Lindsay looks at Space Mechanic Joe and Besiege in this week's Greenlight Special.

Hello intrepid gamers. We’re back for another Greenlight Special. This week’s games focus on physics-based builders. I find game physics to be endlessly amusing, and I’m fairly certain many of you out there do as well, if r/GamePhysics is any indicator. I also decided to stream my adventures on Steam, and I was pleasantly surprised by the community’s interest. Onward!

Space Mechanic Joe is our Greenlit Game of the week, and while there’s no playable demo available, this fit for the current theme. To be honest, there’s not a whole lot of information on this game available. I’m not even sure if Gonzo is the developer or not, but that’s who was listed so I’m going with that. According to the Steam page: “Build, survive and colonize an inhospitable alien world as Joe the space mechanic. Create vehicles and airships, develop outposts and mine resources in an open-world battle against the elements.”

What I like about this concept is that it takes the physics-based builders and puts it in space. And, as you know, space is really cool. Plus, the red dusty planet shown in the video on the Steam page looks strangely like Mars. How topical! I’m curious to see if gravity will be altered on another world, and I’d honestly love to see the devs mess with various gravitational pulls. Also, I want to see which direction they take the survival aspect of the game: will there be a limiting factor like health or energy? Or is it sandbox open-world, a la Space Engineers? The comments seem encouraging, but I think we all feel like we need more information.

You can find their Steam page here. There’s an expected release date sometime in Q4 2015.

Besiege by Spiderling Games is our Released Game this week. Released on January 28th of this year, it’s already created a small, thriving community. User Akame on Steam sums Besiege perfectly: “Tried to make a Trebuchet that fired a bomb. Made a bomb which fired a Trebuchet 11/10.”

Allow me to backtrack: I’ve never really delved into the world of physics-based builder games. As a kid, I loved my Erector set, and LEGO was one of my favorites. Building shit was fun.  It just never seemed to translate to video games for me. What have I done with my life?

The basic premise is that you must construct machines of mass chaos and conquer increasingly complex objectives like torching a fortress or navigating a field of angry sheep and land mines. You’re given basic wooden blocks, various mechanical items, armor, flight, and weapons. The lack of a tutorial made the game far more interesting to me. Instead of being told “Hey, jackass, this is how you use a Steering Hinge” you had to figure it out by trial and error. Which meant lots of sadly crumpled would-be trebuchets, lighting oneself on fire (repeatedly), and rogue circular saws (which also somehow caught fire) . And tears of laughter. But I’m a weirdo. The game also runs smoothly, and the graphics are pretty fantastic.

Fans of the game have made tons of guides explaining how to build things like 6-Legged Walking Machines, Catapults, and a “Tuned G-Medieval FIREBALL POWER 700HP.” However hilarious and ingenious those guides are, I think the entertainment comes from figuring out how to make things yourself. I’d suggest wading into the game, and avoid guides until you’ve exhausted your patience after Machine #126 or so.

Thanks to Ballin’ on Steam for the image.

Pros: The HUD is sleek and simple, and the objectives, while seemingly simple, are made ever-more tantalizing because figuring out how to get your mass of flaming death moving in the right direction needs to happen first. Oh, and you have to defend your monstrosity against aforementioned sheep and land mines, as well as archers and cannonfire.  For me, anything to do with medieval warfare/setting I’m kind of into, being the massive ren faire nerd I am. So this game had a setting and idea that appealed to me. The bonus entertainment of game physics was the best thing about this game, to be honest.

Cons: I know I said the lack of a tutorial made the game more interesting, but I still would like to see some kind of in-game directory you can search for if you get really stuck. I don’t think it should be obvious help, because I feel that would take away from the sheer joy of gleefully lighting a whole village on fire for the first time. However, I do feel that I spent way more time figuring out how to make Steering Hinges work than I’m comfortable admitting to the Internet.

For me, I can’t wait to test the limits of my insanity and really go flaming balls out with what I can build. It’s out now on Steam Greenlight for $6.99. Even if you never get more than what Early Access gets you, I think it’s absolutely worth the price. Here’s their website for more screenshots and a cool Devlog. Sadly, no release date yet, but the devs are anticipating “two years” roughly.

Besiege had a real impact on me, if only because it awoke a love of physics-based games. But the game as a whole is fantastic, and has a great sense of humor about itself. It won video games for me this week. So you should try it.

If you have any suggestions on which games I should review for the Greenlight Special, feel free to contact me via Twitter @lindsaygeektr0n. I also stream these games every Tuesday on my Twitch channel. Come on by and check out new stuff.

Lindsay “amoril” Geektron, Brand Ambassador