Note: You may also enjoy our just released Top 50 Best iOS Games of 2014, So Far awards, in which Out There scored highly.

Excellent spaceship management/game book adventure hybrid Out There is excellent - you can read our full review and our exclusive developer interview in Episode 3 of Grab It. And if you haven't already, you can jump in and start exploring the final frontier by grabbing Out There right now. It’s an easy recommendation, as Out There’s lonely combat-free atmosphere and unique choose-your-own adventure mash up is a very worthwhile package.

Be warned though, it is not an easy game, and you will die a lot. The developers at Mi-Clos Studio have done a great job of only giving you enough information to get you started, and then the hand holding stops and you're on your own. Discovering the best methods of survival are part of the fun in Out There, so reading someone else’s tips and tricks could be seen as spoilers. If you’d rather learn through the fun of trial and error, look away now. For others, these three simple ideas might help you survive a little longer and reach a little further into outer space’s inky depths.

Update: Episode 4 of Grab It is out now, featuring an exclusive Making Of for stunning iOS platformer Last Inua, the top 10 musically-driven iPad games, five exclusive developer interviews and plenty more.

1. Don’t horde your essential elements. Space in your cargo bay is limited and precious. Each slot will hold 20 units of any element, and so when you’ve mined or probed for the game’s four essential elements of Hydrogen and Helium (fuel), Oxygen (for your ship’s environment) and iron (for repairs), top up your tanks when needed. For example, if your fuel is down to 86/100, and you have a full cargo slot of 20 Hydrogen elements, use 7 of them to take your tank up to 100/100 and your Hydrogen stores down to 13 (1 Hydrogen fills 2 units of your tank). This way if you find more Hydrogen you’ve got 7 spare holding spots for them instead of none. You’re actually gaining cargo space by storing fuel in your tank rather than in storage.

2. Always keep at least three iron (Fe) elements tucked away in a corner of your cargo bay just in case. You'll thank me when, during one of your runs, your drill breaks. There are three ways of gaining more iron. One way is to drill for more, another is to dismantle parts of your ship. Drilling for iron is obviously impossible if your drill is broken, and dismantling essential parts of your ship is a last resort as this can prevent you from achieving other essential tasks. There will be times when through some of the game’s story pages you will have some good fortune and be gifted some iron, but in an emergency it is not something you want to rely on. Repairing most components on your ship only takes one or two units of iron, and it is good to have that third spare up your sleeve, in case of a really bad run of luck.

3. During your travels you will occasionally come across abandoned ships, and their cargo capacity or shield resistance might be better than your own. You can trade in your ship for the newly found one and continue on. If you do, however, be sure to take stuff from your cargo bay with you. You can transfer any previously mined elements to your new ride, but you can’t transfer technology. The next best thing is to dismantle any tech on your old ship, breaking it down into elements, which you can then transfer over. You can then use these elements to build things on your new ship that it didn’t already have. Problem solved.

If you’re enjoying Out There as much as we are, and have some other tips you’d like to share, leave them in the comments below, or even just your thoughts and impressions on the game. It’s one of those games in which each run will have its own unique story and set of events. You will get yourself out of some tight binds with a bit of luck and some clever problem solving at times.

You can also take a look at our poster for a hypothetical Out There movie.

we also recommend checking out our 50 Best iOS Indie Games of 2013 and trying out an issue of the digital magazine, which will help you discover amazing new developers and game experiences on the App Store you never knew existed. We guarantee you'll discover dozens of awesome new games in it.

For those yet to take the plunge, check out the trailer below and mash this link to grab it.

Writer:
Garry Balogh

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