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Game
Game2013
Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space
Developer Digital Eel
Strange Adventures In Infinite Space is a roguelike video game created by the indie developer Digital Eel and released for Windows and Mac on March 15, 2002, by boardgame developer-publisher, Cheapass Games. Releases for Pocket PC and Palm by British developer-publisher Astraware followed. In 2020, the game was updated to run on current computer operating systems of the day. It remains free to download and share. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
200 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
75
LovedLoved
135 positive · 46 negative
95% range 68–80%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 135 | 46 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 3 | 0 | 16 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
327 of 466 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
75% recommend · 137 yes, 45 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 182 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (412 of 624 positive).
Players describe it as a short, casual roguelike perfect for quick sessions. [1][2][3] Some find the gameplay loop repetitive and the combat lacking depth. [4][5][6] Fans praise its charm, humor, and mod support despite its brevity. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
It has some nice features like a neat art style but the game play loop of go get item and bring it back gets really boring. :-(
- [1]
Weird Worlds is a remake of an older 2002 indie game called Strange Adventures in Infinite Space. SAIS was fairly popular back in the day of Palms, Pocket PCs, and PDAs. It's meant to be a fun little distraction in sizable chucks perfect for a lunch break. To give you an idea, SAIS's tagline literally was "Explore the galaxy in 20 minutes or less!" Weird Worlds is basically SAIS plus more content. With the above in …
- [2]
when i first got this game i honestly didnt like it. But now that i iknow what it is and how to play it i very much enjoy it. to me this is a coffee break rougelite game. that is it isnt meant to have deep or long lasting gameplay. the idea is that each game is short, and the randomized nature of the map means that each time you play you get a short and unique experience out of it. this makes it perfect for wasting …
- [3]
By far, one of the best Roguelikes available on Steam! Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space is a very nicely packaged Sci-Fi space adventure that can be played casually over the course of a coffee break or lunch break. That doesn't mean the game is easy. The events and RNG are randomized and occasionally you will be the victim of bad luck. There is some strategy involved, although nothing mind-bending or overly …
- [7]
FTL fans might love this game for it's short RNG sessions. [✔] > weapon variety & customization > good amount of mods > simple yet satisfying combat [✘] > clunky UI
Summarised from 34 of the 200 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space talk about quick, fun sessions ideal for breaks; those who didn't talk about very short playtime, often under 2 hours. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Strange Adventures in Infinite Space received a 77 score on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Upon release, PC Gamer highlighted the game in a special feature about indie games, describing it as "the shortest space exploration game ever" with praise for its replayability. Writing for GameSpot, Bruce Geryk felt that "the game's short length is what makes it so engaging". Tom Chick of GameSpy called it "a clever and engaging take on strategy and adventure gaming", while noting that players will see most of the game's content after a dozen play-throughs. Scot Krol of PC Game World recommended the game for providing "more enjoyment in fifteen minutes than most games have in…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 200 · most liked firstWeird Worlds is a remake of an older 2002 indie game called Strange Adventures in Infinite Space. SAIS was fairly popular back in the day of Palms, Pocket PCs, and PDAs. It's meant to be a fun little distraction in sizable chucks perfect for a lunch break. To give you an idea, SAIS's tagline literally was "Explore the galaxy in 20 minutes or less!" Weird Worlds is basically SAIS plus more content. With the above in mind, a lot of reviewers are somewhat unfairly comparing Weird Worlds to FTL.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It has some nice features like a neat art style but the game play loop of go get item and bring it back gets really boring. :-(
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simple RTS in which you conquer star systems occasionally engaging in space batlles. Strategy part is simplified as you move from system to system collecting artifacts and trading. Some random events might appear during exploration. You might stumble across intelligent life forms and negotiate with them or sometimes hire them to get some extra support in next battle. When engaging in battle mode there isn't much strategy involved, just move, attack or ram your opponents (stronger ship wins),…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well the game is very short that is for sure... but despite it gave me only about 2 hours of fun it was still worth it! If you can pick it up for a price that will feel adequate to the time of 2 hour fun, then go right ahead and grab it!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →FTL fans might love this game for it's short RNG sessions. [✔] > weapon variety & customization > good amount of mods > simple yet satisfying combat [✘] > clunky UI
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Loaded in and got sucked into a black hole and died.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We tried each other's game demos at Weird Worlds last Sunday! Thank you to @loading.bar for hosting us. And shout out to the guy who played Sungaia Saga for like an hour 😎 #gamedev #indiegame #gaming #egx #mcm
