I was ready to skip MicroProse’s just-announced Deck & Conn, on the grounds of it being far too early in the week for games that consist entirely of dials and rangefinders, but then a scrambled communique from Sin Vega alerted me to the fact that it’s the work of Elissa Black, one of the peeps behind Objects In Space, which I think is one of my top five space games. So here we are.
At a glance, Deck & Conn is Objects In Space, but turn-based and minus Objects In Space’s slightly distracting 3D background elements. That’s to say, it’s a testing strategickal simulation that seats you in front of a terrifying retro pixel display, and expects you to trace distress calls, manage your fretful crew, spin up torpedoes and so forth, all without bursting your puny monkey brain.
It takes inspiration from older MicroProse games – the ones made by the MicroProse of the 1990s, before they got repeatedly bought and skinned and eventually wrapped around the bones of a different company – and the 1971 Super Star Trek mainframe game, which is from before my time, though I think I’ve played one of its descendants in Thomas Spreen’s Rescue!.
Being turn-based, Deck & Conn should be a mite less stressful and exhilarating than Objects In Space, but I’m already having kittens over the sensor management tab in the screenshots. Remember: just because there’s a dot on your radar doesn’t mean that’s where the ship you’re fighting actually is. Here’s a trailer.
The noble vessel you command in Deck & Conn is “a Cold War-style nuclear corvette”, which sounds about as safe as a bed of rusty nails. I’m guessing that it will not have enough reactor power for all the individual things you need it to do, prior to upgrades at least. Please brace to be impacted by these bullet points, direct from the Steam page.
- Command a nuclear-powered space corvette in a Cold War-inspired sci-fi universe
- Turn-based tactical combat with limited resources and system management
- Dynamic campaign with war patrols, ship upgrades, and crew promotions
- Individual combat scenarios to hone your tactical skills
- Capture or destroy enemy ships to gain rewards and shape your legacy
- Pixel art visuals inspired by early ’90s MicroProse classics
- Respond to HQ orders and make tough choices in the forever-war
- Inspired by the 1971 Super Star Trek mainframe game
Black’s other previous games include Swords Of Freeport, “a text-mode social RPG heavily inspired by the style of Bulletin Board System door games from back in the ’90s”, which “is part MUD and part BBS Game – but without the need for a BBS. You can play it on your home machine alone, or play/install it on an internet-accessible machine where others can join you – anywhere they have terminal access.”
That sounds like catnip to a certain venerable species of internet wayfarer. I think I prefer the space submarines personally. If you are similarly fond of astral tugboats with copious blind sides, you might enjoy playing or reading about Nebulous: Fleet Command.
Small disclosure: Sin Vega is an online acquaintance of Elissa Black from back in the day.
