"The conveyor loop satisfies, the controls fight every cable"
About
Astro Colony is a first-person automation and colony sim set across a procedurally generated universe of asteroids. You build conveyor belts, route cables, and set up production chains that feed and grow your colonies, then dock to new asteroids to expand. Astronauts have needs you're meant to keep supplied, and a tech tree gates the next tier of machines. A second progression stage opens a fresh tech tree once you've cleared the first. Co-op multiplayer and dedicated servers are supported, with up to 4x time acceleration to push past slow build-out.
Verdict
When a production line finally runs itself and you watch resources flow without your input, Astro Colony delivers the automation high it promises. Getting there is the problem. Laying a simple L-shaped cable means drawing two separate segments, snapping fights you as often as it helps, and you can't even delete an item from your inventory without hunting for the trick. Solo players willing to forgive the rough edges find dozens of hours here; anyone counting on co-op runs into desync and crashes that break the shared base. It left Early Access carrying too many tech-demo seams for a 1.0.
You'll like it if …
- +you enjoy slow, deliberate factory layout and watching a system run itself
- +you mostly play solo and will tolerate clunk for a deep tech tree
- +a fresh second progression stage is reason enough to keep building
You'll dislike it if …
- −co-op is your reason to buy and you won't accept desync
- −fiddly building controls and missing quality-of-life kill the mood for you
- −you want the mid-game to keep pushing back rather than going soft
Breakdown
- +the core loop clicks once a line is set up and processes on its own
- +scaling colonies across new asteroids gives a steady sense of expansion
- −cable routing forces two separate segments for a basic L-shape
- −snapping is unreliable and building interactions feel tedious
- −menus shift the mouse position, so you never know where the cursor lands
- +a large tech tree with plenty to chase
- +a whole second tech tree opens after the first stage
- −difficulty drops off after a few hours, with little challenge left
- −stage 2 content is thin and adds few genuinely new systems
- −progression keeps moving the goalposts in ways that wear some players down
- +the astronaut framing hints at a colony you're keeping alive
- −story is minimal and the astronaut needs feel disconnected from the build loop
- −the worldbuilding does almost nothing with its setting
- +smooth conveyor flow is readable enough to enjoy at a glance
- −visuals are dated and there's little feedback or game feel
- −stuttering, crashes, and frame drops surface in long sessions and in multiplayer
- +dedicated server support exists for those who get co-op running
- −no obvious way to delete or drop inventory items
- −tutorials are incomplete or misleading
- −multiplayer suffers constant desync that corrupts core systems
- −menus auto-close and small quality-of-life gaps pile up across the UI
score
