Battle of the Indie Spaceship Simulators - Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator vs Pulsar: Lost Colony

Flying somewhere important to do important things with important people! (Artemis)

Adrift, in the deepest reaches of space, there is only you, your ship, and a third rate crew who spend the game swearing at each other, running in circles, pressing all the wrong buttons and, ultimately, exploding and/or freezing in vacuum. This is Artemis. It is also Pulsar: Lost Colony (Pulsar from now on). Two games with the same core premise, but very different ways of expressing them.

Set phasers to...actually just wait a minute while I carefully adjust these sliders for 10 minutes (Pulsar)

 

In brief, both games are about flying off into space to meet the challenges of an uncaring galaxy. You'll move from place to place, operate various systems to stay alive, meet and kill various generic enemies, and try to make a difference in this big ol' universe of ours (or at the least the tiny corner the games are set in.) At this point, the two games part ways. Artemis achieves it's premise by giving each player control over a console (navigation, power, weapons etc) and therefore a role to play. Pulsar takes different approach. Each player chooses a role, but the game is played as an avatar - walking around on the ship to interact with things. Any player can control any system, along with other side duties like fire fighting or away team combat, however each system is better controlled by the relevant role. Leftover roles can be taken care of by AI bots.

Did someone order more sliding controls for careful adjustment of things? (Artemis)

Artemis takes a minimalist approach to visuals. Apart from the "main screen", which acts like a bridge viewport into the wider world, a game is played in 2D on consoles and maps. The captain gives orders and the various crew carry them out via their controls, hopefully combining to take out the bad guys, dock for repairs or zip across the map to explore. The main play loop is pretty much; going somewhere on the map, fighting something, going back to the space dock to repair and rearm. It's pretty tight and to the point, and offers a fun bridge crew simulation experience.

Haha! I adjusted my controls more carefully than you did! (Pulsar)

Pulsar in contrast is mostly played as a 3D avatar inside the ship, on an enemy ship, or on a station or planet. Controls are interacted with in the 3D world. Screens have buttons, there are levers and dials to manipulate, and other screens provide feedback and information. The main play loop is a little more complex but boils down to warping into an area and interacting with whatever is there. It might be an enemy ship, a friendly ship in need of help, a merchant prepared to trade, a planet or station to explore, or some other random situation dependent on the areas alignment. It's all very serviceable, though not particularly polished, and there is a lot of empty space everywhere. It's looser than Artemis and you can find yourself wandering around aimlessly.

Navigating the map in Artemis. No pithy remark here.

At the end of the day, both games set out to accomplish something and they do it well. I played Artemis several times with four people and we had a good time. I played Pulsar with one other person and the gameplay was generally free-form and a bit wacky - we never knew what was about to happen to us. Ultimately, regardless of their base ideals, they end up being totally different games. Artemis is the more serious simulation, while Pulsar doesn't take itself so seriously. They may both appeal to you (as I found); Artemis' focus on bridge command might be your thing, or Pulsar's more flexible and open ended paradigm of galactic exploration could float your boat.

A bizarre bazaar in Pulsar (not a slider, knob or button in sight!) 

VERDICT: Two excellent spaceship command simulators. Artemis nails the feel of being a captain or crew member in a dangerous sector, while Pulsar allows you to free-form explore a bunch of different areas and environments while also trying to juggle multiple systems on-board.


Final Word: RECOMMENDED. Wait for a sale and get both if you have enough friends interested. You can generally buy multi-game packs and gift them if you're feeling generous.

(game link - Artemis)

(game link - Pulsar: Lost Colony)