neutral · AI labelView post →Game: Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space Genre: Strategy Publisher/Developer: Digital Eel System: Steam (PC) Total Score: 58/100 Value Score: 5.8/10 • Story: 4/10 • Characters: 4/10 • GamePlay: 6/10 • Graphics: 6/10 • Sound: 6/10 • Music: 5/10 • Length: 2/10 • Replay Value: 9/10 • Player Value: 6/10 Pros +Choose what type of ship, what type of nebula size and how long should a journey be (this is pretty much the difficulty) +The nebula/journey is different each time you start a new game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have mixed feelings about this game. On one hand, I've enjoyed playing it, but on the other, I've seen it all in 2 hours and have no desire to play it ever again. In general, I'd recommend to play Weird Worlds if you get it in a bundle, but the game is not worth buying separately.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cute game concept that won't demand too much time the first few times around. Predicated on series of incursions into hostile space, there is depth there, but you have to dig through a great deal of repetition and happenstance to find it. Likely a great lo-fi game when it came out, in this era of backlogs and expanding Steam libraries this game is unfortunately skippable in light of newer, similar, better titles.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →when i first got this game i honestly didnt like it. But now that i iknow what it is and how to play it i very much enjoy it. to me this is a coffee break rougelite game. that is it isnt meant to have deep or long lasting gameplay. the idea is that each game is short, and the randomized nature of the map means that each time you play you get a short and unique experience out of it. this makes it perfect for wasting a few minutes time, or you can keep playing game after game to waste even more…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Too basic and gets boring quickly.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's a few neat ideas here, but ultimately it's a pretty small package. A lot of the randomised events can be completely game ending in a way that feels entirely outside of your control. I'd recommend playing FTL over this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun and quick! 20 minute runs where you explore and collect anything you find. You can trade with different aliens or fight in space battles, but these can be avoided. There's an amazing Babylon 5 mod that's well done and made me love this even more!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just a generally bad idea with poor implementation. Games are short, and there's not much feeling of freedom in the gameplay. You just jump from system to system and follow scripted events. After completing one game, I had absolutely zero interest in exploring further to see what else was on offer, because the content I'd seen had passed before my eyes like a river of garbage.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →By far, one of the best Roguelikes available on Steam! Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space is a very nicely packaged Sci-Fi space adventure that can be played casually over the course of a coffee break or lunch break. That doesn't mean the game is easy. The events and RNG are randomized and occasionally you will be the victim of bad luck. There is some strategy involved, although nothing mind-bending or overly complicated. Even when you fail, you end up learning quite a bit about the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played Weird Worlds off and on for MANY YEARS. The "hours played" indicator on my Steam account does not include the many more hours I played it OFF Steam as a standalone Windows game. I anticipate spending many more hours with it in future. It's a fun little game with a surprisingly deep package of lore and content, with quirky but lovely art and sound, and a very diverse set of often humorous elements. IMO: The only other game(s) that can challenge this game's charm and character is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Criminally underrated game. The perfect lunch break game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A quirky game for sure, but ultimately it is not all that great. The interface is terrible, looks that actually hurt my eyes and gameplay as stiff and lifeless as a corpse floating in space.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First, to address the mouse issue everyone seems to have - you cannot, apparently, play this game in fullscreen mode. The mouse leaps all over the place randomly, leaving the game totally unplayable. Playing in windowed mode, however, seems to negate this. Moving on. The game itself has potential. You click a star system. You possibly find an item or a lifeform. You may make first contact, and they are either friendly and want to trade, or you end up in combat. Every time I entered combat I was…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The following applies to the base, unmodified game. Cons: - Can't save games - You have a time limit which is shown in the bottom right corner. You'll get some warnings but if you are late you'll lose 1,000 off your final score (if you just keep playing after being late it is possible that the penalty will increase, I've not tested this). - Combat is more often than not too difficult, and by the time you CAN take'em on you probably are running out of time Pros: - After a very short…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weird Worlds is a fun little rogue-like set in space. On your quest to explore unknown frontiers, you will fly from star to star, finding ramdomized loot, trading with friendly species, battling not-so-friendly alien armadas, hiring mercenaries who are not very helpful and die like flies in a flamethrower spray, and getting your loot stolen repeatedly by a mysterious Esmeralda. Most likely, many of your quests will end in failure and untimely death, but with a little bit of luck and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game is way more fun than it should be. you basically fly around a randomized galaxy map searching for loot and upgrades, and have to make it back to base by the end of your 20 year mission. when you arrive at a planet, it will have some amusing flavor text, as well as sometimes an item(s) you can move directly to your cargo bay and be on your way. Sometimes there will be a hostile alien ship/fleet there that attacks- this is the weakest part of the game. 100% of combat consists of taking…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun game for in between chores. You can play a whole map in 30min. You just have to change the high dpi compatability in windows or parts of the screen will be cut off. My rating 7/10, short and interesting for when you only have half an hour of time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Strange little gem of an RNG