FTL: A Solid Budget Bite-Sized Roguelike

At just $9.99, FTL: Faster Than Light by Subset Games was an easy impulse buy. But even after playing it for a few hours, I couldn’t quite pin down what exactly FTL was. It was clearly a roguelike, but the ship-management-simulation elements were unique and refreshing. The only thing I was sure of was that enjoyed the game immensely; FTL delivers a challenging experience that is as delightful as it is unpredictable.

Full Warp Into Shenanigans

The concept of FTL is straight forward: as the commander of a plucky three-man Federation ship holding intel about the incoming Rebel armada, you’re racing across a randomly generated galaxy to report to the Federation fleet. You’ll have to survive the dangers of each sector while gathering supplies before the ever pursuing Rebel fleet catches you. Like all roguelikes, the core concept of FTL is simple. You already know everything you need to jump in and discover first hand that the devil is in the details. After all, “grab the Orb of Zot” doesn’t sound too hard, but history has taught us differently.

Even though it looks like little more than a cut-out of an 80’s-cartoon space ship with little dudes walking around in it, FTL relentlessly hits you with engaging roguelike choices at every turn. Exploring each sector is a careful balance of risk and reward: how long do you dawdle before you risk being caught by the Rebel fleet? You are completely in charge of spending your currency: do you buy additional fuel and missiles now, or do you save up to upgrade your shields? Every  jump poses a unique challenge: a civilian ship is being harried by Mantis pirates, they’ll probably reward you if you risk the fight to save them.

Even if the fights end up being predictable, locking onto specific subsystems on enemy ships and rerouting energy (in real time) from life support to my lasers hits nerd buttons I didn’t even know I had. Every wannabe ship captain will love managing their ship in this game. I’m more accustomed to fantasy games where donning a new pair of magic pants is the ultimate reward. Upgrading your sensor array so you know exactly where to teleport in your alien shock troops? Exquisite.

A Three Hour Tour

The game is “only” about two to three hours long, provided you can survive the journey and beat the abjectly hard final boss. But every single moment is filled with the possibility of a decision worthy of head-cradling. My first successful play through of FTL was incredible; the hours flew by but felt jam packed.

There is a lot of replay value in FTL. Not only is there an easy (read: reasonable) and normal (read: fucking hard) difficulty setting, but your actions within the game will unlock new ships with their unique abilities and crews. I’ve played the game for 12+ hours and I have yet to unlock half of the ships. Each ship also comes with an alternate layout that is unlocked through ship-specific achievements. Not to mention that I’m still finding new events in FTL after this long. There’s a lot to find in this game.

A Budget Winner

With Torchlight and FTL both being so good, it’s a wonder that anyone pays $60 for a title these days. FTL is a winner in every single category and far exceeds its price tag in fun. It successfully carries on the roguelike tradition of being difficult, but surmountable, and provides a charmingly unusual set of sci-fi ship-management challenges and rewards. FTL is a solid game that I’ll be enjoying for years. Not bad for $9.99.

Additional heartwarming note: FTL is the product of an insanely successful Kickstarter campaign. Man, I love Kickstarter.