Terraformental combines survival and mystery with incremental mechanics, asking you to scavenge and automate systems across a derelict facility while uncovering what happened to its previous inhabitants. Unlike typical idle games that reward doing everything at once, this narrative-driven experience requires you to make meaningful choices about resource allocation and exploration, with story progression tied to understanding the world rather than just grinding through areas. It appeals to players seeking substance beneath the idle framework, where reading and decision-making matter as much as
About this game
Waking up alone in a derelict terraforming facility on an unknown (and distinctly not terraformed) planet, it's up to you to find a way to survive, learn what happened to the people who lived here and why you were abandoned in this narrative-driven incremental game.
What players are saying
▲ Recommended16 hrs
Fell in love with the game immediately. It's a lot like Increlution, but unlike in that game, you simply cannot do *everything* each time. You have to choose. You actually have to read what's going on to understand where to go, it's not just "do everything there is in an area, proceed to next area, repeat". The solution isn't always straight-forward (though it's also not that complex either), but more intuitive.
I dunno, I completely recommend this game to whoever is into text-based idlers.
Though I have to say, it's not exactly an idler like "leave the game open for a day" or something. It's more like a text-based adventure with idler elements. I dunno, it's awesome, don't wanna give too much away cause spoilers.
OH and the setting? I've always wondered why so many people go into the over-saturated "magical" style, and none of them made something sci-fi. Well, here it is. You literally start on another planet.
I got it fullprice, and I personally don't feel like I wasted my money. But remember, it's text-based, don't expect any graphics apart from like 10 icons or something.
Edit: I should preface by saying I disagree with the negative critiques conclusion, but I understand their frustration. This is an issue of balancing effort to reward, and making sure repetitive actions don't become too repetitive - or further ways to simplify them.
I actually disagree with the negative review about time-wasting, and I'd like to give the developer an alternative perspective. I personally hate time-wasting in games. It annoys me to ♥♥♥♥ that developers pad a 20 hour experience with 20 hours of worthless content for a 40 hour slog. Worse are the games that intentionally make mechanics worse to make you spend more time on them. I absoltely hate getting my time wasted and have left scathing reviews for that before. That said, I separate time-wasting as meaningless time spent. Something that adds nothing to the experience, or takes away from it. Games like this that use part-idle mechanics have an important reason to waste your time. It gives weight to your success. Progress is meant to be taken step by step, and the time spent is part of the meaningful progression. This is why some people love Runescape, and others absolutely hate it. When you remove the time component of the game it begins to fall apart, because it was central to its experience. This is why people hate modern Runescape. Hell, the devs have done a complete 180 to try and recover their game.
Some people won't like the time element to the game, but I do think it's integral to the experience. Especially for a game like this where the story is centered around learning, adapting, and struggling to overcome obstacles. Each loop things are a bit easier, you're a bit more knowledgeable, you can go a bit farther. The game reacts to your progress and re-orientates your actions. The struggle part of that is directly tied to the feeling of progress. The time invested makes the outcomes meaningful. If it took 1 second to do every action none of it would feel meaningful. It would minimise the accomplishment of making it to the next facility, or discovering another piece of the puzzle. The only thing left to enjoy would be the story.
So that's my take. Though I don't see anything wrong with offering options to relatively speed up the game like Magic Research etc. does. Loving the game so far, and looking forward to more.
Work is going well on v0.7, and with this hotfix done, I'll now be focusing almost entirely on the new content.ContentAlt Desc:Climb into Crater before finding climbing gearClimb Up to Roof after Lift LockdownSearch for Santorini before/after Read Face 2 Report and Read DiaryInspect Cryopods at Astrape before checking at least 2 other setsAlt Log:Check Other Cryopods in Talos after Search for Talos in LaurionRover out of power outside Laurion, or any Strabo or Pneuma buildingRead Diary after Read Face 2 ReportNew Death Message:Leave Santo's blast radius before it's destroyedReworded:Log for Open Mining Wing 1st time to specify counterweights pulling the door closedRepair Tram Air is visible but locked (with alt desc) once you Inspect Tram AirOptimisation Reduced the number of screen redraws caused by flashing buttonsBugfixesFixed crash if you change options then hit Escape/Close instead of SaveSaved popup no longer scrolls the log panel up under some circumstancesSwap Rover Solar Panels only refunds a power coupler if it's currently connectedWater refiller reserves space in your suit while it's active and you're in the roverTime dilation is recalculated if a boost is dis/enabled after hovering it when it's not currently progressingPrevented saves with ? in the nameBonuses for upgraded drill on equipment tab reference the centralised valuesUpgrade Rover Motors CAction in Strabo Hangar doesn't show when motors are already installedFill Water Bottle at Astrape doesn't double-apply damage effectors when loadingWhen ActionsWithCharging have an effector applied to their cooldown, they maintain their current cooldown percentageAction Groups reevaluate height when any Action Group finishes animatingLogs for seeing Santo explode on tram when you've never died to it don't spoil itPortals can't be placed in elevatorsAdded power usage to computer actions in Summit WorkshopActions with partial familiarity for their entire duration show familiarity textMultiple Touch Matter Artif...
ContentAlt Desc:Finish Cooling Unit before learning howAlt Logs:Inspect Projects at Astrape after reading Laurion's general analysis, before Face 3 ReportLift Anchor Lockdown from rover on east sideWalk to Anchor 1st time after lifting lockdown from roverSearch Viral Lab Body before/after triggering artifactReworded:Log for arriving at Strabo's hidden lab to state the rocks should shelter the roverUIResource Cost/Gain always shown with 2 dpBalanceCheck Weather Forecast is hidden if you have the rover display runningFace 2 Specialised Drill bonus 1.5x -> 1.25xIncrease base time for Face 3 from 1200s -> 1320sBugfixesFixed another, less common hover panel crashCorrected drill having old multiplier when you Take Drill rather than Search DrillAdded save migration so saves which already have the drill with the old multiplier get the new oneAdded save migration for saves which lifted anchor station lockdown before .16Codes actions at Strabo Comm/Weather marked Completions Persist if you looped with PDAFixed "Take & Synth Ration" having incorrect lock reasonDilated Total/Remaining correctly shows infinite on actions with x0 multiplierActions with resource drain no longer show Grants Resource with x0 multiplier
Apologies for all the issues people have been having with actions (especially travel actions) not completing properly. For those who've missed my responses on the Discord and Steam forums, the bug only occurred if you were hovering over certain actions when they completed, which is why it wasn't noticed sooner. I believe (but haven't been able to fully confirm) that this was also indirectly responsible for some saves becoming corrupted.If you have a save which still doesn't load properly in this version, you'll need to load an earlier save. If you have any saves made on this version which have any kind of crash, please report it along with an exported save from before the crash occurred, and steps of what you did to cause the crash.BalanceReduced upgraded drill power drain 1.5x => 1.25xGeneralOptimised drain rate calculations for actions with resource drainBugfixesEquipment tab only enables if you have the PDAFixed null reference on tooltip lock reasonThis should fix all the "actions don't complete properly" issuesFixed actions with resource drain sometimes using base drain rates instead of multiplied drain ratesError Details box doesn't auto-expand (so it won't go off top/bottom of the screen for long errors)Fixed persistent icons showing on unknown persistent actionsPark, Charge & Gather at Santo Central is repeatable
Posts come from Steam's official announcements feed.
