Well I have a mixed feelings about this game. I was about to recommend this game, but I was waiting for something more to be in a game before I do this. Well, it didn't work out.

What's good

First, it's very impressive to see such game to be developed by one man. I had a lot of fun providing feedback and bug reports on the forum while the game was in Early Access.

Second, the idea of the game is good. Attempt to present it looks a bit dramatic. There are some good moments in the game which can create an illusion of something interesting happening.

What's bad

The idea of the game is undeveloped and presented very shallow. It looks like a very short and linear story told us via game. If you compare a game devlopment to a movie development this game reminds me of a short clips directors make to present their vision to producers before they are hired to film a full movie.

There is absolutely no challenge in this game. You just move further because you have nothing else to do.

The game interactions that affect your story progression boil out to just moving around and using terminals. All other interactive objects are secondary and give very little benefit.

The overall design of the game is very unobvious. The game lacks explanations and player assistance. You can discover some pieces of information scattered around only if you'll be ignoring story progression and specifically looking for them. These pieces of information are very disconnected from each other and won't give you a full picture or even a hint about it. Maybe if you collect them all you'll be able to see something. It seems I haven't found them all.

The game still contains bugs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAS7nwjsjcw

Summary

I was expecting this game to be in development for at least a year more. I was excited about what this game could be.
I never expected it to end like this.

I can only recommed it only if you're interested in studying game design. There are very good examples of bad design decisions, and a few good ideas. I would like to read post-mortem for this game.

Imagine Portal and Gone Home hooked up and had a kid. Moon and Silent Running did, too.

Imagine those kids met and fell in love playing Digital: A Love Story. That grandkid would be Verde Station.



Based on that lineage, I thought I was going in with pretty clear notions of what to expect, one of them being the paradoxical expectation of the unexpected. In spite of that, I was genuinely surprised by twists and turns in the narrative within 15 minutes.

I was not expecting to see an ending in under two hours. Those seeking a game to play moreso than a space to explore or a narrative to unravel will probably get there sooner, and probably be disappointed- there are other Steam reviews that claim to have finished in 20 minutes. But Verde Station seems clearly designed for multiple playthroughs. Exposition via recursion. Nothing here is as it seems, including the fade to black. The narrative IS the game.


At this juncture, all I can definitively say is those two hours have left me itching to go back, and as a fan of these experiential setting-sims, that's worth my recommendation.

If you are the type to embrace "walking simulators" because the term "game" is more of a pigeonhole, keep this one on your radar.

So what is Verde Station?

A "walking simulator", a is-it-a-game-game like 'Gone Home'? A puzzle adventure light on the puzzles? Maybe. I couldn't say.

All I can say is that I loved it.

Do not look up anything about this game that's not already part of the store page and you'll have a great experience.

Verde Station managed to surprise me a few times before I reached the ending and I'm still pretty sure I missed something.

Definitely recommended.

Verde Station is a great place to work for a year. It's like an internship only the pay is much better. You can read all the books you want. Catch up on some music and movies. Bask in the solitude. You can go at your own pace, just remember to check the plants. You really need to maintain the integrity of the plants because if they are alive, you are alive. Don't get too worried about the little things but definitely make sure to log any issues you encounter on the station. Also a good tip is to really really stay focused on your mainframe. I mean the terminal. It's a terminal. I mean the system, it's a server with terminals. I named a mistake when I logged the books but keep reading because you'll need all the books in the microwave. Mug plenty of air when yoU plants the kitchen. Also, any an I mEan ANYYY horse that is brown or galloping SHOULD be boring. Appreciate their screen bat make sure to cleanse the view view. Stay focused. Do you horse to death angel? 666ml. I rebirthed a great viDEo . I w/ very safe during the music a the MUd cleANSses your mug and pl8 projectors.

I like what another reviewer said about this game providing Lego pieces for the mind. Verde Station gives the player an incomplete set of building blocks from maybe more than one story and asks them to put it all together however they see fit. If you treat the game how it's looking to be treated, you should come out with some things to think about. If you want the game to entertain you passively, this might not be the game for you.

Some people are saying they did everything in the game in under half an hour. I didn't come close to doing everything and completely ignored certain segments of the game and I took almost two hours to finish it with 2 out of 12 achievements.

Okay this game gave me one of the biggest mind messings ever in the history of PC gaming by the time i got to the end.

But it's not for everyone to try this so before buying this game ask yourself: have you seen 'Moon' movie? did you like it? Do you think the idea of solitude on a space station is a good thing? if not - read no more.

If yes. Get this game and enjoy a really weird game.

