculous. NONE of that bs in FTL.

FTL is a game about feeling a sense of learning and accomplishment. Victory is only earned through experience and endurance. In your first "winning" game, there will almost assuredly be times when, in any other game, you would have reloaded. A crew member dies to your own negligence; you run out of fuel and have to wait for help; you realize too late that you would've specced differently if you had known better. In any other game you restart. In this game, you keep going. You make it work. After all, it's just a game. Remember when games were like that?… Expand

If you thought Minecraft was the only successful indie-game, then you haven't seen FTL: Faster Than Light. It's a great concept, and I was interested about it when I first saw gameplay of it. Many people would say the graphics in this game are not the best, but I think that the graphics in this game are brilliant. The music in this game is also catchy in my opinion, and it doesn't stress you out. Some scenarios in this game are well thought-out about, and that the unexpected is usually around the corner. You may be boarded by pirates, approaching at a sun, or suffer ion storms on nebula systems. Also, if you die, you may rethink about what you have done to accidentally lead yourself to danger, and you may need to think on picking a different ship in case things go wrong on another one, if you have unlocked one. This is a game which says perfection to me.… Expand

awesome little game, i'm bewildered by the negative reviews...how anyone can criticize this game so heavily is ridiculous I've read their complaints and as a hardcore FTLer of some 89 hours i can tell you most of them are totally unfounded and written by impartial trolls...if you like Sci-Fi and RPG's and don't belong to the "ADD i like my games all graphics and no content and one button wins" generation, buy it.... its cheap and genius, these guys need to be supported.… Expand

In this game, you click rooms on your ship, watch timers move, and do little else. There are some reading sections, but as far as gameplay, it's a bland, uninventive game. It is extremely over-rated.

The game is fun if you want to kill time for maybe an hour or two, but chances are you'll probably be pounding your head after a number of losses due to a few unfair combinations all the while dealing with micromanaging repairs on the ship and killing fires and killing invaders. While the game is extremely well polished in terms of controls and music, the game gets lost in sometimes terrible RNG and overcomplicated micromanagement that could've been simplified by rethinking the "crew" feature. Oh and by the way, each time you enter a zone, you have a fleet of elite rebels chasing you every step of the way, so you constantly feel like you're in a rush to move on to the next zone, which only gets progressively more difficult.

I'm the kind of person who doesn't want to have to keep spamming pause to input commands, I want the game to flow. FTL just doesn't do that for me.… Expand

Another indie title well worth your money if you want to burn some time and have nothing else to do. Challenging at times, and an all-around enjoyable game.

For those among us who enjoy pain and suffering, sci fi themed tactical games with a bit of RP elements thrown in, FTL is an ideal game. A constant barrage of bad luck and impossible situations means you`re likely to spend a lot of time restarting the game, cursing loudly to the annoyance of family members or even crying.
This skillfully constructed tool for selling more nerve medication will include things like hitting your weapons 1 second after you enter stealth mode to reload your weapon in safety, forcing you to spend stealth putting out fires instead of reloading, which means you`ll be reloading later when the enemy is firing on you. Or killing off your crew with random events and not generating any way to shanghai more crew, leading to death by abandoned ship. Or it may refuse to provide you with a suitable weapon upgrade for level after level, until you can`t break the shields of any enemy and die. Once in a while it will even make dead ends for you, forcing you right back into the pursuing fleet which is what provides the time pressure in the game, preventing free exploration.
And I could list about 20 similar conspiracies hatched by the makers of FTL without effort; all with the express purpose of driving me insane. Having said this you might think the game is no fun. But it is! Unlocking ships, finding rare events and quests and the interminable difficulty of getting your ship to the last zone in an appropriate condition to fight the last battle is irresistible to all virtual flagellants and should not be missed.
Obviously the easily frustrated should perhaps look elsewhere. For the rest of us we can only hope that a sequel will appear at some point in the future. Until then, FTL will have to do:)… Expand

i've been hyped for FTL ever since I contributed to their Kickstarter. Now that it's here, I'm not dissapointed at all :)

Graphics - Old school, but very clean. there aren't any options though, including resolution, which makes it look quite bad on stretched fullscreen. More customisation would be nice.

Sound - AMAZING sound design. great effects and a very nice soundtrack, never feels repetitive.

