I completely missed the original FTL: Faster Than Light bandwagon. I didn’t back their Kickstarter project, I kind of rolled my eyes at the few folks I knew who lauded it, and, without evidence, assumed I wouldn’t like playing it. I have a long history of not really enjoying the classic “rogue-likes”, y’see. And then, it popped up in a Christmas sale on Steam. For $7.50, I figured it would provide a little entertainment, so I snagged it. And, sometime later, fired it up in a fit of boredom.

I’ve now played over 200 hours, according to my Steam stats.

Oh, not in a row, of course. But FTL has sucked me in far deeper in far shorter an amount of calendar time than many other games; for example, I’ve completed the main quest line in Skyrim, along with the main quest in the Dragonborn DLC, and I don’t think I’ve spent 200 hours playing that. FTL is a brilliantly executed game. Every single play-through has been different; every one has offered a chance to see a little bit more of the possibilities.

The backstory’s pretty straightforward – the Federation’s in trouble, rebel spaceships are rolling up the remnants of the Federation fleet, and you have strategic data that can turn the tide of the war. You have to navigate a pathway of 8 sectors (out of 18 randomly distributed sectors); each sector comprises a number of jump gates, and you move across the sector via these gates. Gates provide any number of experiences – some are empty; some have shops to purchase repairs, weaponry, and crew; some have navigational hazards; some just have enemy ships. Your ship starts lightly-crewed and lightly-armored; hopefully, by sector 8, you’ll have been able to update your ride to something capable of taking down the many rebel ships you’ll encounter, and maybe even take a bite out of the Rebel Flagship.

Visually, FTL is delightfully old-school, with the character sprites bringing an 8-bit feel with them. The ambient music gets a little repetitive, but can be turned off. The sound effects are utilitarian, but add just the right amount of atmosphere – hearing the heartbeats of a soon-to-be dead boarding party while waiting for your transporter to recycle so you can bring them home to the medi-lab definitely adds a layer of tension.

“Boarding party?”, I hear you say. Yep, the easy alteration of your ship, and the wide selection of unlockable ship forms, allows you to play any number of ways. You can be a heavily-armed and heavily-shielded tank, laying waste to enemy ships with a barrage of lasers and missiles. Perhaps you’d like to be a puppet master, sending robotic drones to capture or destroy your enemy. There’s a ship form that lends itself to a sneaky, non-combat role (although you’ll find it hard to complete the game with that one, I think). My current favorite method of playing, though, involves beaming my crew members over to the enemy’s ship(s), letting them kill the crew, then stripping the ships for scrap. Encounters run in real-time, but can be paused at any time to make strategic decisions. In fact, liberal use of the pause button has helped get me out of any number of scrapes and close calls.

However you play it, FTL has a short, gentle learning curve and a lot of replayability. With 9 total ship types (your basic starting cruiser and 8 unlockables), each with an additional unlockable variant, you’ve got 18 different starting points to build your ultimate Federation-saving ride. You’ll meet 6 different non-human species (some of whom may want to join you) and find new weapons and ship add-ons each time. Random encounters can change, based on the things you’ve used to equip your ship, so be prepared for new choices and results every time.

I didn’t think it would be my cup of tea, but FTL: Faster Than Light turns out to be the next best thing to Earl Grey, hot. Available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.