Space is, by definition, fairly empty. It gets lonely out there. In RymdResa, the first thing you see is your planet being destroyed by a wayward meteor, which pretty much sets the scene for the sort of lonely bleakness that the game has in store for you.

A roguelike space adventure, RymdResa (which literally means Space Trip) tasks you with finding another planet to live on while avoiding the many (and there certainly are many) perils of the wide void of space. The three chapters of the game give you three different objectives to follow, and while the first has the more traditional form of permadeath that resets all your progress, the latter two have goals that are saved between deaths. And in all of them, you get to keep any experience points you gain - which increase your space-faring abilities - as well as the various pieces of equipment you may find.

The game is pretty simple: there's no way to attack the hostiles around you, so you're forced to avoid everything from space debris, mines, enemy ships, and suns as you explore for the resources you require. These resources, literally called Resources, are both your fuel and your lifeline, depleting as you accelerate or get attacked. You also earn 'Spacepoints' (yeah) that get you one-time bonuses and allow you to use different ships. Later, you also collect Materials, allowing you to upgrade your planet or mothership. 

But what's really unique about RymdResa is how it presents this fairly simple gameplay: billed as 'poetic', the style of the game certainly reflects this. Random chunks of prose showing up as the game's years brush by, read by a robotic voice, or even appearing directly on the fabric of space - even the planets, derelict craft, and other structures you explore (simply by clicking once on them) have a strange, out-of-place feel to them, like the entire galaxy you're exploring is an unreal dream. The game as a thematic whole stays together fairly well, but it just doesn't manifest enjoyably in the game itself; I found myself skipping all the prose, ignoring the exploration results screens, and just wanting something more meaty to play. 

See, the game is interesting in its entirety, but not particularly engaging. That's probably intentional, given the game's more 'zen' style, in the music, graphics, and simple controls. This would be fine, if its the kind of game you're looking for, except that the game's difficulty, number of obstacles, and roguelike nature tend to go against this. It was far too easy to get into various zones just absolutely filled with enemies, forcing you to slowly putter along, lest you run into something that just obliterates you, like the enemies that can fire at you from beyond your range of vision or rapid-fire at you with bullets that also stop you in place.

RymdResa is a peculiar game, trying for a 'poetic' experience in a genre that, traditionally, doesn't lend itself to relaxing experiences. It's unique in style, but not in gameplay, making a game that, while interesting, isn't exactly exciting. Or, in some cases, enjoyable. It's just a little too basic to play again and again, as you will be, because it can be as unforgiving as it can be peaceful.