Preview: Lacuna Passage

By: Derek Yu

On: July 30th, 2013

The game is a story-driven exploration and survival game set on Mars, drawing inspiration from titles like Dear Esther, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and even Pokemon Snap. You play as Jessica Rainer, the only survivor of the crashed Heracles mission, investigating the disappearance of the first ever manned mission to Mars. You have several tools at your disposal, but most important are your skills of observation. You will need to uncover mission logs, recorded audio files, and other physical clues left behind at critical mission locations in order to uncover the story. An interplanetary trail of breadcrumbs is waiting for you.

With a little less than a day to go, Lacuna Passage has met its Kickstarter funding goal of $40,000, but is seeking a little more for support of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Slated for a late 2014 release, the title promises realistic simulation of 25 square miles of Martian landscape in a believable hard science fiction setting.

Steam Greenlight: Lacuna Passage

Posted in Adventure, Previews, Sim, Windows | Tags: Random Seed Games

Owell

What happened to this website? It use to be so good, I’ve watched it decay into garbage over the past 2 years. Why do I even bother keeping this place bookmarked?
http://www.derekyu.com Derek Yu

Yeah, my bad – TIGS has always been a passion project, and my interest in the front page these days is posting the odd game I come across that I think is cool and curating it here rather than posting “news”.

To be honest, I don’t think the front page will ever be like it was in the past. Back then, I felt much more strongly about the “scene” and where it should be taken, and there weren’t a lot of outlets for indie games. Now you can read about them all over the place, covering games large and small – it seems redundant to try and compete with that (and more importantly, not very enjoyable). Also, our forums were much smaller or non-existent when the front page saw its heyday… a lot of the old discussion has moved there.

I can see myself and the other editors having fun posting in this limited way for a long time, so I don’t think the front page will go away completely, but I wouldn’t blame you for unbookmarking it. That said, if you have suggestions on how to improve things, I’d be really interested in that! I agree it’s pretty cobwebby in here.
Alex H.

Yeah, I still visit the frontpage every two months or so and I just watch it… trickle. That being said, Thanks for your hard work Derek! To be honest, I really like coming to this site, and I’m not much of a forum user. That Versus Competition supplied me and my friend with some bundles of laughs. I like your frontpage articles too!
BravoVictor

Dude, delegate! There are lots of people who would do this (update the front page with new interesting games) probably for free!

Don’t just let it die!
Arucard

It’s true indie games are all over the place now, but don’t forget this is THE Indie game SOURCE! A lot of indies that people know about these days started here, and a lot of the guys making those games know you and this site, not to mention the fans. I agree with Victor, don’t be afraid to pass the torch if someone has the drive and enthusiasm to take it.
Adam Butcher

Yes please delegate! This is still where I go for my indie vibe, and the front page powers the forums as much as the other way around.
rzberry

Agreed! I’ve been on TIGS for lots and lots of years, and there must be people willing to help carry the burden. I understand that it’ll never be as good as it was in its heyday, but with some new blood it can be better.

Honestly, I just always assumed TIGS went downhill because the indie gaming scene did… what other sites are there?