The Cost Of Stars

Every run is a new pilot. Most of whom don't come home. You fly out of a forward station toward the Gate, through four zones of hostile space that throw more at you the further you get. In the interceptor your best weapon is the Lance, a charged beam that cuts through a whole line of ships. Fire it into a lined-up wave and the room is clear. Get the timing wrong and you're left wide open. Bring your cargo home or it's lost forever Cargo only counts once you've landed with it. Every minute you spend flying it home gives the swarm time to regroup, so a pilot who survives makes the next flight harder for whoever takes it. The ones who don't make it get their names on the wall. The crew walk past it every day. Eleven specialists Upgrades arrive mid-flight from the specialists aboard. Each of them has their own way of fighting, and their gear stacks: slow a ship with one specialist's kit, corrode it with another's, and everything you hit it with lands harder. Bosses Each zone ends with a boss who makes an entrance and has plenty to say to whichever pilot shows up. Steve is loud and the Undertaker takes his time. The Gate, at the end, is why you're out here. What's in it 189 upgrades from 11 specialists, in a new mix every run 6 ships, each with its own gun A new pilot every run, with their own name, face, voice and a trait that helps and costs Branching conversations with a voiced cast