Gameplay - WIN. Even though there really isn't much of a variety of gameplay, It is always fun, very repeatable and VERY hard. it will take you a long time to win the game just once, then so much more to unlock all the content available

Overall - I HIGHLY reccomend it.… Expand

Game is really fun when it works, but random crashes to desktop destroy this game as it is now. There is no ability to save, so when you crash to the desktop (random), then you've lost your game and need to restart. This has happened to me now two games in a row and I'm giving up. The ability to save games, or at least auto-save after every jump so you can resume after a crash would at least make this game playable while they work out the bugs.… Expand

The people writing the high reviews have played the game for maximum of 2-3 hours. FTL seems fun when you first start out, but as you repeat the game over and over and over and over and over and over again you realize the entire game is rubbish because your chances of winning a particular run are controlled very minimally by you. All you do is steer the ship and click on parts of enemy ships. I had a run where I had nothing but the starter guns all the way up to the 7th sector, I explored many beacons and found nothing. The game is rogue like but fails to provide even a reasonably fair amount of random chance. Other times the game will reward you with something amazing that you can't use at the most inopportune time - one run I was given what was claimed by the game to be an amazing laser - but I had no means at all to operate this gun on my ship as I found it in the 1st sector. On another run I did great, but could not find a weapon like that laser to save my life - and was shafted by random chance. This SOUNDS like it could be fun sometimes, but after you play the game over and over you get real sick of "oh look, no weapons, oh look no new crew members" and you end up eventually running out of fuel and scrap and dying helplessly or you somehow get far then are ill-equipped for the higher powered enemy ships and die extremely quickly. The game has terrible pacing and while the mechanics operate fine, some things like the AI leave a LOT to be desired. I don't know why people feel like they must love indie games no matter how good or bad they are - if you give them false praise you're only hurting them. The game could be improved with patching, but somehow I sincerely doubt the odds the game will ever see an update - the developers got our money and have so far shown no real interest in doing much else with the game based on statements they've publicly made. For a half-working title like this I would not pay the price it's going for, $10 is too steep for a broken indie game and as gamers we should demand better quality from indie studios if we ever want them to replace corporate studios that just create more franchise games.… Expand

This game is very hard, even on Easy, but persistence to learn the game and sometimes a bit of luck can unlock that ship that can change the entire battle for you. Strangely addicting, built for replayability. Great game!

The game is quite good, inventive, and has a nice feel to it. I like the replayability and the extent to which your choice matters. On the other hand, some gameplay does get a bit repetitive, and sometimes I have died to the hand of an enemy way more advanced then I. Generally though, good game, worth the $10 if your into strategy based simulation.

Perfect game for what it is--a very short, simple, highly replayable,sci-fi roguelike. For the price, it's an amazing game, and I'll probably keep it installed for years. It's harder than most modern games, and a given run can be ruined by the occasional bad roll at the wrong time. But the whole game takes about 2 hours, and the really bad luck doesn't happen often.

Game is a real fail. Developer asked 10 000$, he got GOD DAMN 200 000$, and the game which he released doesn't cost even 500$. First of all it is just old alpha version for backers with a new name, developer stopped working long ago. It has a great lack of content and events, even some flash games are more diverse.

I really liked this game, for a few days. Some people oversell the difficulty, in my opinion, it was too easy. On my very first game, I played on easy setting to learn the mechanics, and made it to the final sector, only to lose instantly when the base was destroyed due to a misunderstanding of the mechanics of the final boss. Every subsequent play-through was on normal difficulty (the hardest) and either I beat the final boss, or I completed the achievement I was going for and quit out rather than continuing on. In the 43 games I played of this, my ship has never been destroyed. It is a fun game, I wouldn't have played it 43 times otherwise, but it is short and, once you understand the mechanics, very simple to the point of posing almost no challenge at all to anyone. Fun for what it is, but once I'd seen everything it had to offer, I put it down and haven't had any desire to pick it up since.… Expand

This game has so much potential it could be a ton of fun, but most games are ruined by simple bad luck. In order to win you MUST get the right weapon upgrades or you are doomed, but getting them is a matter of pure luck.

