269:, after the subterranean city of London opened a gateway known as the Avid Horizon and gained access to outer space, here called the High Wilderness, where stars are godlike beings who exert power through their light and unspeakable terrors lurk in the dark. The New British Empire has spread to multiple stars and even built an artificial star of its own, the Clockwork Sun, and Queen Victoria has assumed the throne of a dead star and attained mastery over the properties of time itself. The player assumes the role of a crewmember on a ramshackle locomotive who inherits captaincy of the vessel and a strange black box after the previous captain is mortally wounded. The player is free to pursue the mystery of the box, embark on a career as a trader and retire wealthy, fight in a war between the Empire and rebellious colonists, or seek out answers to a dangerous question: why are the stars dying?
238:. Players navigate the game world via an upgradeable interstellar locomotive, and can interact with various narratives both brief and long that may have positive or negative rewards. While traveling, the locomotive may have to fight off other hostile locomotives or otherworldly creatures. If the player's locomotive is destroyed or their character is otherwise killed, they must begin anew, but some of the previous character's possessions may be passed to the next and certain narrative events remain completed. With each player character, the world map is also rearranged and re-obscured, forcing the player to rediscover locations.
34:
285:
to raise funds for the game's development. Failbetter estimated the total cost of the game's development to be £330,000. They set a funding goal of only £100,000 - explaining the discrepancy by committing to using profits from their existing projects to close the gap. In the event, the project raised
380:
was originally planned to release in the first half of 2020, but it was later delayed to a window of August/September 2020 before being delayed again indefinitely due to persistent performance issues with the console ports. On 29 January 2021, Failbetter stated that the earliest possible release
515:. After release, it was nominated for "Best Narrative", "Best Original IP", and "Game of the Year" at the Develop:Star Awards; for the "Creativity Award", "Best Game by a Small Studio", and "Best Role Playing Game" at
372:, a definitive version of the game containing all previous content in addition to several new narrative events and gameplay improvements. Owners of the PC version of the game will receive the
497:
called it "A game that gives you a clutch of weird and wonderful tales to tell, even when you fail miserably", while praising the game's replayability and writing.
376:
update for free, and the full game with all post-launch updates included will be released simultaneously on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and
Nintendo Switch. The
1408:
1117:
548:
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516:
523:; for the Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game at the New York Game Awards, and for "Game, Franchise Role Playing" at the NAVGTR Awards.
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for 19 May, cautioning that this could still be delayed if the certification processes for console versions encountered unexpected issues.
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would be March 2021, but stressed this was not a firm date. On 28 April 2021, Failbetter set a tentative release date for the
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with bigger ships. Taking the
Victorian setting into space appealed to them. The development team cited the
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825:
697:
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698:"Sunless Skies launches Kickstarter, talks combat improvements, spacefaring Victorians, warm cardigans"
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The game was scheduled to be released in early access in May 2017 with a full release in May 2018, for
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While in development, the game was nominated for "Writing or
Narrative Design" at the 2018
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670:"Sunless Sea sequel, Sunless Skies, hits Kickstarter goal in four hours [Updated]"
8:
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Awards; for "Best
Storytelling", "Best Indie Game", and "PC Game of the Year" at the
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1118:"Days Gone Rides Off with Three Nominations in This Year's Golden Joystick Awards"
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726:"Failbetter Will Leave The Sea Behind And Reach For The Stars In Sunless Skies"
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354:. It was initially delayed to September 2018, then lastly to January 2019.
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Failbetter CEO Paul Arendt noted that they didn't want a sequel to just be
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1006:"Sunless Skies review: a glimpse of the heavens from master storytellers"
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549:"Still out there: Failbetter Games talks Sunless Skies and Zubmariner"
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281:. In February 2017, the studio launched a crowdfunding campaign on
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in 2017 and released in
January 2019, and has been described as a "
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Failbetter announced on 19 October 2019 that the final update for
347:
109:
577:"Failbetter sheds some light on the aesthetic of Sunless Skies"
343:
339:
104:
99:
759:"Sunless Skies shows off Albion in gorgeous reveal trailer"
1034:"Announcing the Develop Awards 2018 nominations shortlist"
870:"Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition now has a release date!"
491:
score of 87, indicating 'generally favourable' reviews.
607:
605:
603:
601:
599:
1090:"TIGA Announces Games Industry Awards 2019 Finalists"
614:"Failbetter's Sunless Skies Kickstarter takes flight"
542:
540:
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536:
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and
Failbetter's own narrative platform StoryNexus.
1178:"The New York Game Awards Announces 2020 Nominees"
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533:
1062:"Shortlist for Develop:Star Awards 2019 revealed"
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265:. The game is set ten years after the events of
611:
219:and incorporates similar elements and setting.
1209:National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers
892:"Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition is out now!"
797:
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689:
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750:
1095:The Independent Game Developers' Association
1025:
947:"Sunless Skies Review - British Steam Power"
517:The Independent Game Developers' Association
1409:Video games developed in the United Kingdom
1197:
792:
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1087:
883:
642:"Failbetter Games announces Sunless Skies"
612:Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (1 February 2017).
32:
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1081:
1031:
975:
944:
848:"A Quick Update on the Sovereign Edition"
839:
826:"When is the release date for Sovereign?"
817:
724:Valentin, Christian (24 September 2016).
483:Upon the game's release in January 2019,
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230:is an exploration and narrative focused
1175:
780:"ELEUTHERIA and Extending Early Access"
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1088:Stephenson, Suzi (19 September 2019).
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640:Chiodini, Johnny (24 September 2016).
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1116:Tailby, Stephen (20 September 2019).
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916:"Sunless Skies Critic Reviews for PC"
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908:
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976:Schilling, Chris (31 January 2019).
945:Wildgoose, David (6 February 2019).
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547:Donlan, Christian (6 October 2016).
487:was praised by critics, receiving a
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277:The game was announced at the 2016
13:
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803:"Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition"
696:Warr, Philippa (1 February 2017).
14:
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1176:Sheehan, Gavin (2 January 2020).
1004:Peel, Jeremy (6 February 2019).
824:Veal, Sara (16 September 2020).
391:Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition
370:Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition
668:Senior, Tom (1 February 2017).
1419:Video games set in outer space
1344:Kickstarter-funded video games
846:Veal, Sara (29 January 2021).
778:Flynn, Hannah (25 July 2018).
757:Donnelly, Joe (4 April 2018).
289:The game was developed on the
272:
1:
1334:Alternate history video games
1145:"Golden Joystick Awards 2019"
575:Sykes, Tom (5 January 2017).
526:
393:was released on 19 May 2021.
213:is a direct sequel to 2015's
1060:Blake, Vikki (16 May 2019).
868:Veal, Sara (28 April 2021).
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396:
234:. The game is played from a
16:2019 role-playing video game
7:
241:
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201:campaign, the game entered
10:
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890:Veal, Sara (19 May 2021).
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1389:Single-player video games
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320:as influences along with
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1384:Role-playing video games
197:. Partially funded by a
1339:Crowdfunded video games
232:role-playing video game
191:role-playing video game
1429:Failbetter Games games
1399:Trade simulation games
1369:Open-world video games
978:"Sunless Skies Review"
521:Golden Joystick Awards
1394:Steampunk video games
1379:Roguelike video games
1364:Nintendo Switch games
149:Switch, PS4, Xbox One
141:Linux, macOS, Windows
1157:on 28 September 2019
236:top-down perspective
1374:PlayStation 4 games
432:
407:
327:Planescape: Torment
253:-inspired world as
249:is set in the same
738:on 15 January 2017
703:Rock Paper Shotgun
430:
405:
352:personal computers
324:and the 1999 game
308:works of authors
1404:Trains in fiction
1316:
1315:
1211:. 13 January 2020
805:. 19 October 2019
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428:
427:
387:Sovereign Edition
383:Sovereign Edition
378:Sovereign Edition
374:Sovereign Edition
359:Sovereign Edition
306:planetary romance
291:Unity game engine
182:
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1329:2019 video games
1307:Mask of the Rose
1274:Failbetter Games
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1236:Official website
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209:roleplay game".
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406:Aggregate score
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145:31 January 2019
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115:Nintendo Switch
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731:IndieGames.com
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431:Review scores
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366:Sunless Skies
360:
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298:Sunless Sea 2
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258:
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256:Fallen London
252:
251:Victorian era
248:
247:Sunless Skies
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228:Sunless Skies
220:
218:
217:
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211:Sunless Skies
208:
207:Gothic horror
204:
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196:
193:developed by
192:
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186:Sunless Skies
178:
177:Single-player
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27:Sunless Skies
25:
19:
1305:
1299:
1298:
1291:
1284:
1213:. Retrieved
1208:
1199:
1187:. Retrieved
1181:
1171:
1161:21 September
1159:. Retrieved
1155:the original
1148:
1139:
1129:20 September
1127:. Retrieved
1121:
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1101:25 September
1099:. Retrieved
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783:
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736:the original
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203:early access
185:
184:
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167:Role-playing
148:
140:
70:Cash de Cuir
54:Publisher(s)
42:Developer(s)
18:
1359:MacOS games
1354:Linux games
1349:Indie games
1293:Sunless Sea
1150:GamesRadar+
1123:Push Square
1045:4 September
1017:9 September
989:9 September
958:9 September
927:9 September
436:Publication
322:Art Nouveau
314:H. G. Wells
310:C. S. Lewis
283:Kickstarter
273:Development
267:Sunless Sea
262:Sunless Sea
216:Sunless Sea
199:Kickstarter
153:19 May 2021
92:Platform(s)
74:Olivia Wood
1323:Categories
1215:23 January
921:Metacritic
742:2 February
709:2 February
681:2 February
653:2 February
625:2 February
588:2 February
560:2 February
527:References
489:Metacritic
420:Metacritic
411:Aggregator
286:£377,000.
72:James Chew
1189:5 January
647:Eurogamer
619:Eurogamer
554:Eurogamer
507:Accolades
402:Reception
397:Reception
368:would be
64:Writer(s)
1011:PCGamesN
983:PC Gamer
952:GameSpot
875:29 April
764:PC Gamer
675:PC Gamer
582:PC Gamer
500:GameSpot
494:PC Gamer
471:PCGamesN
458:PC Gamer
446:GameSpot
279:EGX expo
242:Synopsis
223:Gameplay
162:Genre(s)
125:Xbox One
1073:19 June
897:11 June
853:5 March
831:5 March
809:5 March
350:-based
348:Windows
334:Release
173:Mode(s)
134:Release
110:Windows
464:90/100
424:87/100
316:, and
80:Engine
439:Score
414:Score
344:macOS
340:Linux
189:is a
105:macOS
100:Linux
85:Unity
1217:2020
1191:2020
1163:2019
1131:2019
1103:2019
1075:2019
1047:2018
1019:2020
991:2019
960:2020
929:2020
899:2021
877:2021
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