Blue-Collar Astronaut (2017)

Despite solid fundamental mechanics and satisfying controls, Blue-Collar Astronaut isn't worth your time or money. While a few of the mission designs are inspired, most are either bland or frustrating, and the game's attempts at comedy are smirk-worthy at best.

Blue Collar Astronaut has its heart in the right place. It's a game that makes the most of its theme, with a beautifully cynical, anti-capitalist conceit that's sure to crack a few smiles. Sadly, the actual game underneath is competent but not really worth clocking in for — it's a simple, thruster-based delivery challenge that's decently fun, but doesn't hold up well to either repeat or extended play; its pleasant touches are balanced out by presentation problems in equal measure. You can sense the developers' passion for their project — which is worth a lot — but as a package, it comes up a day late and a dollar short.

Blue Collar Astronaut is an experience that is simply devoid of any merit or creativity, and I very much doubt any player will find it at all fair or enjoyable.

If Blue-Collar Astronaut allowed for a bit more in the customization stakes or just provided more diversity, then things would feel much more worthwhile. But hey, to its credit, I did get to experience an astronomical amount of debt to pay off.

Blue-Collar Astronaut is a space physics game that offers up its missions in mini-sized morsels. There are more than 40 levels, each of which has a variety of ways to play.