Prospector is a rogue-like game that currently uses tilesets to show graphics instead of usual ascii graphics that most rogue-like games have. Prospector is currently on release R197 and it is only available on the windows platform.
In Prospector you explore your galaxy for unique planets and artifacts so you can earn enough credits to hopefully retire a wealthy explorer. That goal is a bit harder to achieve than you think, however I am fairly new to playing rogue-like games but I think Prospector’s difficulty is pretty hard because you have to really make the right choices when exploring and/or fighting or you might get yourself and the crew killed or your ship destroyed.
When you start a game you can choose between five different ships (Scout, Long Range Fighter, Light Transport, Troop Transport and Pirate Cruiser) all with varying stats and crew compliment. I usually play with the troop transport because it holds the most crew and I tend to like exploring the planets to fighting in space. And as you explore space and the planets you will come across various resources and lifeforms and you will map planet surfaces that you can then return to space stations and sell this info and resources/lifeforms in for credits. You can use these credits to upgrade your ship with new a new hull or addons, weapons, shields, and engines. Or you can update your crew with enhancements to weapons, armor or stats. You will also earn experience for your crew members and they will level and become stronger and more proficient with weapons. Which will make adventuring a bit easier but the hard part it is getting to this point. You can definitely spend a lot of time playing prospector because of it’s challenging game play.
I hope that we will continue to see new releases and content added to Prospector because it is really a great rogue-like game. I am still new to this game and maybe I haven’t used all of the features or may not have gotten far enough in the game yet, but there is a few things I would like to see added to the game in the future:
- Merchant trading between stations/outposts. Yes, there is some trading in Prospector but it really isn’t setup for trade routes. Or the ability to get info in the game of planets/stations needing certain resources.
- Difficulty level selector. Or the ability to see the survivability rating for a encounter or navigating a new sector.
- Save games that you can go back to even though you have died on that account. I had a saved game and then a hundred or so turns later I got killed and I then could no longer load my save file?
- Banks to store credits and earn interest.
- More games for the casio.
- Show more info each crew member (bios and stats).
- Would be nice to have a smaller help area to the right of the stats info (on right-side of screen) to show the games commands so you don’t have to bring up help or have files open.
And here is a nice video that shows off the gameplay of Prospector: