Everyone dies. The only question is who's left standing.
A band of naive astronauts set out to find aliens, fully armed and loaded with resources. Each takes command of their own ship, off on the great adventure.
But there are no aliens. Space is empty and merciless. The only strangers they find are each other, are they friends, or are the weapons in the mix their undoing?
Small strategic choices bring big tactical effects, more than the astronauts thought, as if logic itself governs the universe and experience can be gathered. Then chance strikes with its merciless final cost, an inevitable law of the universe that depended on the choices.
Was it the right call?
A game where logic is unforgiving with its dwindling resources, and chance amplifies them. What kind of character are you, the helper, the hermit, the merciless, or the predator?
What happens when different characters actually meet, for real?
Deep Space is the opposite of the usual space game. You don't build the biggest empire, you manage a decline.
Everyone sets out from Earth with resources to spare. But they dwindle over time, the map breaks down, and when almost everything is gone all are drawn toward the last oasis where it's settled in battle. The one who managed their choices best when everything runs out wins, not the one who piled up the most points.
You leave Earth fully loaded. Resources are abundant, you plan, gather and develop your hero. No one fights yet, an early fight kills you both.
Resources dwindle. Diplomacy, bartering and positioning. Alliances form, and betrayal waits.
Almost nothing left. Only a fight over the scraps, and chance takes over. You don't want to reach here undecided.
The same three phases govern the whole game and every single battle. The further in you slide, the less you control.
Ships are forced toward each other down a corridor (reverse Tetris), you only steer sideways. Three weapons in a rock-paper-scissors: missile (area-kill at range), railgun (precise, straight ahead) and autocannon (close range and missile defense). Where the nose points (facing) decides what you can threaten and defend, you can't do it all at once.
Play skillfully and you settle it early. Miss that and you land in a chicken finale where a draw means both die. Skill loads the dice.