- Major Update v1.1: Blessings of the Five (Plus a Sale!) - 17 October 2023
Today marks the first major content update for Astronaut: The Best! Besides the usual bug fixes and polish, we've got some significant improvements tailored to address player feedback. Since much of our early criticism has centered around the game's difficulty, we asked each of the High Priests of Flaustria to help by giving our players a blessing. In short, this update adds: Time Travel New Challenges Friendlier Metagame Progression Bug Fixes Our First Sale - 25% off, this week only! ICYMI, we're Steam Deck Verified! Accolades Trailer Before we get into the details, here's a new trailer to share what games media thinks of AtB so far: Now let's dive further into the update! To explain more, here are the High Priests of Flaustria. Time Travel Even though we tried to make failure fun and rewarding, it's still human nature to want to succeed, and understandable to tilt when plans go awry.…
- Patch 1.0.1 - 12 September 2023
Today marks our first postrelease patch! We've got more updates coming soon, but here are a few we wanted to put out there first. The main focus is creating a better experience on Steam Deck and other similar setups. Small Screen Readability Adjusted all size of all onscreen text for readability at smaller screen sizes. As a result, astronaut info and tooltips have a different shape. In addition, some trait descriptions have been edited for brevity (with nothing of consequence lost). Input Reworded some tutorial messages to be more input-neutral Disabled WASD key movement to fix some input bugs. I'm 99% sure nobody was using that, but let us know in Discord if you were. Bug Fixes - "Earning Your Wings" Mission Fixed second astronaut's stats appearing inaccurately on first day Fixed second astronaut losing training when gaining a personality Fixed chance of High Priests demanding irrelev…
- Astronaut: The Best - Now Available! - 15 August 2023
Today is our release of Astronaut: The Best! To celebrate, we're offering a 15% launch discount, meaning it's on sale for only $12.74 through August 22nd. Astronaut: The Best is an occult management adventure about running a space academy using lies, witchcraft, and hard work. Here's our reveal trailer: If you'd like a little more detail about how the gameplay works, here's my attempt at a brief explanation: And if you're not sure whether you'd like to take the plunge and buy it, consider checking out some of our early reviews: EIP Gaming Digital Trends GameLuster We hope that Astronaut: The Best is something you could not possibly have predicted but will appreciate all the same. For feedback, or just for a place to talk more about it, you're welcome to join our Discord. Best, Mike and the Universal Happymaker team
- Visual Novel Fest Demo! - 7 August 2023
From August 7-14th, Astronaut: The Best is part of Steam's Visual Novel Fest! To celebrate, we're offering a special limited-time demo including two missions. The featured mission "Prestige Drama" challenges you to shape the nation’s perception of space by meddling in a popular TV show. Will you turn the show into space race propaganda, lead a coup against the production, or influence a classy drama to become a lurid romance? The choice is up to you. "Prestige Drama" comes replete with a panoply of never-before-seen polish and usability features that make it a whole new experience from its previous public appearance at LudoNarraCon 2023. Sure, Astronaut: The Best isn’t your typical visual novel. But for fans of decision-based narratives, It offers surreally comedic consequences, a moral laboratory of perilous responsibility, and roguelite missions that are never the same twice. Guide pr…
- Astronaut: The Best Launching August 15th! - 24 July 2023
Astronaut: The Best is releasing on August 15th, 2023, available for $14.99 USD! After eight years of hard work, we can't wait for you to see all the surprises the full release has in store. Check out our announcement trailer below for a sample. If you're intrigued we would greatly appreciate your wishlist and your help spreading the word! About Astronaut: The Best Astronaut: The Best is an occult management adventure about running a space academy using lies, witchcraft, and/or hard work. Your astronauts aren't just stats: they're incompetent screwups. You must guide procedurally misfit recruits through a roguelite web of scandals, challenges, and space-shatteringly meaningful choices. Turn them into national heroes by any means necessary, or your bosses will see you dead in a ditch. Learn more on our Steam page!
- Steam Deck Compatible! - 12 June 2023
Astronaut: The Best is fully playable on Steam Deck! After extensive QA and player feedback, we are confident that Astronaut: The Best not only meets all of Valve's criteria for Steam Deck verification, but runs smoothly throughout the entire gameplay experience. Our team thinks that Steam Deck might just be the best way to play AtB! We are awaiting a review from Valve to receive the official Steam Deck verification badge, but this currently has no timetable. So we encourage you to try it out now! Thanks for your interest in Astronaut: The Best! We hope you enjoy playing it on whatever platform you choose, and as always, we would be happy to hear about any issues you encounter. Best, Mike and the Universal Happymaker team
- LudoNarraCon Exclusive Demo: New Mission! - 4 May 2023
The Flaustrian Royal Space Academy has encountered its most deadly threat yet: Spacewolves. Needless to say, that is the name of TV's most popular prestige drama, which portrays space exploration as a senseless danger. With every episode that airs, the people of Flaustria turn more and more against your mission to visit space. And since your rocket is powered by the belief of the people, that's a serious issue. From May 4-11th, visit Astronaut: The Best's Steam page to download an exclusive demo of our new mission "Prestige Drama." This demo is our exhibit in LudoNarraCon 2023, so you can imagine as you play it that you are situated at a tactfully decorated booth in a lavish expo hall full of wonders. The demo includes our tutorial mission "Earning Your Wings" along with "Prestige Drama." In the full game, you'll be able to actually go to space, along with unlocking more missions and ma…
- A Very Ludonarrative Conversation w/ Prof. Sean Bouchard - 2 May 2023
When exhibiting at LudoNarraCon, we wanted to contribute with a meaningful discussion about the intersection of game design and narrative. To do it properly, we've enlisted the help of Sean Bouchard, Professor of Game Design at USC and cohost of Mostly Walking. Join us for a dive into the game design of Astronaut: The Best, and learn about the process and inspirations behind its unique procedural narrative!
- Special Guest Playthrough w/ Alex Beachum of Mobius Digital - 2 May 2023
We're delighted and honored to host Alex Beachum, creative director of the seminal space game Outer Wilds! Join us as he talks with Astronaut: The Best's designers Mike Sennott and David Mershon while sampling the strange delights of AtB's LudoNarraCon demo. Some discussions about game design are likely to result alongside the many other tangents!
- AtB Developer Playthrough and Q&A - 2 May 2023
What even is Astronaut The Best? The designers of AtB give an inside look at the new LudoNarraCon-exclusive mission, joined by moderator Jules Engel. Take a look before trying the LNC demo, to know what you're getting into. Or tune in after playing, to learn more about the development behind it - and perhaps some secrets of the full game. We'll be restreaming this often (along with some other special events!) during LudoNarraCon from May 4-8th, so stop by anytime during the show. But during the specified time, we'll be in the chat answering viewer questions, so especially tune in then!