This could be resolved by re-balancing the sectors and allowing people to explore more, or making weapon drops more common. Until this is fixed I would avoid the game unless you want to lose or win based on pure luck.… Expand

Where is the fun after losing, and losing,and losing,and losing...so on, from brief periods of time?Somebody could explain to me?
I don't have anything against indie games or people who liked them.For example limbo and zombie vs plants are good examples of very good indie games but in this case thiis game is just annoying to say the best.
Can't complain about the graphics or the limited resources like music but you can't win on this game and there's no fun about that.Your first and probably only ship that you will play is pure garbage.And that couldn't be too much upgraded because game money and bonuses are as scarce as the chances to survive at least to achieve a new one.Whatever the case I unlocked another better than the stock and still surviving is very improbable for long periods of time.And to unlock another ships it's very odd as to like this game more than 3 days!If at least some upgrades where left on your inventory, to have more chances of surviving no matter how long to get them but no.Only ships very unreachable at very impossible chances to accomplish.I put all my effort to "enjoy" the game but I came after 2 half days that this game is a complete waste of time.Maybe 15 years ago this could be a huge success but today can only be enjoyed with alcohol or some drug!… Expand

A simple and entertaining game. I real delight for the price. A game doesn't have to be excessively deep or complicated to be entertaining. I really enjoyed the simplicity and mechanics of the game. The graphics aren't all that, but it's not designed to have them. I refuse to rate a game on graphics and this one didn't disappoint.

There is a big difference between hard and unfair, this game is unfair and not hard because the outcome of the decisions you take ,your rewards and enemies are random. It doesnt take any skill to beat the game is just having a lot of luck, every time you die because of bad luck you will have to start all over again so the game becomes boring very fast. Pirate the game,play it on normal and if you like it buy it, that way you will understand what all the negative ratings mean when they say this game purely about luck.… Expand

Simple at first with but with depth. Challenging combat - a rarity in today's games. Works under Linux! Sometimes frustrating but overall worth every penny.

Incredible gameplay! FTL is an easy to learn and incredibly difficult to master game. It has a mix of arcade and strategy elements that I have never seen before. Building your spaceship as you go gives a sense of vested value that matches any RPG. To top it off, the soundtrack is excellent, and the interface is so good it makes you wonder how the AAA titles fail to get it right.

I have not played an indie game that comes near as close to FTL.… Expand

I know it is a roguelike, but even on those terms it is completely and impossibly stupid. This is not Dark Souls or Ninja Gaiden, where the difficulty comes from the intense challenge to learn how to play the game right. Here the difficulty comes from the programmers laughing at you while they slap unfair situations in your face. Almost every situation is decided by pure luck, especially when you have learned to multi-task. Avoid this game at all costs, it is frustrating and pointless since the good premise and slick production conceals a game that is not fun, entertaining, rewarding or actually challenging (having good luck is not a challenge) in any way.… Expand

Your a StarShip Captain with direct control over everything.
Which itself makes it an awesome indie RPG with addictive rogue-like elements. HUGE replayability - 1. There are 9 different ships, each with two different layouts for you to unlock), 2. Randomised events and results. Each choice you make, even though if it was the same choice in your last run , could end up differently for better or worst
3. A wide selection of weapons for different ships/playthroughs

And you can name your own ship and crew. What more can i say?
This is all for $9AUD for well over 20+hours of gameplay - and probably more!… Expand

FTL, while not being quite as complex as one would hope, manages to steal hours of your time, and is overall a lot of fun. The different ships and layouts make for great variation in play style, although they can be difficult to obtain. The randomly generated systems are similar, but vary enough to maintain interest. Of course there are the adverse random encounters that, on certain play-throughs it seems, there is no chance of recovering from. But then, that's part of the charm; you never know if you're going to coast through, or you're really going to have to work for it. No one should be surprised if it seems stale after about 20 some hours of game-play though. Random encounters do become predictable, courses of action all too similar, and the boss is more or less a crap-shoot (which really sucks). This game averages out to about 50 cents per hour of game play, so all in all, I would recommend it… Expand

Great game. Rougelike space ship game. Simple objective to the game, just reach the last zone and destroy the boss. You'll need to balance your power during combat so that not only can you attack but so that you can also have some defence. You'll unlock ships during your many play through of the game, each with their own distinct quirks. You can crew your ship with several different alien species although which ones you have available from shops and missions can be a bit random. Fairly tough game, deffo worth a punt.… Expand

