Nimbatus: The Space Drone Constructor is, as you may have deduced, a game about constructing space drones. More accurately, it’s a space sim in which you design drones to complete missions in a fully destructible universe. It’s currently on Kickstarter, and with eight days to go has already raised more than double Swiss developer Stray Fawn Studios’ goal of $20,398.
Freedom of customization is at the core of Nimbatus. It gives players hundreds of individual components to place and connect, from weapons and batteries to fuel tanks and thrusters, not to mention a robust system of logic mechanisms. You can sample the building process in Nimbatus’ free demo, which you can sign up for via this link (a download link will then be emailed to you).
Once you build your dream drone, you can save and share its design, or take it out to complete missions in the procedurally generated galaxy. Nimbatus’ random planets all have unique missions, from destroying structures on the surface to reaching the core. Many planets are also crawling with enemy drones which you’ll need to defend against shoot-’em-up style.
There are a few competitive modes outside the sandbox, including drone races, a time trial arena where you compete to destroy waves of enemies as quickly as possible, and a sumo arena where your goal is to knock enemy drones out of the ring. Although they aren’t included in the demo, Stray Fawn says they’re planning to add high scores for competitive modes down the line.
Nimbatus will enter Steam Early Access in mid-2018, and is expected to officially release in 2019.