T-Minus 30 is a top-down city sim, with an apocalyptic twist, and a rather casual, no, ultra-casual gameplay style. I know some are great fans in the apocalyptic genre, and I definitely have been before, so I was actually very surprised at the relaxing aspects of this survival sim. T-Minus 30 took care of my personal checklist for a casual game so easily that I felt essentially at peace as I played it. With a 30 minute gameplay under my belt, I have my impressions on this ultimate quick sim indie. And yes, T-Minus 30 is 30 minutes, the length of time you have to build a space fleet of survivors before well, you know. Let’s get started on the review.
Thanks to Indie Game Collective for arranging this collaboration.
Where The Heck Am I?
I’ve played a good range of top-down sims in my history; SimCity, Skylines, various RTS, most recently Surviving Mars, and of course The Universim. They’re generally pre-locked into some traditional game design strategies. No exception here: we start collecting resources to build production structures, house our people, and then after the basic life support systems are in place to expand into the conceptual ideas. In Sim City, these used to be these large pixel art biodomes that had all sorts of super beneficial qualities. In T-Minus 30, it’s really all about the rocket ships.
I honestly didn’t have any idea how to play aside from the synopsis. It is easy to pick up though, and I recommend experimenting with your abilities to find out for yourself how to win. I didn’t expand too far, but in my little oasis of productivity, I managed to build a good handful of rockets. The 30-minute countdown timer is really helpful in keeping your strategies on point. It’s an arbitrary time limit, but it’s enough time to figure out how everything works and give you a good chance, if you’re quick enough, to win.
It’s a Neat Concept
I like the amazing simplicity of T-Minus 30. The graphics are out of control, but they’re not bad either. The UI is simple, crisp, and clean without any unnecessary complexity. After one game, I felt ready for another, because it almost has an arcade-like feel to its quickness. 30 Minutes is honestly as much as I can usually handle of a standalone game session. Occasionally, I sink hours into a game that has a lot of bells and whistles, but 30 minutes is a good casual time that you can fit into your day in a convenient way. Although additionally, I’ll add this last note here: you can fast forward too!
This is a nice game. Even though it is simplistic, it is enjoyable to play and has a lot of replay value. So many people are looking for games to Twitch lately, that I’d put this in the suggestion box. Not only is it fun to play, but I’ve been watching the Steam page with videos of gameplay the whole time I’ve been righting this, and it’s very interesting.
T-Minus 30 Overall
If you like city sims, simple but fun games, and have it on your heart to support the dev. Check it out, the link is below.
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