Man is this game fun! I got it for $4.99 during this week's (Week of 1/6/13) Steam Sale, but its usual price is $9.99. After playing it for a couple hours, I would gladly pay up to $20 for it. For a lightweight game, there is a lot to it and plenty of customization. The only thing so far that I dislike is the whole randomness (Luck) to the game. If you don't find cheap weapons or weapons from battles, you'll end up losing entirely. However, sometimes you can have it so easy and barely try! (At least until the last sector because, well, it's pretty hard). Without giving away too much, you pilot a ship, upgrade it, repair it, blow up other ships, save people (or not if you don't care), get a bigger crew, and unlock more ships on your travels. LOADS of customization with every playthrough, and every single choice you make will affect you later (such as buying X or using Y or saving Z). A last point I want to say is that running out of fuel, while bad, isn't a "game over" like most other games would be. You can send out a distress beacon in hopes of some nice passerbys will give/sell you fuel, or it may just be evil people instead coming to kill you (and killing/letting them go may give you fuel!). Really great game for the price, especially during this week's sale. The only reason I didn't give it a 10 is because of the absolute RNG. It's a little TOO brutal, but hey, that just means more game time overall til I beat it completely.… Expand

Very fun game. Check it out if you like a challenge. This game is really hard but I think that is half the fun. You always strive for better results than the last time. It's really cool when you get new ships, and it makes me want to see how I fare with those. I have played about 15 time, and I've only beat it three times on easy. On normal I haven't even made it to the final boss.

This game is so rouge like, I can't get enough of it. I would love to see a sequel. To address the critics, whom are mainly users and not professional reviewers, if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen.

The fanboys and haters are gonna give this game 10's and 0's , but I'll give this game what it deserves: a 7. That's right, a green score. Green is good, and in this case it is very good, but confusing... and that's because it's hard for me to say what type of game FTL is; the gameplay is unlike any other game I've ever played. It's sci-fi. It's strategy. It's roguelike. It's a simulation. All true, though none of those over-arching titles actually quite cover it. My best attempt would be "it's a starship-strategy-set-in-a-procedurally-generated-galaxy-where-instead-of-controlling-the-attitude,-heading,-and-positioning-of-your-ship,-you-instead-manage-its-systems-and-crew-while-making-captain-level-decisions...simulator." (Whew, glad that's out of the way.) Maybe simply saying "it's a Jean-Luc Picard (or James T. Kirk, if you prefer) simulator" would more effectively get the point across? In other words, don't ask me to describe what FTL is because I can't fully answer that question in a way that makes sense; the game is just... cool. The strength of this seemingly simple game is it's surprising level of depth. As a playthrough progresses, you have full control over the customization of the ship's various systems and upgrades. When upgrading, you'll not be likely to max out every category (or even a couple, for that matter), and so you'll have to customize the ship around your play-style in order to see any real level of success. FTL does cater to different play-styles, except for one: diplomacy, which is more or less non-existent. Talking one's way out of a dispute not an option, so the main play-styles will revolve around combat. One could focus on offensive abilities, or defensive abilities. Thankfully, the game is deep in terms of customization, and therefore offence and defence have different branches. You might choose to focus on dodge instead of shielding, or boarding parties instead of heavy weaponry. The choice is yours... sort-of.

One fact to acknowledge is that it is unwise to start a new game of FTL with a certain strategy in mind, and then commanding your ship with "upgrade tunnel vision". The game is based around entirely random encounters; therefore, as a captain in FTL's universe, adaptation is a very good virtue. So. to all those who like to plan ahead, this game gives you all a one finger salut. Sure you can have an overall goal in mind, but the game is random: you get what you get and simply have to work around it. Or die. So when I say "the choice is yours" the choice I'm actually referring to is to work with what you can scrounge up, or to die trying. Whether this is a good feature of the game or a horrible imbalance is up to you to decide; it is what it is, and it does make each playthrough...interesting.

The crew command mechanism works great, as does the system and power management. Crew members gain proficiencies in various ship-stations and tasks over time. The crew can also take damage, so it can feel like a real setback when you lose tier 2 weapons specialist. Crew mortality serves to heighten the level of tension in battles, and even after battles in some cases. You could win a battle, but if your life support systems are knocked out, you could lose a crew member (or all of them) if you can't repair the oxygen generator in time.

