Everspace

Everspace is a single-player roguelike space combat and exploration game. The player takes the role of a pilot navigating through a series of procedurally generated star systems. With only fragmentary memories and a mysterious AI companion, the pilot must uncover the truth behind their existence while surviving hostile encounters, environmental hazards, and the scarcity of resources. Each attempt through the sectors brings them closer to understanding the overarching mystery, though death resets progress and forces the journey to begin anew.

Gameplay combines fast-paced dogfighting with resource gathering and crafting. Combat is real-time and arcade-like, with ships equipped with energy-based and projectile weapons, missiles, and defensive systems such as shields and countermeasures. Players must manage energy reserves carefully, since weapons, shields, and equipment all draw from the same power pool. Encounters range from small pirate skirmishes to large-scale battles involving multiple factions.

Progression is built around repeated runs through sectors. When the player’s ship is destroyed, resources gathered can be invested into persistent upgrades that improve hull strength, shield efficiency, or weapon capabilities for future attempts. Credits can be spent on enhancing perks, while rare materials are used to craft new equipment mid-run. This loop of dying, upgrading, and retrying is central to advancing further into the galaxy.

Exploration is another core element. Each sector contains points of interest such as derelict stations, asteroid fields, or hidden caches. Players can mine ore, salvage wrecks, and trade with neutral outposts. Choices often revolve around risk and reward: whether to divert from the main path to gather resources or push onward with dwindling supplies. Fuel management and jump drives dictate movement between systems, adding further layers of planning.

Other systems include crafting and item management. Blueprints discovered during runs allow for on-the-fly creation of consumables, weapons, or upgrades using gathered materials. Random events, distress calls, and environmental hazards such as radiation storms or minefields introduce variety to each journey. Dialogue sequences with the ship’s AI and characters encountered during runs gradually reveal narrative context and expand the lore. There is no morality system, but factional dynamics influence encounters, with groups like the Okkar Empire or outlaws reacting to the player’s presence differently.