Epic Astro Story is the next Kairosoft game ported to the Nintendo Switch. Kairosoft, for those who don’t know, is a long time developer of mainly mobile games. They focus almost entirely on the simulation genre. Epic Astro Story was originally released for IOS and Android about 8 years ago. At first, I was a bit skeptic about such an old game being ported but I soon found out it perfectly fits on the Nintendo Switch.
Colonize a planet
Epic Astro Story puts you in charge of colonizing a planet and maintaining good contacts with the neighboring planets. This might sound like a daunting task but the cutesy way this is presented makes it very manageable. The original intent of Epic Astro Story was to fit on a mobile phone. This means that everything is condensed on small squares. Expanding your planet is done by exploring further into the unknown. Once an expedition is successful, you’ll be able to use the land to build new houses, factories, fields, and even meeting centers. Some of these new found lands will have some caves or chasms to explore which can yield a lot of treasure and possible some more insights into future developments. After a while, you’ll get in contact with species from other planets. Maintaining a good relationship with them can boost your income and your resources through interplanetary tourism.
Bite-sized chunks
The “epic” part of Epic Astro Story translates mainly in the amount of stuff you can do while trying to expand your planet as much as possible. The amount of stuff to manage in Epic Astro Story is pretty much to take in. Epic Astro Story does an extremely good job in providing everything in bite-sized chunks. Nothing gets rushed and every new “skill” you’ll learn gets time to be mastered before something new is introduced. This makes for a really nice game experience. Although I was managing a whole planet while playing Epic Astro Story, I could do it without feeling stress. The balance in this game is what makes it very enjoyable.
Might and magic
Epic Astro Story is a rich simulation game with some special borrowed elements to spice thing up. Exploring a new land, exploring caves/chasms or helping out other planets all involves battling. These battles felt reminiscent of the Might and Magic games. The enemies are placed in “lanes” and it’s up to you to strategically place your own warriors in the right lane. Once you decide on the best strategy you’re left just watching the battle unfold and hoping you made the right decision. Providing your front line warriors with good armor and hard hitting weapons will benefit the outcome greatly. Putting some warriors with throwable weapons on the second line might also be a good idea. This small piece of gameplay is a nice little break from the rest of the game.
Fast forward
Like in many simulation games, everything is timer based. This will inevitably mean you’ll be waiting a lot. Fast forwarding is present in this game but is only unlocked after you’ve completed your first playthrough. The game presents an endgame after about 16 years of expanding your planet. The further you got expanding and developing the more points you’ll score. One of your final residents can be carried over as the “starter” of the new game as if the journey continues but on a new planet…
Conclusion
I enjoyed playing Epic Astro Story more than I had hoped for. I will definitely go back to this game and play it some more. The game might look like nothing much but believe me when I say there are plenty of options to manage during your gameplay. The balance of the game and the stress-free gameplay it delivers is what makes Epic Astro Story a highly recommended Sim game.
