Game: Little-Known Galaxy
Genre: RPG, Adventure, Simulation
System: Steam (Windows, macOS)
Developers | Publishers: Carbon & Kay
Controller Support: Full
Price: UK £16.75 | US $19.99 | EU € 19,50
Release Date: May 20th, 2024
A review code was used; many thanks to Carbon & Kay.
Mentioning Stardew Valley is inescapable when discussing modern farming or life sims, and some of the best new entries in the genre know better than to stray too far from a formula that we know works. Yet hewing too close to Pelican Valley’s peculiar brand of homey routine is also a recipe for boredom, drawing accusations of rip-off rather than homage. Little-Known Galaxy starts off its riff on the classics by switching up the theme to something we don’t see enough of in cozy games: science fiction.
It makes for a fine fresh start, but will that be enough to make this cozy home in space unique enough to deserve first contact with you? The answer waits ahead, but let’s give you a hint: I’m charmed by how hard Little-Known Galaxy tries and how thoroughly it commits to its theme.
Little-Known Galaxy Wants To Be Your New Home
No letters from Grandpa this time; Little-Known Galaxy swiftly lets you pick your look and shuttles you off to the USS Pick Your Name Wisely (I’m Captain of the Shippy Shape, but I had a chuckle at the default Shippy McShipface) as the fledgling commander of a vessel that’s seen better days. Your cabin is cute and has the creature comforts of a homeworld, but step outside into your customizable private deck and, woof, you’re gonna wanna shop-vac this.
The first few tutorial steps are quickly delivered and familiar to anyone who’s played a farming sim in the last decade. Still, they’re also accessible and easy to follow for first-timers, serving both audiences with respect for their time and attention. From there, life slows down as you get a grip on your first few tools, your first crops, and then, once you’ve figured out the ship a little, you’re off to explore the strange new world you orbit.
Little-Known Galaxy But Full Of Newfound Worlds
Larger farm sims can be a lot for new inductees to the genre, throwing sprawling towns and dozens of neighbors, chores, animals, and things to do. But in Little-Known Galaxy, things get to slow down and breathe a little. While new things to do will be gradually introduced as you visit new worlds, at first, your daily cycle revolves around taking care of just a couple of plants, making any shop trips you need, and then puttering around either on the ship or on the planet.
Little-Known Galaxy offers a streamlined but neat plot line: you’re manning an exploration vessel, and this first grey world you see holds a Star Trek-style ruin you’ll want to know more about. To do so involves befriending the locals; your first First Contact is a childlike cutie who needs some snacks — doing some science and gathering resources to help you as you move on. It’s clear there’s a deeper mystery to the ruin you find, and while it’ll be slow going to resolve it, it’s also some of the least stress I’ve felt in a game like this one.
There are even quality-of-life upgrades I don’t usually see. Want to know where someone is? Click on their profile image, and it’ll tell you what deck they’re currently on. Upgraded a tool? It’ll be mailed directly to you the morning it’s ready. There’s even an auto-accessed storage box already on your workbench. Whaaaaat.
Little-Known Galaxy Wants You To Relaaaax
Like its peers, your ship runs on a daily/weekly/seasonal schedule that lets you experience a year without dragging through the full 365. Hours pass in 15-minute increments at a reasonable pace, and I could make a full day’s trip of cleaning a few deck spots, watering, setting off automated machines, talking to a couple of people, and digging my way through bite-sized planet maps for goodies without feeling pressured for time.
If anything, I occasionally felt like I was simply puttering for something to do, but not to the point of boredom. It gave me time to actually think about what I wanted to do instead of mentally running a pocket planner and hauling butt to everything so that I could meet Romantic Choice #1 between 4:15 & 6:30 at Obligatory Town Pub to see if I could get their next event.
More goodies to build and decorate will unlock as I explore worlds, and I think my only quibble here is that the first material forges run slow no matter what they’re making — the average craft time for a block of whatever appears to be four hours, even for the simplest metal. On the one hand, it means you can chuck your mats in and go about your day; on the other, it will mean that your next project, or even your next trip through space, may take a few days. It also means that unlocking the upgrade is a genuine joy!
Yet nobody’s breathing down your neck to get things done in the first annual cycle. No admirals are blowing up the comms, no dead grandpas are judging your bean sprouts, the ship’s community resources will get rebuilt when you get there, and you are, functionally, the Mayor, so nobody’s getting passive-aggressive at you about your grange displays, either. You’ll be sent an assessment every new quarter that upgrades your rank once you hit certain benchmarks, but there’s nothing pressing about it, either.
I love Stardew Valley, but you know? I’m getting used to this.
Little-Known Galaxy Isn’t Asking You To Be An Engineer
Fixer-uppers and new machines are a matter of collecting materials and throwing them at the problem, along with a few credits, and it’s a nice parallel to how streamlined the game is to play, too. The controls are instantly familiar to genre fans and pleasantly basic for newcomers. My only quibble here, and it may be me missing something, is that I can’t switch between my backpack’s item trays. I end up hitting the reorg buttons and just doing things manually.
Little-Known Galaxy runs smoothly on Steam Deck and is optimized for controller play. Placing furniture and other items is simple and easy to tweak, with your sticks giving you finer control over where your new couch is going. Menus are simple to navigate, with no confusion.
The pixel visuals are clean, bright, and cute, and for some reason, here, the game reminds me of Littlewood. That’s a risky parallel, as Littlewood plays very differently. But something about how well Little-Known Galaxy understands its sci-fi history; ordering the Earl Gray tea from the shop and knowing that the devs know what that’s about gives me that same feeling of rediscovering a story previously told and spinning it up a bit in new ways.
Conclusion
I keep vacillating between liking Little-Known Galaxy a lot and outright loving it, and it may be that I simply need more time to explore a couple more worlds. Perhaps that I want to is the answer I need. I have to say that, for me, it’s doing everything right in spinning the Stardew formula while giving you a freshened, lighter experience, and I’m hooked on the mystery of the relic.
In terms of ease, it’s a great game for a beginner to try out the genre, letting you explore and figure things out instead of feeling like you need to hit the ground running in order to have an efficient first year. Overall, I truly dig this game, and the opportunity to review it kept me from trying to scratch my post-1.6 Valley itch with other games on my wish list that I might not have liked as much. A new theme, a new pace, and a charming little low-stakes universe just might be what Dr. McCoy ordered for you, too. Beam a copy down and explore a Little-Known Galaxy for yourself.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up
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