game. One of my guilty pleasures. Best $5 game I've ever bought. Well, except for that time I found Unreal Tournament 2 in the bargain bin at a dollar general in Albany, GA. Heh... good times. Anyway, you never know what the game will produce on any given run. Humorous encounters with ancient earth radio waves bouncing around the cosmos. On a good run, you'll find some incredible things. On a bad run, meh. Sometimes it's worth the risk to get great loot or die and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not recommended, only for fans of short and simple space exploration games. This is a nice improvement over the original (available for free on the developer's website). The graphics and UI are passable, but a bit dated. The sounds and music are intentionally weird and a bit jarring at times, yet they do feel appropriate for the overall feel of the game. The actual game play is simple to a fault. You explore randomly generated galaxies in search of bizarre discoveries and treasures. There is a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I remember getting this game on a freeware disc back in 2010 and finding it a bit shallow. The brevity of playthroughs drove me away, I didn't see the point when I could get more invested in the settlers or stronghold instead. Ten years on, I can finally appreciate what it has to offer. Games are quick and can take from about five minutes to 25, depending on your pre-game settings. The game will seem downright incomprehensible at first, but it's a bit like learning to ride a bike. If you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game aged poorly. It doesn't run smoothly on Windows 10. Besides, the game doesn't offer a whole lot. You fly around in a galaxy to other planets or stars to find equipment to upgrade your craft. There is no expansion on planets, no R&D for better equipment. The game doesn't have a lot of eye candy either. It isn't pretty to look at which further motivates you from stop playing the game..
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You might think this is like StarControl or Zombie Pirates, but you (like me) would be wrong. You'd think there is trading, depth, etc etc, nope. Gameplay: You click on star systems, you can view or engage them. Viewing is useless, so you pretty much only engage the system. There you either find nothing, find some things to take (trading, if you can call it that, is abysmal at best), or fight. Fighting is NOT Pirates vs Zombies or StarControl. You click your ship to select it, you click…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space is a roguelike space progression game similar to FTL in theme. Explore space, upgrade your ship, and see if RNG will permit you to "win" or not. And that's really the problem... the gameplay isn't as rich as FTL, the interface is quite poorly made as well, and being mostly just a procgen game, there's not much in the way of content to speak of once you recognise the same patterns being thrown at you continually. The game depends entirely on RNG, so…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not beginner friendly... I can't even win one battle out of 10 tries. Not sure what strategy I'm missing..
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this way back when, not on Steam. Then it was on Steam, and I bought it again (because, I dunno, Steam). I still have to say, I've played it through a number of times, and it's always a great way to kill just a few minutes. It's got a self-imposed time limit, even. Winning is a delight, losing is still generally amazing. My only complaint, ever, is that there are times when you've just hit the luck of the draw so well that you've literally done everything there is to do in the galaxy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weird Worlds is a game that is all about strategy and going to planets to get upgrades for your ship. A space exploration game where you will often go to planets where aliens are. You can either kill them or avoid contact with them. Upgrading the ship is fun. The game has enough to keep you going for a long time. The gameplay is actually just okay! Since I remember playing something like this on those handheld games back when I was a kid.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd thumbs-up this But its current version crashes half the time
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Demoed at Weird Worlds last week hosted by @richmetson.bsky.social / Semaeopus. My game is far from ready to demo, and I was anxious about putting it in front of people in the current state, but I firmly believe you should ALWAYS demo at every given opportunity for these reasons… 🧵
neutral · AI labelView post →The Exalted Klakar has a trade offer for you
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weird World can be fun to a limited extent. I still don't recommend buying it because it definitely doesn't offer any long-term motivation: definitely not a must play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is only 1-2 hours long. Everything about it is bad with the description of objects. For engines, it is written only in general terms how they work, the speed can only be measured independently. The rest of the items have an even more vague description. There is quite a bit of content. You can pass it several times in an hour. For two hours, you can see everything that is in it. Waste of time and money.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome game! Simple, straight to the point. Fun office game! Love it, and love the quirkyness of it!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I didn't feel as if I was actually playing a game, rather was just clicking random things on the screen.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do you like space battles, strange and funny space adventures, occasionally unfair space deaths, and adding the word 'space' to everything? Then you have good taste. Also you might enjoy this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun little game, which I first played on Palm OS. Yes, THAT Palm OS. In some ways, you actually get more in the Palm version, but alas, Palm is dead and Google now rules the world. Anyway, this version still gives you choices and variety, although the timer (which limits total allowed travel time) makes it difficult to do everything in a match that you might want to. As for the price tag, I'd suggest trying to get a sale, but $5 this isn't outrageous. Each time you start a match, it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fly to planet. Get item. Fly to planet. Get item. Fly to planet. Meet traders. Trade item for better shields. Trade item for better weapon. Fly to planet. Meet enemy ship. It kills you in one hit despite the upgrades. The only good thing about this space garbage collection sim is that it ends quickly, with you eating ♥♥♥♥ the instant you ever think you can engage in combat. Why even INCLUDE the combat half of the game?