Have You Played... Space Station 13?

HomeFeaturesspace station 13

There you go. Had to hyphenate a bit, but that’sSpace Station 13in 100 words. Honestly, though, I could have used 10,000. The sheer convolution involved in the game’s 17-year history, plus the sheer range of totally different games which come under the SS13 title, is worth a decent YouTube documentary or three. I’m sure they exist; you should watch them. But to me, I suppose, the real joy of the game is in the way its maximalist, ‘anything is possible’ immersive sim ruleset combines with the creativity of a player base committed to really weird, inventive roleplaying.

It’s a genuine struggle not to just break into a breathless account of the many ridiculous scenarios I was lucky enough to be a part of during my brief year or so playing. But if I started, I’m not sure I could stop, so once again I will implore you to seek out some of the many, many SS13 anecdotes floating around online.

Despite endless chat about sequels and spiritual successors, I’m yet to see one properly emerge. There are excellent games such asBarotraumawhich have definite SS13 DNA, but there’s still no game out there that is a straight up remake. And maybe that’s a good thing? As bizarre and inaccessible as it it, I think Space Station 13’s magic comes from the very factors that hinder it. If it was reasonable in any way, it wouldn’t be Space Station 13.