Still There (v1.03)

A lonely space station becomes an emotional pressure cooker in this thoughtful sci-fi adventure, where routine maintenance and small talk slowly give way to a mystery about loss, isolation, and the things people refuse to leave behind. You play Karl Hamba, caretaker of the Bento, a remote “space lighthouse” hanging in deep space with only the sarcastic station AI Gorky for company. An emergency signal disrupts Karl’s carefully managed life and draws him into contact with strangers carrying their own regrets. The tone balances bleak psychological drama with absurd workplace comedy, oddball artificial intelligences, and the surprisingly serious business of brewing coffee properly.

Most of the action revolves around inspecting the Bento’s machinery, interpreting cryptic manuals, rerouting systems, and solving environmental puzzles that make the station feel like a complicated machine you genuinely have to learn. Problems rarely amount to simple inventory locks; players need to understand how power, communications, navigation, and other systems interact, then use that knowledge under increasingly strange circumstances. Conversations are equally important, letting Karl confront, comfort, antagonize, or confess to the people on the other end of the radio. Progress is story-led rather than combat-driven, with the challenge coming from attentive observation, lateral thinking, and piecing together details hidden in the station’s everyday routines.

Still There stands out because its puzzles serve its themes instead of interrupting them: maintaining a failing outpost mirrors Karl’s struggle to keep his own life functioning. Its hand-drawn presentation, expressive character art, and deliberately awkward humour give the station a warmer, stranger personality than the usual sterile sci-fi setting. The result recalls classic point-and-click adventures such as The Longest Journey or Machinarium, but with a more intimate, melancholy focus and less emphasis on sprawling item hunts. It suits players who enjoy dialogue-heavy mysteries, clever technical puzzles, and science fiction that treats emotional baggage as seriously as cosmic danger; action-first players may find its measured pace less accommodating.