Sunless Skies is now available in Early Access on Steam

Sunless Sea and its expansion Zubmariner make for one of the best Lovecraft-inspired PC games ever, and still contains some of my favorite writing in recent memory. In Sunless Skies, Failbetter Games is taking it's creaky neo-Victorian ships to space, and this time, they're letting players give them a test drive through Early Access on Steam.

Released today, it'll cost you $25 ($22.50 until September 6) to get access to the Reach, a fairly small section of the map meant to represent what the final game will play like. In a Kickstarter update detailing what's in the Early Access launch build and what's still on the way, Failbetter Games state the reason for starting small was "so we could give players a small taste of what the final game will be like rather than a big taste of an emptier, less representational world."

As for what you can do in that small slice, according to the same post:

Explore the Reach in your locomotive
Use your bat to scout for nearby ports
Dock at 11 ports available in the Reach
Interact with stories
Engage in combat with sky-beasts and other locomotives
Experience Terror, Hunger, and Heat mechanics

Even if it's meant to represent how the final game plays, there's still a lot more to come, including character creation and progression, spectacles, discoveries, legacies, trade, and more. If it sounds like mumbo-jumbo, go play Sunless Sea or read the update for details.

If you're set on waiting until the official launch like I am, the estimated release window is currently May 2018. But as is the case with all games, that date can change as swiftly as the solar winds.

PRODUCTS

James is stuck in an endless loop, playing the Dark Souls games on repeat until Elden Ring and Silksong set him free. He's a truffle pig for indie horror and weird FPS games too, seeking out games that actively hurt to play. Otherwise he's wandering Austin, identifying mushrooms and doodling grackles.