Aground Zero

My verdict: this is a small, but nice game. I have genuinely enjoyed it and think it is a good spin-off for the original aground. I could have been better and can become better, but it is kind of good enough. There are things I don't like, but the game is short enough to not annoy me much.
Let's start with short points:
- Visuals are nice, but the way characters are done is not my cup of tea.
- Lower visual settings make game look weird.
- Optimization is not good, but not horrible. My notebook handles mid-game well. Than at some point I get periodic micro-freezes. But that is what one just expects from a Unity game.
- Story is well-done, but very limited.
- Final quests are not good. You just have to craft a lot of specific items and that is the most of it.
- Sound design is nice. Environment, creatures, machines produce fitting sound. Music feels right.
- Colony management is basically non-existent. Colonists are more or less just parts of some machines. They have no needs besides food and home and just work besides that.
- There are some secrets that are kind of well hidden in the plain sight, just the way I like it.
- Player-built space stations and orbit serve no purpose. There is just no point building anything there, which is a shame as the mechanic is very nice. One way they could have been done better is to limit particle accelerators to being produced there and add a low-tier alternative fuel for the ship that e.g. gives 4 energy per piece. Or to allow uranium there. Plus, to add some new recipes.
- NPC station is basically a decoration and has no useful interactive content, just a single go-to quest and 3 or so small dialogues.
- All main item upgrades cost just same two resources via unlock->buy system. Having something like t1-4 upgrade chips would have given at least some feel of progression.
This is a very small game, there just is no way around that. There are 4 planets with orbits, moon that is more like orbit, some separate smaller areas. There are just two types of spaceships and 3 other vehicles. There not that many recipes and most of them are either building material and food or other consumables. Adding more content of all kinds (except for food unless it is somehow reworked) can significantly improve the game. Both entire world, and areas themself are too small to build anything large or explore for more than 2-3 explore.
Logistics are made in a very unique way, or at least I have never seen it like this. But the problem is it looks like factorio-style and feels like that initially, which produces a lot of confusion and head-ache. After you figure it out it becomes trivial and basically non-existent. I wouldn't give any example of that, because it would spoil the puzzle. I think it is significantly better than in previous title.
There is a couple of bugs, but nothing huge. One that I have encountered most is that when you play on a notebook screen, close your lid, stick it into an external monitor and switch fullscreen->windowed->fullscreen, it crashes, likely due to caching previously used monitor handle or something like that. My point is there are some bugs, but nothing serious or annoying. Game even handles switching sound device just fine.
UI is not good, but not horrible. It is very simple and could have some QoL polish. Some examples:
- It is inconvenient to scroll through lists of recipes in some places
- Crafting stations don't have any option like "craft until N items are in the attached container", after container was filled they start dropping items to the floor nearby.

This game is a spinoff of Aground, it´s not that great like the original but it´s more accessible to Multiplayer and play this with your family or friends is awesome

I really liked the game. It takes a completely different approach compared to the first one by going 3D, keeping some of the old mechanics but adding a ton of new ones.
One thing I noticed right away is the dialogue—it shifted from the mature, serious tone of the original to something much funnier, especially when it comes to your personal AI.
The progression is different too. In the first game, you started with a stone pickaxe and ended up with exotic drill. Here, you keep the same weapons but upgrade them to progress through the levels, which works surprisingly well.
Story-wise, the way the dev connected this game to the first one is brilliant. It ties into both the beginning and the ending of the original Aground, and you find out some really surprising things because the story from the first game continues a little. (no spoilers!).
Bonus points for the developer—I actually talked to him and he’s an awesome, super nice guy. Highly recommend!
Of course, like any game, it has a few downsides. Compared to the first one, which had an insane amount of items, this one feels a bit lacking in variety. The maps are also on the smaller side, missing all those hidden areas and portals that made the original so huge. But to be fair, I get that this is more of a smaller spin-off set in the same universe, rather than a massive, direct sequel.
The game is well optimized, runs perfectly on an rtx 3050, and the settings are complex.
You can watch me playing Aground Zero here:
I love Aground francize I wait for Aground 2 :))

I've loved aground since it was a free game online. Aground 2 is a great follow on to the amazing world of aground. Collect resources and fight for survival, while building new worlds. There is so much to do and explore. I do miss the pixelated graphics of the first game, though.

Great game.
I wish this would be a starting point for more Aground titles.

This game was made by a very small team, so please keep that in mind when you play. That being said I do like it, of course there are some things I wish where a bit different, however I understand why the dev can't do so atm. I hope that the game gets more attention in the future

Story, automation, factory, local coop, lit.