Startron (2025)

Developer: Rogo Darius
Publisher: Rogo Digital
Platforms: Windows, Linux
Genres: Indie, Simulation, Strategy, Free To Play
Rating: 5.0 of 5, 25 player ratings
Typical playtime: about 1.2 hours
Where to get it: Steam

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A calm, methodical space colony sim where you manage automated mining and building across a procedurally generated cosmos with a whimsical crew of cats or dogs.

ascii-basedsimulationstrategyproceduralautomationexplorationmanagementchill

What players say

Players love the ambition and depth of this free ASCII space sim, with trading, building, and 4X gameplay. Many find the 3D ASCII perspective causes motion sickness. There is no manual saving and permadeath can erase long empire-building progress, which splits players.

Screenshots

More games like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.