Space Metroidvania Planetoid Pioneers blasts out of Early Access

"Physicsvania" is the not-so-catchy term that developer Data Realms has slapped onto Planetoid Pioneers, which has just left Early Access, and while I'm not entirely sure it'll catch on it does at least describe the game fairly accurately. You're an astronaut exploring and trying to survive on various mini planets while using a ridiculous physics system to solve puzzles and obliterate enemies. Each planet offers unique vehicles, enemies and items, and you'll be able to explore solo or with a friend in drop-in co-op.

These community-made maps and items will likely make up the bulk of the game eventually. The idea is that the best work will become part of the base game, with the rest landing in the Steam Workshop. As the developer told Joe in November, the idea is to "elevate modders into contributors who are empowered and encouraged to work alongside the official development team".

I've had my eye on it for a while, and I think it looks fun enough to consider even if you don't intend to create anything. The wacky physics should be amusing, especially if you're playing with a friend. My only concern is that the astronauts "fall over themselves with QWOP-like action" as you try to control them, although the footage suggests it's not that difficult to get around, which means you can get on with the game.

The game is £15.49/$19.99 on Steam and the Humble Store (the Humble version still lists it as Early Access, for some reason), or you can pay a little bit extra for the Contributor Edition, which gives you access to a creator's Discord server where you can chat with the developers.

Samuel is a freelance journalist and editor who first wrote for PC Gamer nearly a decade ago. Since then he's had stints as a VR specialist, mouse reviewer, and previewer of promising indie games, and is now regularly writing about Fortnite. What he loves most is longer form, interview-led reporting, whether that's Ken Levine on the one phone call that saved his studio, Tim Schafer on a milkman joke that inspired Psychonauts' best level, or historians on what Anno 1800 gets wrong about colonialism. He's based in London.