Premature Evaluation is the weekly column in which we explore the wilds of early access. This week, Fraser s pottering around in RocketWerkz’ space station sim, Stationeers, and learning that, just perhaps, it’s better to stay on Earth.>

Why is a giant egg on top of my microwave? I m trying to play through Stationeers dire tutorial, but I actually feel like I m participating in one of Gordon Ramsay s literal kitchen nightmares. In the egg carton, it was very much a normal-sized, innocuous egg, but somewhere between picking it up and mistakenly putting it on and not in the microwave, it grew at least 20 times larger. And I m not sure I really should be putting eggs in microwaves. Certainly not to make muffins.

I somehow muddle through, making a muffin that I don t need and fixing a cable that does nothing. Well done me – I ve completed the tutorial. Lamentably, I ve retained very little of the excessively complicated instructions required to perform the simplest of tasks. With unearned confidence, I dive into the game-proper, my head full of dreams of lunar bases and SCIENCE. It is dark, I m alone and I have no idea what I need to do.

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I want> to be the type of person who plays and enjoys Stationeers, the Space Station 13-inspired construction and management game from Day Z creator Dean Hall’s studio Rocketwerkz. Unfortunately, I am> the type of person who initially gets excited at the prospect of managing complex interlocking systems, then finds it all too much and scampers back to Overwatch.

That won’t stop me trying mind, as I’ll get the chance to when the game launches on Steam Early Access later tonight.

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As we recover from the trail of destruction left behind by E3’s news conferences, it s important to take a breath and remember not all the cool kids are hanging out in LA this week (and even if they are, they don t always get heard). Here s seven neat-looking games that have yet to be released, to whom we will gladly extend some of the industry s overflowing hype. … [visit site to read more]