Scoring: 10/10 if you can enjoy games that think differently. 0/10 if COD and fast & furious action is your only thing.

PS. for once it's imperative to not read spoilers. I'll though give one that got to me in the beginning: If stuck, go to next room.

Look at everything and try everything. Break the bounds set to you.

edit: getting all the achievements is also something entirely different. Get ready to spend some time in front of the main menu terminal.

Just... love... it!

Short enough to make you want more - long enough to not get out of track...

Although I know not much will happen (if you're expecting loads of action of any kind, so this game is not for you), it ALWAYS makes me look over my shoulder when playing... even in real life! oO

Consistent story, fluid gameplay, shocking finale... gotta get more of it!

Intelligent, thought-provoking, and more than a little unnerving. Verde Station follows in the footsteps of Gone Home and The Stanley Parable; it's a game about exploring an environment, and in so doing, coming to understand that environment. Or, to try anyway.

Like Gone Home or The Stanley Parable, it's easy to "win" Verde Station. You can go from the opening to the ending in half an hour if you put your mind to it. But that's not the point; don't do that. Take your time and, more to the point, think about what's going on. Expect to be confused. Expect to be misled. Expect to be surprised.

If you say the phrase "walking simulator" with contempt, you probably won't enjoy Verde Station. That's fine. But if you're willing to leap into the unknown (and Verde Station is one of the very few pieces of media that actually is improved by approaching it without knowing what's going to happen), I cannot recommend this game more highly.

As one of the other (positive) reviewers said, "There is no direct entertainment value in this game".

Heed that warning.

Obviously a lot of people really enjoyed this, so I can't say it's bad. However, I will say that it's not really a "game", so adjust expectations accordingly. I found it to be ultimately a particularly unengaging, only marginally interactive, "experience". As another (negative) reviewer said, basically a "walking simulator".

Again, lots of positive reviews here (which is why I bought it in the first place) so it might be your cup of tea. But if you're looking for an actual *game*, I'd suggest you look elsewhere.

Shortest game ever will receive my shortest review ever:

Game good, but short. Buy.


Well ok, at least some sentences more:

Well i will hope there will be more to it. Right now i'm done (it seems so at least) with it in 45 Minutes. Including a restart and taking screenshots.
Nice atmosphere though, cute jokes and lovely consoles (hey i love consoles) but no real story. Still i enjoyed my tiny ride.

But only get if if you're fine with EarlyAccess AND a not much content (to put it friendly). Maybe a bit overpriced for this content, but i've seen worse.
If i compare that with prices of a movie at a cinema. Well...

I am really disappointed - there was absolutely nothing interesting to discover. Maybe I missed something but the game did not last much more than 30 mins for me. First I thought I was stuck but than I realised: that's it. There is no way out with the third walk around the station. This 'experience' directs you to a partly forseeable conclusion.

It's not even a good walking simulator. Interacting with stuff was more than messy. In my opinion the game's not worth the 5 bucks I spent on it. To make for a game or experience, a lot more story is needed.

Recommended to anyone who liked the gameplay style of Gone Home, and also enjoys science fiction with with much more subtle storytelling. After my first playthrough, I have no idea what's happening on board Verde Station, but I dfinitely enjoyed the experience.

This is tough. I have a hard time recommending this game but on the other hand, I have a hard time telling you that you shouldn't play it... so I'm picking the easy route and recommending Verde Station with a warning.

Is it worth $10?.... probably not.
Is it worth your time?....probably.

I feel like I just kind of accidentally stumbled into the ending of the game within an hour. The game drops hints to lead you to believe where it's headed and then tricks you by ending the opposite. I'm for twist surprises but it felt cheap. That said there was an uneasiness that I enjoyed while roaming the halls of Verde Station, noticing the little and not so little differences each time I entered a room. I know I had to have missed a bit of content and I will be venturing back in to see what I can find.

There's a mystery in Verde Station. I just don't know if it's worth figuring out.

'Gone Home' with proper story without topical politics.
'Gone Home' with real envorinmental story-telling.
It's smart, intelligent version of 'Gone Home' for smart people.
It's a puzzle game without a single puzzle. The story itself is a puzzle you need to complete inside your head. It's meta-game, it won't entertain you directly - it's a box with lego pieces to entertain your mind. It's basically half an hour long to find and pick up some of the pieces and try to arrange them in some logical way or another.
It could well worth your money if you are that kind of guy. Or it could not - it's half an hour long, and there is no direct entertainment value in this thing.
I love it.

