273: Deuteros

Number 273
(1.2 points)
Deuteros
1992: 95

In the year 3100, a team sets out to venture into space and find lost human colonies on the Moon and beyond. Apparently...

Deuteros is a highly unusual game, in that it looks at first glance to be like a strategy game, but there is no urgency or real-time aspect: time only moves forward when you instruct it to do so. Your task is to train recruits, research new buildings and ship parts and create an orbiting space station from which to construct a vessel capable of reaching the Moon, and hopefully set up a base there to journey onward. It is done entirely through menus, with tasks being assigned to your various crew members.

I had to admit that when I first had a look at this, I was totally lost. I had no idea what I was doing, what the point was or where to even begin. Fortunately, the manual includes a step-by-step guide to building your orbital factory, and once you've reached the end of that, the whole game becomes much clearer, and I found myself sucked into it entirely. A fascinating game and one I recommend trying - but remember to follow the manual's guide.

Recommended TOSEC disk(s):
Deuteros - The Next Millennium v1 (1991)(Activision)(M3)(Disk 1 of 2)[cr SR]
Deuteros - The Next Millennium v1 (1991)(Activision)(M3)(Disk 2 of 2)(Data Disk)