Hello all Ectypes,

Welcome to everyone into a new year 2025.
What better way to start than share a new video showing Void Crew 1.0 Gameplay loop.
...we hope you like it - If so, pleeeease share with your friends :-)

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We love feedback... both from both players in our community and media playing Void Crew. That gives us insights into which areas works and others to improve - making Void Crew the best experience it can be. One of the biggest Danish gaming medias, ARKADEN just released a full review of Void Crew 1.0. As it is written in Danish, we have translated it below, for you all to read.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43802314/edb60fcef990197cc7d26163dd2a8010ed0a598a.png
Void Crew 1.0 review (ARKADEN - original text in Danish) >>[arkaden.dk]

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Review in ARKADEN[arkaden.dk] - Written by Michael Emcken, January 10, 2025.

Void Crew has exited its 14-month-long Early Access, and it is incredibly addictive—especially when you have friends to man the ship with you.
Void Crew offers an intense and cooperative experience where teamwork and communication are key to success. You and your friends will be thrust into chaotic missions where you must balance piloting the ship, fighting enemies, and scavenging "space junk" from the hostile ships you’ve taken down.

Developed by Danish studio Hutlihut Games and published by Focus Entertainment, this rogue-like extraction game lets you navigate your spaceship through missions, extract loot, and upgrade your skills to progress as far as possible.

The game begins with a brief introduction to the core mechanics. The pace is slow, and you won’t face significant challenges initially. But once the real game begins, the tempo and difficulty ramp up quickly. You’ll venture into space aboard a sophisticated spacecraft on exciting missions that you and your crew are hilariously unprepared for! Your main adversary is "The Hallow," the game’s only enemy faction.

There’s a stark contrast between the tutorial and the main gameplay, but the difficulty is fair—you always understand why a mission failed. It’s just a matter of hopping back into the action, spending your newly-earned gene tree points, and venturing into space again.

Roles and Gene Trees
In Void Crew, each player can assume a different role on the ship, each with unique abilities and responsibilities. The available roles are:

Pilot: Responsible for navigating the spaceship through missions, avoiding obstacles and enemy fire.
Engineer: Focuses on maintaining and repairing the ship's systems, weapons, or hull.
Gunner: Operates the ship's weapons to fend off enemies, ensuring you’re not overwhelmed by the numerous foes in certain missions.
Scavenger: Heads out into space during the chaos to retrieve space junk that can be used to upgrade weapons or reinforce the hull.

Currently, the scavenger role feels unnecessary. While hull breaches require someone to venture into open space for repairs, it’s often better to send an engineer, as they’re more efficient at repairs. Some objectives require external work, but generally, having someone outside the ship is a disadvantage. As a result, the scavenger role doesn’t have a well-defined place compared to the others.

Players can rotate roles to keep gameplay dynamic and ensure everyone experiences different aspects of the game. Role selection and gene tree point allocation are managed in the Hub, where you also prepare for missions. Gene trees allow players to enhance specific aspects of their role, such as improving the pilot’s thruster speed or increasing the gunner’s weapon damage.

Into asteroid rain and ice storms the Space Ship has to venture out
The ship’s systems are interactive and easy to navigate. Weapons must be aimed, fired, and reloaded manually, and repairs often require players to dash around the ship like headless chickens, tackling one crisis after another.

While enemies try to turn your ship into space debris, environmental hazards like asteroid storms and ice fields also pose a threat. Effective communication is essential, as even simple tasks—like aligning the ship for a warp jump or managing power consumption—often require coordinated efforts from the crew.

Messaggio originale di author:

The moments when everything clicks and the crew functions as a well-oiled machine are deeply satisfying. Few games can match this level of cooperative enjoyment.

Alone in Space - Playing Solo
Void Crew can be played solo if you don’t want to team up with other players. This mode works surprisingly well, with automated turrets and other systems helping you manage tasks that would typically require multiple players.

While missions seem scaled for solo play, it’s not explicitly stated. Perhaps the automated turrets are just particularly effective at eliminating enemies.

Multiplayer: Where the Game Shines
We at Arkaden had the pleasure of playing Void Crew as a 4-player co-op team. According to Kasper Pedersen:

“Void Crew truly shines when experienced as part of a team. While missions—particularly space battles—can be tough, completing them feels incredibly rewarding. However, figuring out certain mechanics, like activating Hyper Drive, can be confusing at first. We also encountered a few bugs, like a crew member falling through the ship floor. But these issues were minor compared to the laughs and shouts we shared as a team, improving and mastering the game’s complex mechanics together.”