There are a few weird quirks in the game. Crew members seem to be more like "crew statues" because they aren't affected by the ferocious blast of suction caused by a hull breach. No... no one can get sucked into space in this game, EVEN THOUGH there airlocks and hull breaches. Disappointing, I know! Enemy ships with higher levels of shielding can be VERY difficult to defeat without shield peircingmissile weapons or boarding parties. For that matter, why does my Heavy Ion with 2 ion damage only reduce my enemy's shields by 1 point!?

Ultimately, replayability with FTL is fairly limited. It is a casual game, and it is best to play it in casual doses; it's great if you got a little time to kill: 20 minutes here, half hour there. However, I found my interest in FTL easily burns out during multi-hour sessions.

The game's charm is the main draw; it's a game that doesn't tell you the stories. Sure it gives you objectives and side quests (and sometimes tells you that "you've arrived at the quest objective, yet there's nothing here... oops, sorry, maybe the quest giver remembered the coordinates wrong"), but you experience your own story, filled with adversity, strife, sorrow and success... okay, mainly adversity, strife and sorrow, but that is beside the point. It is these player-driven stories will keep you coming back for more Jean-Luc Picard-ing around. (yes I just used his name a verb).

I like this game, and I give it superb 7 out of 10.… Expand

People have far too romantic a view of games depending on the source, or having been an early supporter of the game pre-release are unwilling to look at it with a truly critical eye. As a marketing exercise it's been fantastically successful, but as a game it fails miserably. It is no better than a slot machine. Yes, there is some strategy and tactics involved that improve your odds, but they're so outweighed by random circumstance as to be virtually pointless, it's like buying two lottery tickets instead of one. It needs to be fixed and that won't happen as long as people are willing to put a smiley face on any old rubbish.… Expand

Excitement. Strategy. Fear. Hope. Panic. Joy.
This game has them all and for a gamer who rarely feels moved by a game, it is a shining beacon of hope.
Simply put, I love FTL. It is a work of art, in both design and execution.

It could be a 10 but, although I understand, restarting from the hangar each time your ship explode can be sometimes frustrating. On the other hand, each time I restarted, I never used the same strategies twice; the scrap (money), equipment, crew is randomly generated each time. So you have to make with what you have. In overall, I love the game, graphic are simple and gameplay is great. For the price, it's a deal.… Expand

A good simple and fun game.
Not too much depth, but still fun! Yay

Enjoyable rogue-like set in space. In particular I liked the pressure build up by the imminent risk of being overrun by the bad guys chasing you. Battles are fast paced, but can (and should) be paused anytime though. Game mechanics are very well thought true, though each play through depends heavily on luck - as in any given rogue-like I guess.

What a great little game. FTL takes you back to the 32 bit days when skill, luck and some persistence engrosses you into a well built adventure. FTL has been my guilty pleasure over the past couple months and i couldn't be happier with it. Anytime an indy game comes along to counter the "unfinished masterpieces", (Warz and Aliens:Colonial Marines) I am a happy camper.

the opinions of people who gave this game a 2,1,3 etc.... should not get in the way of u playing this....
simply put...this game has a permadeath mechanism put in place....that means once u lose ur ship, u permanently lose the game and u gotta start again (for those who dont know english)..
now, as a rogulike fan, i dont mind the static-y type of gameplay....but i kind of expected a little more....movement...
the enemies appear like they do in a pokemon game..so&so appeared to do so&so as u travel from a to b

what i would like to see in subsequent updates is the ability to atleast move ur ship around a little...
should make for interesting battles
a larger universe with a little more diversity and a larger range of ships, weapons, and encounters...

a conquer-the-universe mode!!!

some might feel its a little bland but scores like 1,2,3 are HIGHLY UNCALLED for. believe me

gameplay is pretty simple, though a bit fast paced...just a bit.... wont say anything more...just play it...
its nice to see ur crew moving around the ship.... good game overall… Expand

People say "Rougelike", but really FTL is in a category of its own. Inventive and simple, but with great replayability. Does not suffer from the "feature creep" that many similar games fall in to.

