Starflight

A starship hovers above an unknown planet and you decide whether to descend to the surface or buy new engines and fly on. Starflight from 1986 throws you into the cockpit of your own spacecraft and tells you: what you do next is up to you.

It's a hybrid of simulator and RPG, something that wasn't made much before or after. You navigate the galaxy in real time, scan planets, gather data on unknown life forms, and decide where to take your ship next. You pay for fuel, hire new crew members, pick a spaceship from several types that matches your style. Everything revolves around money, time, and risk – the awareness that fuel might not be enough makes you a paralyzed driver who thinks ten times before embarking on an unknown journey.

Playing doesn't have to be action-packed. When you land on a planet, you can explore it on foot, collect samples, talk to inhabitants or fight them. The creators at Binary didn't let you lose with one wrong move – worst case, you run out of fuel and wait for rescue. The computer remembers your previous expeditions, notes what you've already discovered, and respects your decisions. That was futuristic back then: the game doesn't railroad you like a psychopath, it watches what you're doing.

But technically it has aged. Textures are rough, movement on planets is tedious, sounds from the speaker remind you of a castrated robot brushing against a brush. The interface is intuitive but slow. There's nothing immediately fascinating about it – waiting for a planet to load or seeing single-colored little figures representing aliens doesn't pretend that 1986 was yesterday.

Yet Starflight has something magical. A collector's itch – you need to know what's on every planet as you traverse the galaxy. Uncertainty about what awaits you. A sense of responsibility for your decisions. Nowadays such a game would be called an "exploration RPG with limited resources" and every magazine would hype it. In '86 it was just a weirdo that wasn't afraid to be slow and boring if it gave you a meaningful experience. Today it works like archaeology: you're here with a map and a probe because you're curious what's there, not because the game hypnotizes you with color and sound.

If you're drawn to slow pacing and unforgiving planning, Starflight delivers. Especially in an emulator where you can speed up time. Otherwise grab some hot chocolate and make peace with the fact that exploring the universe isn't for the impatient.