subspace scavengers

In the alternate reality, by the end of 20th century a new kind of business emerged. People who risk going into subspaces set to destruction, to grab as many valuable items as they can, to sell and earn. Now YOU can rush through non-euclidean spaces, bid for abandoned storages, take special opportunities, work for collectors, very rich people, lawmen or criminals. Be one of Subspace Scavengers in this mix of a trading and fast-paced first person action game with elements of roguelike.

Yet to be released, Subspace Scaveners is first game by Void Room.

Currently PC version is being developed. Game will be working with VR headsets although they won't be required to play and enjoy game.

A bit of history.

Some time ago, in 2005, I had this spider creature travelling through strange, non euclidean world. I dropped that idea then. But after years, while I had other ideas, I was just playing around with this one, thinking what actually I could do with it.

Then Katamari Damacy came into my mind. That resulted in action gameplay focused on collecting items in limited time. I started to like the idea and after a while I had strange, crazy characters living beyond time and space, recycling used worlds. And the worlds themselves were also strange ones - cathedrals filled with ringing phones, with corridors leading into a jungle full of waterfalls.

I realised that I might have wandered too far into craziness. I needed to anchor it in more familiar setting. Why not to go very opposite? Earth, 21st century maybe? Quite quickly main characters became children working in an industrial zone recycling used pockets of space. Children labour was a bit too much for more light hearted game I wanted to make at that point. Children became adults. 21st century became 20th century. I added a little bit of retro devices to that, as I really like old computers. But something was missing right there. I just had setting, I started to write down ideas for main characters, plot line. But it was still about just grabbing things from those places and it was just only about selecting things that had particular traits. I needed more. I serioulsy was thinking about adding crafting to allow making new items that were more worthy. (actually there exists a game with very similar idea - finding items and crafting them into new ones, it was released for 8-bit computers, Finders Keepers).

Back then I used to watch different reality TV shows. One was about bidding self storages, getting stuff from them and selling that. Why can't I do that? To allow player to actually bid for those pockets of space, grab stuff, sell and earn. Then more ideas started flowing. About Soviet scientist, how his invention changed the world, how economy has changed, how everyday lives of people were affected, all good and bad things happening. It started to head into more adult and sometimes dark regions. But I was ok with that, as gameplay, while still actioney, was no longer just about collecting red and round objects resulting in extra bonus for getting two traits right. And then came the name for those pockets of space. And more and more I digged into world, characters, science behind the game, more it started to feel real and alive.

Subspace Scavengers were born.