'Solar' Is Grand Theft Auto For Astronomy Nerds
Posted by Joshua_Kopstein on Saturday, Nov 13, 2010
Despite our placid view of it from the surface of our humble blue planet, our universe is a place of unthinkable chaos and destruction – it’s kind of like an astronomical game of Grand Theft Auto, minus the prostitutes and bad physics. Luckily, a new indie game combines the best of both, allowing you to control heavenly bodies that rampage across the cosmos using gravitation to collect planets and gain mass …or destroy everything in sight.
Collect enough matter and your lonely accretion disk will soon form into an entire solar system with its own planetary civilizations that protect your cosmic empire from incoming asteroid and other threats. Grow even further and your star will supernova, turning into an unstoppable black hole – It’s a Pokémon-esque lifecycle of the cosmos set within freeform sandbox-style gameplay.
Not exactly the most accurate representation of the natural universe, but a pretty darn entertaining one nonetheless. Solar is a submission for this year’s Independent Games Festival awards in San Francisco and will be out on Xbox Live arcade some time next year.
Read more about DIY arcades and independent videogames on Motherboard.
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Electronic musician and computer culture journalist. Contact: josh ◢at◣ motherboard ◐dot◑ tv
