Planetbase is a sci-fi colony management game that challenges players to build and sustain a functioning outpost on a hostile alien world. Starting with a small crew and limited resources, you're tasked with establishing basic infrastructure—oxygen, power, food, and shelter—before gradually expanding into a fully automated colony. Early gameplay is tense and rewarding, with each decision carrying weight. You have to carefully manage your limited supply of materials, monitor your colonists’ needs, and build the right facilities in the right order to avoid catastrophe. Even something as simple as placing a solar panel too far from a power collector can lead to a deadly chain reaction if night falls and you’re unprepared.

Where the game truly shines is in the early and mid-game. Every new structure—whether a biodome, mine, lab, or factory—feels like a hard-earned step toward independence. You unlock new technologies and recruit specialists through landing pads, allowing you to evolve from simple survival to a self-sustaining and even profitable operation. However, success is fragile. A poorly timed storm, power outage, or lack of spare parts can bring your colony to the brink. The dynamic weather systems, random disasters, and environmental hazards keep you on your toes and add a layer of unpredictability that fits well with the game's tone.

As your colony expands, some of the cracks in the design begin to show. Colonist AI can behave erratically, ignoring vital tasks or taking inefficient paths, which can lead to preventable deaths. You might have enough medical supplies, but your medics are nowhere to be found when an injured worker collapses. Automation through bots helps alleviate this somewhat, but managing the human factor can be frustrating due to inconsistent behavior. This unpredictability isn't the result of complex emergent behavior—it often feels more like the AI simply isn't tuned properly for large-scale management, especially when things start to go wrong.

Different planetary environments offer varying degrees of challenge. Each map introduces unique threats—sandstorms, meteor showers, blizzards, or intense solar radiation—forcing you to adjust your strategy. These changes add some replay value and force you to rethink your colony layout and resource priorities. Still, once you've developed a formula for success, the game can begin to feel repetitive. New buildings are often just larger versions of old ones, and technology progression doesn’t dramatically change the way you play. There’s a limited set of events and no real narrative, so once you’ve stabilized your colony, the challenge plateaus.

Visually, the game is clean and functional. Structures and terrain are easy to read, with color-coded systems helping you keep track of colonists and power networks. The minimalist aesthetic works well in a management context, though it lacks the flair and personality seen in some other colony sims. The sound design is subtle, with ambient effects doing more to set the tone than the sparse music or basic audio cues. Performance is stable even during large colonies, which is impressive considering the number of moving parts on-screen during late-game operations.

While the core gameplay loop is enjoyable, the lack of depth in the later stages and the AI limitations can hold it back. After a while, your colony runs itself, and challenges start to feel more like minor interruptions than real threats. There’s little incentive to keep playing beyond unlocking milestones, which serve mostly as a checklist rather than meaningful progression. A lack of mod support from the developers further limits the game's long-term potential, although some community-driven tools have emerged to extend its life.

Ultimately, Planetbase is a focused and engaging base-building experience, particularly strong in its early hours. It offers a solid challenge, thoughtful pacing, and an appealing loop of expansion and risk management. However, its simplicity begins to wear thin with extended play, and its systems could benefit from more depth and polish. For fans of survival management games, it’s a worthwhile investment, especially if you enjoy micro-managing under pressure. Just be prepared for occasional frustration and diminishing returns as the novelty wears off.

Rating: 7/10

I said it before, ya cant win, either bad programming or the rng is wrong!

"Invalid location"

I don't have patience for this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. If you're going to have nonsensical reasons I can't place something on perfectly flat ground, then you need to have a better explanation as to WHY.

Yes the ground was flat, and yes all existing buildings were connected. And yes I tried restarting the game. It just doesn't work for no apparent reason, and I am too impatient for ♥♥♥♥ like this right now.

Maybe I'll change this if I ever decide to try the game again, since its too late to refund it.