Well, the battles are frequent and often difficult, and thus other tasks are not as demanding of you (for game balance, I guess), and you should try to avoid the asteroid fields if your ship is failing. But I do like the role play elements of FTL, and the traveling you do through space is great fun. Not the greatest, but worth a try.

Also, the soundtrack is pretty awesome, I might add.

FTL defied my expectations in a huge way. If you've ever wanted to feel like you were piloting Serenity, from Firefly, with a crew in an unforgiving and hostile environment, this is it.

The soundtrack is great. Combat is interesting. There isn't a plot, really, but the narrative that you can create for yourself is incredibly. You'll grow attached to your characters... and get sad when they die of Oxygen asphyxiation. The ship customization, and details, give this game a huge amount of replay value. Any sci fi fan should try their hand at this game it's awesome.

The only downside to speak of is the tediousness of unlocking certain ships. You have to be extremely lucky to get certain ships, no two ways about it.… Expand

At second glance, this game is fun if you do not attach yourself to your achievements in individual games and instead look at this as a unique repeatable puzzle largely dependent upon chance.

If you're a familiar with the board game Galaxy Trucker, this game is basically a single player version PC port. If you liked the board game you'll probably like this as well even though it can be equally frustrating. The graphics are a matter of taste, personally I like them. The music is nice as well but gets a bit repetitive after a while. The UI and controls are well done. Game mechanics are simple and easy to learn but allow for varied strategies and challenging fights. Unfortunately it's too random and you're too dependent on simply being lucky and getting enough resources or good events. There will be encounters where you simply have no chance of survival. Also it has very limited content so after only a few times playing you will have seen everything. Could have used a possibility for constructing your own ships or maybe coop-multiplayer (It'd be perfect for this).… Expand

Simply love this game. It's pretty hard (atleast, I tend to think so), but so much fun. You mange your crew, weapons, upgrades, and can put out fires in example by opening your doors, which is pretty brilliant.

Great game. Lots of fun. Can be repetitive, but only if you play without any breaks. Really challenging, but that's what keeps you coming back. My advice? If you feel that repetition wave coming on, go play something else for awhile. Guarantee you'll be biting at the bit wanting to play one more game though, which is why breaks help especially after a long play session.

This game is definitly why indie games should be supported with Kickstarter. This game shines brightly in the indie genre, a truly unique game. You take control of 1 of 8 ships and you have to micro mange every system of the ship including shields, engines, weapons even sensors and oxygen. Replayability is a whole new level. You also have to escape from the rebels which are hot on your tail all the time so when you approach a new galaxy you have to decide on a route and stick to it. Every galaxy you cross is different each with there own unique situations. Whether its a distress call that you go and investigate or just get across the galaxy as quick as possible every time it's different. This game has great suspense with every move you make, for example when approaching a distress call it could be an innocent mining colony being attacked by pirates or it could be pirates setting a trap. Each decision has a consequence that could be the difference between life and death. Each ship has 2 layouts which vary so that you can decide what you prefer, so altogether there is 16 different ship combinations. There is also an upgrade system in which you buy parts using the currency of scrap. You find scrap by destroying enemy ships or helping out the innocent. You have to manage every minor detail include power distribution, whether you want more power to the engines for evasive movement or more power to the guns for better offense. Lots of different things can happen for example if they hit the engines with a missile then the engine room will explode and the ship will catch fire. You can tackle this in multiple ways, for example you can send one of your crew into the room with a fire extinguisher to put it out however there is a risk to this because your crew members will get hurt and can, in the worse case, die whilst putting it out leaving you a crew member down. Or you can open up exterior doors to drain the oxygen to put the fires out however if the ships door system is also damaged during the fight then this is not possible. So there are multiple ways to deal with every situation its what you decide is best at the time. Altogether this is a fantastic little game that every one should have a go at and really see what indie developers are capable of.… Expand

It's a masterpiece of indi games. It really has no much graphics, but the gameplay is cool.

After few minutes you really accept the atmosphere of this game. That you have a small junky space ship, and you must go through space and kill dozens of enemies on your way and participate in random encounters.

The other cool side is that you can play very different - game offers you dozens of ways to improve your space ship.

And finally - there is NO saves, and it's really nice for this game!
Btw, while playing you can open other types of space ships, so the replayability is fantastic, i already played 60 hours in it, and will not stop.… Expand