Transcendence: funky free 2d space game action

Free arcade / RPG space game with roguelike tendencies

Following the discovery of Spelunky, I’ve found another fun, free game with a roguelike randomness to its design: Transcendence, by a guy called George Moromisato. This one’s been around for ages, it seems.  Set in space, it provides a unique game universe to explore every time you start a new game.

Still in Beta and still in development, Transcendence nonetheless manages to provide a pretty compelling experience. You start from humble beginnings with a simple spaceship, and then get involved in running and gunning, trading and upgrading and all the other stuff that made Elite great. Only in 2d, with nice rendered graphics and elements of an RPG, managing inventory and so on.

Some bits are still a bit rough around the edges, and the backstory is a bit vague, but there are some lovely touches. The combat isn’t bad either – a bit twitchy perhaps, but enough like Subspace  to keep me happy.

I’m still at the early stages with this one, so I won’t say anything more than it’s definitely worth ten minutes of your time (and then it’ll be four hours later).

Get Transcendence here: http://neurohack.com/transcendence/