Void Crew is a fantastic game, slightly hindered by the lack of utility for the scavenger role and some technical issues. These flaws, however, don’t detract from the overall experience. The gameplay is solid, striking a perfect balance between micromanagement and engaging tasks. Every action aboard the ship has purpose and significance. Progression through the gene tree is satisfying, and each upgrade feels impactful.

Space battles are intense, punishing mistakes harshly. While single-player mode is functional, it’s clear the game was designed for co-op. Void Crew is decent in single-player, great in multiplayer, and absolutely phenomenal with friends. Its strength lies in creating an engaging and dynamic multiplayer experience where teamwork is essential. For fans of co-op games and space adventures, Void Crew is a must-play.

Developer/Publisher: Hutlihut Games/Focus Entertainment
Genre: Rogue-lite/Adventure/Extraction
Platform: PC (Steam)

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Don't hesitate to share with us your Void Crew experience in comments!
...or join discussions with other Ectypes in the community on our Discord[discord.gg]!

//Hutlihut Games Crew

Hello all Ectypes,

Time flies faster than those pesky Frostmorphs!

First of all - We want to express our sincere thanks to our our entire Void Crew community and everyone who supported us throughout 2024. Your feedback, input and help is what makes us go that extra mile. So much appreciated. Thank you!

On a personal note, this year has been absolutely crazy. I got married, had a beautiful daughter, even got a house... and released Void Crew 1.0! Still waiting for those fibercables that should have been here in November, but, I guess those 5000 Mbps will have to wait a few more weeks... but first, a celebration give away!

Corner whatever friend or three of yours you'd want to play coop with style - Then you get them to:

1) Push that RATE UP button on this article, and
2) add a comment with the words "METEM PRESERVE YOU" in this article's comments

... and we will draw and announce the 3 winners THIS SUNDAY 21.00 CET (5th of January)!


Congratulations from the Hutlihut Games' team to the following three lucky winners!

• Sir Titanius Anglesmith
  
• wonkermatic
  
• Solvictus

(Keep an eye out for a friend invite so we can send you that shiny key ... you can just remove us afterwards!)

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So what is this post about!? Well, apart from us taking some much deserved time off to be with our families, there are two important topics!

Right now we are working on THE PAYLOAD LAUNCHER (amongst other things) ... we'll be sharing more very soon! Yes, we are working on the next major Update coming to Void Crew - read more on that here: [[url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1063420/view/509567273064726586]Space Log #13[/url]]

(^ I just really like this gif ... it's 'mind blowing' ...)

So where were we? Oh yes ...

Here you have it: Ectype New Years Eve party on the bridge !

If you have some spare time while waiting for Midnight (or you have a little one with crayon-needs):

This line art is a print it yourself and colour it :-)

Download image here >>[drive.google.com]
Let us see the fun and cool colouring you can do - Please share on our Discord (in channel: art-corner) >>[discord.com]
(Who knows, we might implement your color scheme in a future update!)

From all of us at Hutlihut Games, we wish you Happy New Year!

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In Denmark (where I live, and most of the team) we have traditions. Some really weird ones. One of them involves everyone getting up on our couches and jumping down when the bell strikes twelve. Why? Well, we want to "jump" into the next year, of course! And what can go wrong when we've been serving bubbles and other questionable liquids for the last six or ten hours prior to this balancing act... Just remember: get that expensive and heavy glass couch-table out of the way first!

What traditions do you have?

Also it goes without saying, if you do fireworks this evening (like scandinavians have tradition for), do remember to wear protective gear! I mean it! (Being a daddy might have made me a bit (over)protective...)

The Holiday sale for Void Crew is still, but not for much longer!... as in, you have like ONE more day! So get those friends of yours to try it out! (Or even better, gift them!).

And if you are feeling super supportive, then grab our epic Founders Pack >> as well today!
Psst... you can also gift it to a friend you feel deserves it ;-)

Remember to join our Discord[discord.com] for more coop and chaos!

Until the next rambling...

// Daniel, Creative Director, Hutlihut Games