Planetbase cover art

Planetbase

Engineering self-sustaining closed-loop life support systems on a hostile planet against scripted environmental events.

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Here's the argument for where this game sits - disagree freely.
Match your experience?
EXECUTION1 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE4 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /10

the cheat-test profile

The four axes - the argument

Each axis is rated on its own - how far one cheat would trivialize the game here. They don't trade off; low on all four means the game is an experience, not a contest.

  1. Execution

    cheat: Aimbot - perfect inputs

    1/10

    Building placement is unhurried and menu-driven throughout

  2. Reads

    cheat: Out-predict an adaptive opponent

    0/10

    No adversarial AI; threats are scripted event types

  3. Variance

    cheat: See what's hidden / map the RNG

    4/10

    Solar storm timing and resource availability add hidden pressure

  4. Optimization

    cheat: A perfect solver / coach

    8/10

    Power and oxygen loops are tightly engineered optimization puzzles

How to read this

Each axis is named by the cheat that would break the game along it. Execution is the hands. Reads is out-thinking an adaptive opponent. Variance is hidden information & RNG. Optimization is the solvable systems layer. A game's region is the top one or two axes.

These four aren't one rating split four ways - they're independent 0-10 questions. A 9 on one axis takes nothing from the others, and a game low on all four isn't missing data: it's telling you there's no skill here to cheat.

The basis is how the majority actually plays this game - not a niche mode or a personal run. For a game with very different modes (a story campaign versus ranked multiplayer), that's the version most people mean.

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Game details

Released
2015
Developer
Madruga Works
Platforms
PS4, PC, Mac, XONE
Modes
Single player
IGDB critics
75/100
IGDB users
77/100
SimulatorStrategyIndieScience fiction