14 DAY TRIAL // The massive alien boss base isn’t playing around. It’s launching fighter groups, which are easily swatted but can overwhelm if enough strike at once and striking with its turrets. It also has 60 hit points, a clear sign that this will be a long slog and my ship’s capabilities will diminish as the turns pass.
So I move as close to the big enemy as possible and start by using my more powerful cards, including a combo that delivers 5 points of damage and gives me a solid shield boost. I end my turn expecting to take some hull damage, which happens but it’s not as extensive as I thought.
I get the vent card, which means I can reduce the heat level of my reactor and maneuver the ship again, moving away from most of the enemies. I also have two area-of-effect rockets in my hand, a perfect way to deal with all the fighters while also delivering some damage to the enemy core. It’s already down to 44 and I’m pretty sure I can win this fight, although the ship will be in rough shape before that happens.
Earthless is developed by Blackbird Interactive and published by Team17. I played a preview version of it on Steam. The game is set to arrive in early 2024 in Early Access. It offers a blend of turn-based tactics, card-driven combat, and rogue elements.
The narrative setup is simple: the sun is swallowing the Earth earlier than expected. Humanity creates a fleet of ships that spread through the galactic neighborhood to find new habitable planets. Aliens exist and stand ready to oppose this effort. For each run, players become the captain of one such ship, choosing from several templates, each with its special ability.
To reach a habitable planet, the ship needs to navigate a node structure. Combat encounters take players to a relatively small square grid. Sometimes they simply have to destroy all enemies, other times survival is more important. The ship’s movement is limited by reactor heat, which is automatically reduced by one per turn (although cards can speed up the process).
Cards drive the combat. Shields mitigate damage, combos are important, and many cards can affect the action over a number of turns. Most of the time, players have perfect information on how opponents will behave. I encountered some hairy situations during the preview and there are moments where fleeing the battle space is a great idea.
Outside of combat, nodes will allow players to repair their ship, get extra resources, and improve their crew. I hope that a wider variety of dilemmas and options are introduced, enhancing this layer and fleshing out the game’s universe.
Earthless isn’t a Homeworld game but its visual identity hints at its more well-known cousin. The game also has a retro feeling that is suited to the theme and both the player ship and enemies have clear visual identities. Crucially for a tactics card game, all interface elements are easy to read and understand. The soundtrack matches the retro-futuristic vibe as do the sound effects, while a helpful computer makes sure players know about the big battle events.
Conclusion
The supporting narrative is solid, as is the presentation. I hope that during Early Access, the team at Blackbird introduces some innovation to the non-combat encounters and the rogue structure. Earthless is accessible but it needs a little more to stand out in the crowded deck-building genre.
Preview key provided by the publisher.
