Space in Sunless Skies is a place you want to… well, not exactly live in, because then you’d be eaten by horrible cosmic bees. But you’ll want to explore it.
You’ll want to uncover its wonders and its oh so terrible secrets. And you’ll want to gaze in awe at this fully fleshed-out, dense world that is mostly in your head, really.
Failbetter Games have perfected their craft, culminating in a weird amalgam of genres with a strong narrative foundation. Their odd universe, which consists of a twisted, early 19th century London, filled with utterly bizarre residents and otherworldly beings, has been evolving from browser-based Fallen London to narrative exploration adventure Sunless Sea. Now, after a successful crowdfunding campaign and some time spent in early access, Failbetter take to the stars with Sunless Skies.
You are mostly exploring the unknown expanse of space in your steam-powered train, encountering enemies, discovering various points of interest, and other peculiar things. All of this feels solitary, interspersed with short moments of excitement or, more often, panic.
While having an eye on your fuel and supplies is mandatory, monitoring your crew’s level of terror is also important. You don’t want those nightmares to start again, right? Loot – in the rather unusual form of stories and other odd trinkets – can be sold or traded for other exquisite and enigmatic items. You’ll spend the money on repairs, supplies, and new crew members. Each one of these may bring their own stories aboard.
Death feels less punishing than in previous games. Your next captain inherits some of their deceased predecessor’s riches and experience (and even their locomotive!). The world isn’t completely reset either, so there is a much stronger sense of progression overall.
While you might spend a lot of time exploring, the real weight of the game is to be found in the tales you’ll hopefully live to tell. Despite its outlandish beauty and atmospheric soundtrack – the mournful strings in the void, the welcome sound of flutes and guitars as you approach a larger settlement! – most of Sunless Skies‘ charm is conveyed with written words.
Colorful locales and memorable characters make an appearance, and everything is positively soaked in stories. Even character development isn’t just about numbers going up; it is about fleshing out your captain’s personal story as you remember past events that shaped you. Short narrative vignettes offer various outcomes, depending on your choices and stats.
All of these systems and stories would be useless if the writing didn’t hold up, but Sunless Skies delivers in spades. Failbetter Games really do know what they are doing by now. Together with a host of guest writers such as Meg Jayanth, Cassandra Khaw, Harry Tuffs, Richard Cobbett, and Emily Short, they are putting the game’s writing front and center. (Here’s an intriguing Twitter thread by Narrative Director Chris Gardiner that shows how seriously they are taking some details.)
The game is funny and frightening in equal measure, pitting you against the vastness of universe with a band of sentient rodents at your side, while happily murdering a sun. It is also very British at times, with all the good (tea parties!) and bad (colonialism!) things this entails. There is nothing quite like it out there. If you like delightfully strange and terrifying narrative experiences, you should absolutely treat yourself to Sunless Skies.
Sunless Skies is available now on The Humble Store, GOG, and Steam.
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great write up on the sunless skies! from your friends on the igmaker.com