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is another strange concept for a game, but it's actually quite fun. You get a randomly generated sector to explore, cool stuff to find, and aliens to fight or trade with. Bigger and better than its predecessor, with more stuff to find and more options. Sadly, many of the complaints I had about the previous game remain in this one. Specifically: The harshness of the time limit is irritating (but probably necessary), since it ensures that you're never going to explore everything.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The ultimate coffee break game, it's played in short sessions and even after many playthroughs you will still stumble upon new things. Every time you boot up the game you will face a new ballbusting challenge that's slightly different from the last one. You will save and doom the galaxy, you will fail hilariously and retire rich, you will encounter new and weird life. 10/10 for what it is.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"Weird" is in the title for a reason. A rather simplistic game. The game is played for a map/top-down perspective. Game play consists of outfitting your ship(s) Clicking on a star-system, meeting new lifeforms, and either trading with them or fighting them. With a tongue-in-cheek humor, this game is a weird mix of genres, but doesn't seem to offer very deep game play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Annoyingly had to ask for refund as the cursor does not work. Jumps all over the screen and will not let you select anything.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I stopped playing after a very short time. The mouse jumping randomly around the screen made it very difficult to play, everything is entirely RNG based and balance already seems way off. Also, the interface is clunky, windows over windows can make it very hard to read, only solution is to close them all and open just the one you want.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This one turned out even shorter than I imagined, because the game is fucking broken. The mouse cursor jumps around at random, making it impossible to even start the game properly, let alone quitting the application without alt-tabbing and shutting it down from the taskbar. Thank fuck I got this piece of shit for free, otherwise I’d be even more pissed at it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awful strategy game with a handful of bugs and constant slowdown and mouse jittering.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mouse jittering all over the place, windowed or fullscreen, and then suddenly crashes. Idk not my game. From what I've read, it's like FTL but without saves and older. Rather just get FTL.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beautiful, absolutely beautiful, an amazing successor to SAIS. So much has been improved and it feels like the first game, but better. For starters you have the game start up, there are 3 ships to choose from, Science Vessel, Corvette, and Frigatte, and each changes the game fundamentally (more on that ahead), you still have the nebulae density and combat difficulty scales, but they've also added a map size adjustment as well, which increases your mission years and makes the map scale…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mods are very promising. I hope someone will continue work on them.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is good, but it can be difficult. The enemies can be nearly impossible to beat unless you find the rarer, but more powerful, weaponry in the game, and the random events can turn what seemed like a good round into a game over swifter than you can say: "The hell just killed me!?" However, if you're looking for a game that's got hours of replayability with rounds that don't last for hours, with easy to understand controls and gameplay, and intriging events, randomized maps, and a good…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love Weird Worlds 2, specifically, but wouldn't mind getting more into them. There was a point I was just speedrunning Weird Worlds 2, the only game I have ever done so with, in like, >1 minute.
positive · AI labelView post →Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space is a compact space exploration adventure that manages to capture the excitement of discovering an unpredictable galaxy without demanding dozens of hours from the player. Developed and published by Digital Eel, the game combines randomized exploration, roguelike elements, tactical decision-making, equipment collection, and real-time spacecraft combat into expeditions designed to be completed relatively quickly. Instead of building an enormous persistent…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →runs pretty well on low end pc's, it's a "dumb little game" which also happens to be fun, i've got mine for free but for a dollar it's worth the 5 - 6 hours of fun you'll have outta this.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →September #AustinGameDev Events! 🎮 Sept 2: Game Dev Beer Night @ The Brewtorium Sept 4: EGaDS! Kickoff @ UT Austin Sept 6: Weird Worlds Wind-Down @ Pinballz Sept 11: Accessible Gaming @ St. Edward's Sept 26-28: Texas Game Jam Sept 28: The Art of Spades @ RichesArt Gallery
neutral · AI labelView post →This just in from the Purple Void: ★ Weird Worlds is only 99 cents ★ It's time for GOG's Indie Games Only Sale! www.gog.com/en/game/weir...
neutral · AI labelView post →Not much can be said for Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space and that is exactly its problem. There is little to no content within the game and many of the events are uninspired and random, with some items making slight differences in changing said events or battles. There are no incentives to continue playing after one's first playthrough, irrespective of scoreboards and the possibility of experiencing events ever so slightly, so why would any consumer buy this product unless they want to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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