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Steam Greenlight Spotlight: Star-Bored

• Sean Flint
• March 31st, 2015

Today’s Greenlight spotlight is on Star-Bored, a darkly comedic strategy game set in the far future. In Star-Bored, you take on the role of the Chief Auditor of the Bureaucratic Imperium, and you are tasked with eliminating galactic terrorists while also managing the duties of a typical bureaucrat and exploring the galaxy. The first thing that stood out to me was the potential depth of the strategy in the game. Star-Bored seems to be presenting a very in-depth strategy experience with its task management. It seems as if the game will feature a lot of micro managing, which is fantastic for those of us who enjoy doing that sort of thing.

As Chief Auditor, it is your duty to wipe out the rebels that are causing trouble throughout the empire. However, you cannot just go in and destroy everything because you are also tasked with protecting Bureaucratic property and citizens. As you visit the multiple worlds that Star-Bored contains, you will perform tasks such as assessing the threat level by capturing satellites, destroying rebel bases with well-placed air strikes or sending your mechanized infantry onto the surface to deal with the rebels face-to-face. You also are able to run propaganda campaigns which have the potential to convert rebels into bureaucrats which is another way to deal with the rebel threat without resorting to violent means. There is also a third option available: the planet is far beyond any repair or rescue, and must be completely annihilated.

On top of dealing with the rebel threat, Star-Bored also has you managing your ships supplies. You must keep your ship well-stocked by trading on the black market, destroying and looting rebel bases, and you are also able to seek out and explore ancient, extraterrestrial ruins that have been left behind. These activities are considered illegal by the Bureaucratic Empire, however, and must be kept secret at the risk of a visit from the Emperor’s right-hand auditor, Lord Voider (pause for pun), who is known for his ability to detect and squash any illegal acts.

Star-Bored boasts thousands of unique planets for you to visit, each generated with more than twenty unique statistics. These statistics are things such as personality, religion, government type, and if there are any ancient alien sites to explore. The random nature of each planet really adds to my interest in Star-Bored, as I can see many hours of gameplay coming out of the fact that there are over a thousand different planets to explore.

Management is not the only type of gameplay that Star-Bored is looking to provide. There will also be turn-based, tactical battles that you can fight in which use the mechanized soldiers that you have created. These soldiers can be customized with hundreds of different weapons and armors to fit your particular strategy and style. These battles will be against rebels, ancient aliens, and space-monsters that decide to make a snack out of your vessel. If you are more into just the management side of the game, you will be able to have the AI take part in these battles for you, much like in Total War or Age of Wonders.

All in all, Star-Bored looks to be providing a deep and unique strategy experience. I really like the dark comedy, sci-fi theme of the game and am looking forward to following their progress as development continues. The silly tropes and references that they have on their Greenlight page are only a few of many, I’m sure, and they are right up my alley. If you like the sound of Star-Bored, you can find it on Steam Greenlight, where you can leave a vote and some constructive feedback. Also, be sure to check out their Kickstarter and leave a small pledge if you like what you see and have the means to do so.