Even though there is no weapon system (at the moment) and no clear goal (apart from terminal maintenance and trying to find out who,what,why your there) this game still feels very interesting its still in early access but still shows real potential when it comes to a new creative look at a first person space station exploration game? The game feels short when playing for the first time but playing a second the game kinda makes you feel as though you want to look everywhere and research/search everything there's more than what meets the eye with verde station will be interesting to see what the developer has installed for his next update :)

I'm looking forward to spending more time with Verde Station, but I'm already hooked. Let me first start by saying that that I think space and isolation themed games are on the rise, and this is one of the best titles that I've played which has explored those themes. The artwork and exploration is top notch, the gameplay is inventive and intuitive without being overtly obvious and keeps me engaged.

I really look forward to the developer including VR support in a future update which will only add to the overall value that this great indie release offers, making it a must play for anyone into space, adventure, or mystery games.

Short but genuinely unsettling. I was impressed with how effectively such a small environment could be manipulated to evoke such a feeling of confusion and desperation.

This game and I already have a love-hate relationship.

I've explored everything I can seemingly explore and read everything I can possibly read and it only took me about 20 solid minutes. I hate to say it but in its current state, it's not worth the price tag.

That being said, what I did experience, I really enjoyed. I just think it's really lackluster given the premise and the atmosphere. Everything was very linear, the inability to backtrack at times was extremely frustrating. I expected a lot more than I received.

I know it's Alpha and I really hope it grows and evolves because it has SO much potential. Every other reviewer seems to think its the best thing since sliced bread and I just don't believe that yet.

I'll be watching it closely to see just how it does shape up and I fully expect to rewrite this review in the future. Keep up the good work guys, you're REALLY on to something here, but you haven't quite gotten there yet.

I just finished my last playthrough a couple of hours ago and it left me with a mixed set of feelings.

At first, when I started the game, I thought like: "Okay, cool, I'm about to manage and explore a huge space station."
But, as things turned out, it went completely different. That's, just to say, not a bad thing, because it provided a nice surprise regarding the experience and it felt kind of nice.

On the other hand, the experience itself was not so terrific in the end. That's probably because you know exactly what's
going on when you take a close look at your surroundings. (I'm not going to mention any details.)
Take a second/minute to take in the details and you might be able to figure out what's going on yourself.

Another thing I didn't really like, but that's probably because it's still in development, is the short gameplay of each playthrough. Depending on your play speed it can be done in less than, let's say, 40 minutes.

What's good? Fear, by answering a set of questions you're supposed, or you believe, you get a custom tailored portion
of fear presented to you. If that's completely correct, I don't know, because I don't know how the game has been designed. But, it's done in a good way and makes you act careful for as long as it lasts.

I recomend the game as far as it concerns the concept, but I don't recommend it based on actual content. It's too little at this moment. The experience doesn't last long enough at this time to be regarded as a full gaming experience. It feels more like a test setup for psychologic gameplay elemenst to see what works and what doesn't. (Depending on your goal as a developer)

Conclusion:
Verde Station has potential, but needs more work. It needs longer playthrough time. At the time of writing the presented content is not enough to keep you satisfied for long. For the current price you expect more material, story and interaction with your surroundings.
But, I do recommend Verde Station, because at its core it's a great concept that does work in a fast way. And if the developers do something with the feeback, they'll be able to create an awesome game in the end.

Verde Station (Italian or Spanish for Green) is similar to exploration games like Gone Home. Controls are simple and effective, sounds and environment set the mood perfectly. Unlike some other exporation games *co-DearEsther-ugh* there's plenty to interact with, keeping you involved and entertained. I played the game for a little over half an hour before deciding to come write a review. It was a fun session and left me wanting to play more (which I will definitely do later tonight, I think playing the game while it's dark out would help immersion).

IMO, the game is worth the current price point it's selling for ($8-10). I am curious to see what the final version will be like.

Only thing that's bothered me was the universe outside the windows I could see the seams of the graphic box of the universe. Suggestion to devs would be make it a sphere so it doesn't take away from immersion. Also, when I walked on books, they didn't fall or get knocked out of the way, but if I drop a ball on them, they fall all over the place.

Update (from comments on this review and finishing the game)
FYI, game is a tad on the short side. Most people should finish within an hour to an hour and a half if they're taking it slow like me. Good to replay one or two more times to try different things, but most would probably consider this a one-shot game. So at most you'll probably get 2 hours out of this game before you're done with it. I still would say that's not bad considering I spend more on a meal at Taco Bell.

Update Update:
Developer is answering a lot of questions in the Community Discussion section. He just mentioned this: "I do plan to add to the game length by including more items to interact with so players are spending more time in each area. Especially in the Lounge and Kitchen. They are a bit sparse right now."