Have you ever wanted to be an unpaid, intern robotic journalist at a space newspaper? Of course you have, think the developers of Times and Galaxy, a raucous new indie that has you take to the hyperspace lanes in a flying newsroom to be a cub reporter on the eponymous news publication, or “holopaper” as they’re calling it in the far future.
Somewhere between adventure game and visual novel, Times and Galaxy has you get thrown into the action as a rookie reporter whose job is to hit news events, figure out the story, and interview dozens of witnesses to dig up the best story you can. It’s cool stuff—partially because the way you construct the story is kind of up to you, and that can lead to how it’s received.
Maybe you find the story itself boring, so you get in there and concoct a bit of clickbait or yellow journalism from outrageous quotes and suggested half-truths, slap an insane headline on it, and go to print. Or maybe you’re an ace news-hound who finds the best stuff, the absolute truth, and puts it to press!
It leads to some absurd situations. You’ll cover stuff like “intersolar cat shows, explosive toy launches, and, of course, space ghost funerals” as well as something called “the Humanian Dirt Fair” which as you can guess involves lots of puns around the word “scoop” and “digging” up the story.
It’s pretty funny stuff, and the writers were good at it.
“I’ve written a fair amount of horror now, and I gotta say, the real horror is writing comedy and waiting to see if anyone actually finds it funny,” said developer Ben Gelinas, a former newspaper reporter who moved into game development.
I’ll be honest, I think you should check this one out. If only because they were bold enough to release it on the same day as Elden Ring: Rise of the Erdtree.
We are delighted, honored and frightened that our game about journalists and space weirdos is launching on the same day as @ELDENRING #ShadowoftheErdtree 😱Congratulations to @fromsoftware_pr, may we both have a successful launch 🤖🪐 https://t.co/sszM5mHX61 pic.twitter.com/Co0EPVVaJZJune 19, 2024
Times and Galaxy was made by Copychaser games, a Canadian studio that was founded by Gelinas. Copychaser’s previous game, Speed Dating for Ghosts, was pretty well received. Times and Galaxy is published by indie label Fellow Traveller.
You can find Times and Galaxy on GOG, Humble, and Steam. There’s also a Times and Galaxy page on the Fellow Traveller website, for yet more details.
