Solar 2 is an open world, macro-physical, sandbox simulation game. Its premise is short and sweet: You are a meager asteroid in the infinity of space. Become the biggest and best thing in the universe! Developed primarily by independent developer Jay Watts, Solar 2 is a game that is relaxing, with a tense undertone that a more self-aware gamer may philosophize about. If you like to kick back and enjoy a relaxing game with neat visuals, Solar 2 is a fine choice. Gamers that always need missions or goals may not appreciate Solar 2 since its mission selection is small and due to being a one-mechanic game, lacks depth in its basic interaction. It makes up for it with its application of physics and concept, however. And who doesn't like an endless virtual universe!?

Graphics

Solar 2's graphics are simple and functional. Beyond that, what else can you really add to the look of asteroids, planets, and stars that won't disrupt the accuracy of the gameplay? Space itself is, well, black and spacey, with colors of distant nebulae and stars scattered about so you feel like you're in space. Stars glow like they should, and protective shields look the way you'd expect. Ships look pretty cool, but they're a bit small. This probably isn't true on a lower resolution display (I play in 1080p), but for the larger ones it can be a problem. Otherwise, I have no complaints.

Music

The sound in Solar 2 was created by JP Neufeld and Matt Wiesen of Symphony of Specters. The sound effects fit their environment very well. When planets collide there's a dull "poof", spaceships have puny "pew-pew-pew", and asteroids colliding sounds... like rocks. The music is what makes Solar 2 so relaxing. It's decidedly ambient, with hints of instrumental thrown in for effect. There's a specific track that plays during a certain mission, however, that's amazing. I was disappointed to find that the track in question — Mind Over Metal — was not included as part of the OST that came with the Humble Indie Bundle it was released as part of. It's a shame because it's a great track and should be the fanfare/credits song of the game. Long story short, Solar 2's sound is appropriate and mellow.

Difficulty

I wouldn't consider Solar 2 a difficult game unless you're not too good at tracking multiple objects at once. Even then, it's fairly forgiving and since it's a sandbox game, recovering from failure doesn't take a long time. It's perfect for casual play.

Gameplay

Ah! The meat and potatoes! Well, more like the appetizer. Solar 2 doesn't have much gameplay to speak of. That doesn't make it a bad game, but rather a simple one that's meant to just simply be enjoyed, with no pressure. You start "life" out as a measly little asteroid. By running into other asteroids, you add to your Mass, helpfully displayed on the HUD. After a certain point, you gain enough Mass to become a planet. Now you can draw asteroids into your orbit and absorb multiple asteroids at once. You'll advance from there to a life planet, and then finally a star. As a star, you can bring planets into your orbit, which can then be improved by their absorption of asteroids. Your star can then absorb the planets, and become bigger. Repeat ad nauseum to become bigger, badder, and more impressive.

There are a handful of Story missions and Challenge missions you can opt to complete. They're mostly concerned with the nuances of gameplay and testing your general skill. The difficulty ramps up in the Challenge missions, but it's still nothing that will take you weeks. I earned all the Steam achievements in the span of 17 hours of playing, and 10 of that was spent screwing around. :)

Story

What's a "story"? There's so little that I can't even consider it a story. But that's cool. It means you get to make up your own as you play in the universal sandbox. Some games just don't need a story, and Solar 2 is one of them.

Final Verdict

Solar 2 is a macro-scale game with a dead-simple premise: Become the biggest, baddest thing in the universe! With a relaxing soundtrack and simple, accessible goals, Solar 2 somehow makes destroying entire solar systems relaxing. It's almost like interactive meditation. It's perfect for short bursts or moderate stints of relaxing, but with such a simple premise, it may leave some gamers thirsting for a deeper game. Despite being a huge "core gamer", I thoroughly enjoy Solar 2. Take that how you will.

Solar 2 is available from a variety of commercial sources and was part of the Humble Android Bundle 5.

Screenshots

Metadata

Platform: Windows, OS X, GNU/Linux, Android
Release Date: 2011-06-17
Genre: Sandbox, Casual
Developer: Jay Watts of Murudai