Review: Ship Graveyard Simulator
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:You have three save slots to choose from, and there's an autosave to ensure your progress is kept. However, you can also manually save your game using the game's menu. To pause the game, bring up the game's menu by pressing ESC. Time needed per session:You can make a lot of progress in a short amount of time here, so 15-30 minute sessions will work fine - just don't expect to clear a ship in a single session.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians There's nothing here that could be considered offensive. |
Screenshots
Game Overview
Ship Graveyard Simulator might sound a bit glum, but players aren't being asked to explore wrecks or deal with the aftermath of the sea's wrath. Instead, they're demolition crews who help scuttle decommissioned ships (and submarines with the DLC). By using various tools, you'll pick apart each ship, salvaging anything valuable.
Gameplay is slightly more involved than I had expected. While you'd be right in assuming that each tool can only clear their specific types of salvage, they also feature special abilities that lets you clear things faster than normal. This is especially noticeable with the sledgehammer and the wielding torch - the former's "power swing" is devastating, while the torch's special ability lets you burn through metal much more quickly and thereby conserve your limited fuel supply.
Additionally, objects meant to be destroyed with the sledgehammer have a target or weak spot somewhere on them. It's not always in the same place, so you'll need to look for the tell-tale sparkle or glint on the object. Strike there and the object will crumble.
Now, if all you did was walk about and slap things with a hammer, this game would get boring pretty quickly. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do with the materials you gather from the pieces. There's a large town surrounding (and built from) the scrapyard itself, and scattered throughout it are contractors who are looking for specific materials. Finding them and delivering the goods is a better way to earn money than just dumping everything you find at the marketplace.
As you work your way through the game, the contractors will start asking for things that can't be found on the ships. These goods are made by refining the raw salvage in your large industrial furnace. As you upgrade the furnace, new materials will become available, increasing your profits and the range of materials you can sell.
However, these ships aren't always safe to explore. Later on in the game, you'll encounter ships with red pipes. Unlike everything else, these are dangerous - only cut into one of them if you're certain that you've turned off the gas valve connected with that pipe. Otherwise, you're going to blow yourself (and anything nearby) sky high. This doesn't end your game, but since it takes time to recover, you might end up paying a docking fee again. You'll also lose most of the materials that you could have gained from salvaging whatever was nearby when the explosion happened.
Overall, it's a satisfying little game - gather materials, refine materials, and sell them at a premium - but unfortunately, the limited gameplay means that it's not going to have the staying power of many other simulators on the market these days. It's good enough to try out though, so if you enjoy games where you can do things quietly and at your own pace, this might be worth your time.
Gameplay is slightly more involved than I had expected. While you'd be right in assuming that each tool can only clear their specific types of salvage, they also feature special abilities that lets you clear things faster than normal. This is especially noticeable with the sledgehammer and the wielding torch - the former's "power swing" is devastating, while the torch's special ability lets you burn through metal much more quickly and thereby conserve your limited fuel supply.
Additionally, objects meant to be destroyed with the sledgehammer have a target or weak spot somewhere on them. It's not always in the same place, so you'll need to look for the tell-tale sparkle or glint on the object. Strike there and the object will crumble.
Now, if all you did was walk about and slap things with a hammer, this game would get boring pretty quickly. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do with the materials you gather from the pieces. There's a large town surrounding (and built from) the scrapyard itself, and scattered throughout it are contractors who are looking for specific materials. Finding them and delivering the goods is a better way to earn money than just dumping everything you find at the marketplace.
As you work your way through the game, the contractors will start asking for things that can't be found on the ships. These goods are made by refining the raw salvage in your large industrial furnace. As you upgrade the furnace, new materials will become available, increasing your profits and the range of materials you can sell.
However, these ships aren't always safe to explore. Later on in the game, you'll encounter ships with red pipes. Unlike everything else, these are dangerous - only cut into one of them if you're certain that you've turned off the gas valve connected with that pipe. Otherwise, you're going to blow yourself (and anything nearby) sky high. This doesn't end your game, but since it takes time to recover, you might end up paying a docking fee again. You'll also lose most of the materials that you could have gained from salvaging whatever was nearby when the explosion happened.
Overall, it's a satisfying little game - gather materials, refine materials, and sell them at a premium - but unfortunately, the limited gameplay means that it's not going to have the staying power of many other simulators on the market these days. It's good enough to try out though, so if you enjoy games where you can do things quietly and at your own pace, this might be worth your time.
Points of Interest
19 Ships to scuttle
Each of the ships you can order are unique in their own ways, but the important differences lie with the possible materials you can salvage from them. Smaller ships don't offer more advanced materials, but they also don't require upgraded tools. The largest ships are loaded with richer materials, and you'll even need to drive your truck on board to deal with their immense size.
The last four ships are the submarines from the optional DLC.
The last four ships are the submarines from the optional DLC.
Exploring is rewarded
The ships themselves are fairly small compared to the size the game's world. The town is huge, with lots of people going about their lives and a lot of lootable crates lying around for you to test your lockpicking skills on. To the west of your base lies the massive junkyard, where you can often find basic materials just lying around and plenty of things to demolish while you're waiting for a ship to arrive.
There's also a buried treasure somewhere in the game - you'll get an achievement if you can find it.
There's also a buried treasure somewhere in the game - you'll get an achievement if you can find it.
Upgrade everything
I've already mentioned that you can upgrade your tools to make them more effective, but that's not all you can upgrade. You can also build and upgrade several buildings to unlock additional features or improve existing ones.
There's even a skill tree that rewards you with other enhancements like the ability to carry more materials or gain more materials from scrapped objects. Of course, you're going to fill out that skill tree long before you've scrapped every ship, so it's not like it holds you back or anything.
There's even a skill tree that rewards you with other enhancements like the ability to carry more materials or gain more materials from scrapped objects. Of course, you're going to fill out that skill tree long before you've scrapped every ship, so it's not like it holds you back or anything.
Steam community features
There are 49 achievements available for dedicated players to earn as they scuttle these ships. Many of them are earned by destroying 90% or more of each ship, but you can also earn them through specific actions, like upgrading buildings, finding treasure, playing for at least an in-game week, or falling overboard.
However, there are no Steam trading cards this time around, though I suspect that almost nobody will miss them.
However, there are no Steam trading cards this time around, though I suspect that almost nobody will miss them.
Repetitive and grind heavy
It won't take long before you've upgraded everything, trashed every type of object, and made a small fortune selling materials. After that, there's no in-game reason to continue, so for many players, this game won't be exciting enough to finish.
Concerns and Issues
You can hurt yourself
Salvaging materials from a docked ship isn't an entirely safe job. Live gas lines will explode if you try to saw into them without turning off the gas first, and you can also blow yourself up with the explosives in your own toolkit. Perhaps the easiest mistake you can make on the larger ships is accidentally falling overboard into the ocean.
None of these are shown in an objectionable way however - there's a fade to black and your character wakes up some time later as if nothing happened. The real penalty comes from the passage of in-game time, which may lead to you having to pay an additional docking fee.
None of these are shown in an objectionable way however - there's a fade to black and your character wakes up some time later as if nothing happened. The real penalty comes from the passage of in-game time, which may lead to you having to pay an additional docking fee.