Legends of Time and Space: Void Station 57

I love solo games, and wanted to love this one too. I liked “Void Station 57”, but it could have been so much better.

This is an old school solo game like those made back in the halcyon days of solo RPGs. The game is enjoyable, but requires lots of book keeping for what little you get in return. Game play takes about 20-30 minutes, and you’ll get a couple of complete runs before you’ve seen nearly everything. The price point seems high at $13 USD, considering the short play time and overall clunkiness.

The background story is interesting enough, and the use of “Plot words” to advance play is an interesting idea.

Replay value is low.

See my review for a detailed look at the character generation and combat systems.

I liked the seed of the story, but I found the gameplay to be a slog of hack-and-slash battles that interfered with exploring said story. Also the story didn't come across very well in a single play, but multiple plays offered no temptation as there would be too much repetition of tactically uninteresting battles.

A well executed paragraph driven adventure rife with classic sci-fi cliches. The time limit pressure on the team boosts the replayability.

However, the SF version of the core game system isn't as much fun as the fantasy version. In part it's because the weapons are so much more powerful.

Nice sci-fi themed microgame. Players have the option of using the stand-alone system rules provided with the game or other manufacturer's rule sets such as Melee/Wizard/TFT rules or GURPS (enterprising persons could presumably convert the game to d20 or the Rolemaster/Spacemaster series). Simple to learn with quick combat and skill resolution rules; suitable for solo play or play with a referee/GM. I played (solo) with the provided rules and though I would prefer a more detailed combat resolution system, I still found VS 57 enjoyable. Replayability is sacrificed since the game is a programmed adventure; nevertheless, I'm looking forward to replaying the game using either the Melee or GURPS rules to provide more tactical flavor. Based on my experience with this game (the first in DCG's Legends of Time and Space), I'll purchase new titles in this series.

A super little tri-stat (ST DX IQ) programmed adventure with lots of character. The Legends role-playing system that underpins it is a "roll high but under" system that is small but perfectly formed. The system itself is an 8 but void station gets a 7 because there is inevitably a limited amount of replay value.