Published: 16 Mar 2026
- Developed and Published by: Subset Games
- Released on: 2012
- Genre: Roguelite, Real-time Tactics
- Rating: 3/5
FTL is one of those games that I do see the very real game design quality shining through as a roguelike, with significant replay-ability, a tight but manageable difficulty curve (once you get over that initial difficulty hump), and despite the massive amount of RNG and inherent randomness featured it still manages to feel engrossing and cohesive… and yet despite all the praise and respect I have for the game - I have struggled to really gel and fully invest despite giving this multiple throws of the dice, and it primarily comes down to the requisite cliff that the game demands in order to routinely finish games and fully explore and enjoy all the nuances it offers (even if there are only a few “right” strategies to win consistently), namely the massive array of ships available. Why? I think it mainly comes down to the length of the run itself, spanning 8 different sectors with a gruelling end-boss, numerous battles, decision points, handling RNG and knowing when and when not to gamble etc. etc. with all these lessons usually harshly learnt via a quick death spiral after 2-3 hours sunk into a dedicated run, usually at the end of said gruelling end-boss. It is not a quick learning curve, and paired with said steep wall - it makes a tough sell to break through that initial wall that I never quite got through, despite my inherent appreciation for the game after giving it both my numerous shakes and seeing it played by others at such a finely tuned level.
