Chris InglisDesynced is a sci-fi automation strategy game developed by Stage Games Inc and published by Forklift Interactive. It will launch on Steam early access on August 15, 2023, and while it has a steep learning curve, some unique elements had me intrigued the more I learned. The game can be played solo or co-op with friends and you are tasked with gathering resources, building bases, research technology, and exploring the unknown to unveil the mystery of an AI on the edge of self-awareness.
When your ship becomes damaged, you must send drones to the surface of an unknown planet to build the facilities necessary for repairs. Guided by ELAIN (Emergent Logistics Artificial Intelligence Network), you will build, automate, survive, and thrive. I highly recommend playing the tutorial first as there is a lot to learn in Desynced. The biggest difference from common RTS games is that you can customise each individual scout bot, changing its use on the fly depending on your needs, and the levels of automation that you can program.
In the tutorial I started out with a command centre and three scouts. The graphics of Desynced are crisp, and the level of detail of the buildings, resources and environments was great. I also really liked the day/night cycle and the mood and atmosphere that working at night brings. Two of the scouts were equipped with a mining tool while the other didn’t have any tools. I placed the command centre between nodes of crystals and metal ore and set the scouts to harvest both resources. The scouts started harvesting, however once their cargo was full, they just stopped moving. This is because they had nowhere to take the resources as the command centre does not automatically store resources like other RTS games.
I had to build a fabricator first and this is where I was introduced to the components system. Each unit and building have several component slots that range in size from small, medium, and large, and internal slots. After building a fabricator component, I went to place it on the ground but instead it needs to be placed into a component slot of a building or unit. In this case the command centre has two medium slots and three internal slots. Once you place the fabricator, you need to set it to produce metal bars and you can set it to infinitely create metal bars, providing there’s enough metal ore, or set the number of bars you want to create.
Once this order had been set, the scout bot that had harvested metal ore started dropping off ore to the command centre. I could have then set up another fabricator in the second component slot to process the crystals, however I would not have any spare slots on the command centre to do anything else. Instead, I constructed new buildings to be able to harvest resources faster. By pressing ‘B’, I could build a small building and then requested a fabricator for that building in its medium component slot. One of the scouts drove over to the command centre, waiting for the fabricator to finish building, then took it to the small building without me telling it to. What this meant was I didn’t have to micromanage resource collection and production and could focus more on what I needed to research next. This is fantastic as I usually get overwhelmed with what to focus on in other complex RTS games.
I produced an assembler and another fabricator to harvest crystal, then sent a third scout to move away from our command centre to unveil some of the fog of war. In the process I discovered a ruined structure. Upon investigating, I had to view the console of a disconnected circuit which required me to solve a tiled puzzle. Clicking each piece highlighted other pieces and a hint tooltip said I needed to connect all the tiles. Completing this rewarded me with a turret module which was automatically equipped by the scout. To complete the search of the ruins I had to provide a circuit board that I eventually built with metal bars and crystals. This rewarded me with more resources to use in later research options.
The base has a power grid that it’s area of influence is indicated by pressing ‘P’. Our scouts use this power when within the grid, but when the scout explored the ruins, it got low on power and returned to the grid to recharge. At this stage we also needed silicone, which was found on plateaus, however I was warned the plateaus are dangerous. I set about creating a small building at the far edge of my power zone and then built an additional power component which extended the power grid to the silicone, allowing a scout bot to mine the silica deposit.
By now I had several more bots moving resources between buildings as I crafted more items, one of which was a turret that I could add to a scout, so the scout mining the silica always had a guard with them. After I had researched some new technologies and had multiple buildings set up to create multiple components, the tutorial concluded but I could still play further if I wanted, or I could start a new free play session to put my new skills to practice.
Overall, Desynced is a promising early access strategy game that has impressed me with its innovative component customisation system and the automated nature of the scout bots. It was a steep learning curve but once I got my head around the components and how to automate them, the game really opened up for me. If you’re a fan of sci-fi RTS games, then I would definitely recommend checking it out.
This review utilised a key provided by Stride PR and Desynced will launch on Steam early access on August 15, 2023. The developers have stated Desynced will be in early access for 12 months and have just released a roadmap outlining their biggest milestones they aim to achieve. I am definitely keen to see how the story is implemented.
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Daniel Agius