Update 10/24/2019: the Age of Rust team has released a pre-alpha demo, open to everyone, but only holders of MFT, Origin or LastLight Age of Rust tokens can get past the first two rooms within it.
Read about our experience playing this demo in the Age of Rust Demo section near the bottom of this article.
Age of Rust is a puzzle-based adventure game in development from Space Pirate Games. It has recently gained notoriety because of the developer’s claims that Enjin Coin will back its items.
Age of Rust is still in an early stage of development. But this article will explain what we know so far about this game.
Age of Rust Gameplay trailer
The Age of Rust team has produced a gameplay trailer that shows off Age of Rust’s graphics and style of play. It shows a dystopian sci-fi background filled with machines, fire, and rusted-out gear.
Age of Rust features
Here is what we know so far about Age of Rust‘s features.
A puzzle adventure game
Age of Rust is a puzzle adventure game similar to King’s Quest, Phantasmagoria, or Riven, but with better graphics. The developer specifically compares the game to Myst, Firewatch, and Alien Isolation.
However, unlike these other games, Age of Rust has three different types of puzzles. The first type is what we are all used to: puzzles that have to be solved to progress further in the game.
The second type of puzzle requires you to have a particular crypto item in your wallet in order to solve it. Although most puzzle games do require you to use in-game items to solve puzzles, Age of Rust is unique in that these items are held externally on a blockchain.
The third type of puzzle is a “treasure hunt” that requires you to follow clues and solve a very difficult mystery. If you are the first one to solve this mystery, you will earn a 20 bitcoin reward. This is similar to other blockchain puzzle games such as Pineapple Arcade.
Rustbits
Age of Rust relies on an in-game currency called Rustbits. The developer no longer offers Rustbits for sale, and the only way to get them right now is to buy them from other collectors. The current price is around US$0.015 (1.5¢) per Rustbit.
The developer has also released collectibles that will play a role within the game. Many of these can be found on OpenSea.
Enjin Coin integration
The Age of Rust team has announced that all crypto-items in the game will be backed by Enjin Coin. If a player wants to quit playing the game but cannot find someone willing to buy his items at greater than the Enjin melt value, he will be able to melt his Age of Rust items down and sell the Enjin that was used to mint it.
A trading card or role-playing game?
Some blockchain gaming news sites have reported that Age of Rust will contain RPG or collectible trading card game elements.
However, the developer’s official site only mentions that players will be able to collect weapons of “extraordinary power” that will have a “cool-down blockchain timer.” There is no mention of traditional RPG elements such as leveling, hit points, or character classes; nor is there mention of being able to summon creatures as is common in trading card games.
Still, there are not many details known about the game. So it could have these elements by the time it is released.
Age of Rust demo (updated)
Space Pirate Games has released a playable demo of Age of Rust. It shows off the game’s graphics and sound and provides some experience of what the controls will feel like in the public release.
We downloaded this demo to see how it plays. This is what we discovered.
How to install the Age of Rust demo
If you want to install the demo, first navigate to its official download page. Then click download v.x.x.x.
The download comes in the form a zipped folder.
Extract the folder, then look for the Age of Rust application file. Click this file install the demo.
Once it is installed, the demo can be found under start –> programs –> Age of Rust.
Connecting an Enjin Wallet
If you don’t have an Origin or LastLight Age of Rust token, you won’t be able to get past the first two rooms of the demo. And in order for the game to know that you have this token, you’ll need to connect an Enjin wallet.
To do this, click options –> wallet from the Age of Rust main menu. From this menu, follow the instructions below based on whether you have an Enjin Cloud account or not.
If you don’t have an Enjin Cloud account:
Enter your email address and click register. You’ll receive a password through email. Enter this password from within the game and click login to continue.
A QR code will appear. From within your Enjin wallet, click the menu button (three horizontal lines in the upper-left). Then click linked apps –> + link app.
Scan the QR code using your mobile device. You wallet will connect to the game.
If you do have an Enjin Cloud account:
Click the box beside I already have a login. Enter your email address and the password you were given through email when you first registered for Enjin Cloud.
Click login. A QR code will appear.
From the Enjin wallet main menu on your mobile device, click the three horizontal bars in the upper-left. Then click linked apps –> + link app. From there, you’ll be able to scan the code and connect your wallet.
Age of Rust demo gameplay
The Age of Rust demo takes place on a spaceship. Some kind of disaster has occurred, and the player must determine how to survive long enough to regain control of the ship and continue on course.
The player begins by waking up into a cryogenic/medical facility.
After the player takes a few steps, a pleasant-sounding female voice begins talking. This is apparently the voice of the ship’s computer.
She refers to the player-character as “Doctor,” and informs him that she needed to wake him up while she still had control of the cryolab.
As if that wasn’t ominous enough, the player is confronted almost immediately with another unfortunate circumstance. The rest of the ship’s crew are dead and have decomposed.
The computer says this shouldn’t have happened. The crew had only been asleep for 29 days. So what happened? The player is left to wonder what sinister force could have brought this about.
On tables nearby are three weapons: a Multiverse Stormwall, Voltok HG30 and Multiverse Oindrasdain. There is also an ammo pack and first aid kit in this room. Presumably, the player character is going to be fighting someone soon.
There is also a tablet near the decomposed bodies. If this tablet is examined, it displays a key code.
A giant hole has been punched through a nearby door or wall. The player must press C to crouch down and get through this hole.
This leads to another room. The door on the other side states that only Origin and LastLight token holders are allowed past this point. We found that holding an MFT token will also allow the player to get past this door.
If the player approaches the door, the computer suddenly states “standby, scanning crypto implant.” If the player holds the correct token and has correctly connected a wallet, the door opens to a hallway.
Upon walking into this hallway, the player witnesses a fire breaking out on the other side. The computer quickly closes the door on the other side to suffocate the fire, leaving a force field in front of the door to block it.
This force field can be knocked out by shooting the blinking display on the right side of the hallway.
The player will also find a flashlight in this hallway. This can be turned on by pressing F. When this is first picked up, the game displays a warning that batteries do run out.
Behind the force field is a door protected by a key code lock. The code for the lock is the one the player found on the tablet earlier.
Behind the locked door is another hallway.
The ship’s computer warns the player that there is movement behind this door. This movement turns out to have been produced by rogue A.I. units called mechs.
The player encounters these mechs, which look like human beings in spacesuits, after progressing through some stacked boxes in the middle of the hallway. If the mechs are not killed quickly, they will shoot the player and end the game.
If the game ends, the player must restart at the beginning.
There is a “save game” function in the demo. But it doesn’t work in the current build.
Once the mechs have been defeated, the player is able to continue deeper into the ship.
Here, the map begins to branch off into several directions. The engine room can be found at the end of one hallway, while another hallway leads to a storage room and crew quarters.
At this point, the computer informs the player that the RNG engine drive needs to be repaired. If it is not repaired, the ship may fall into the gravitational pull of a nearby gas giant.
Some exploration is required to advance further.
In one of the rooms is a red keycard that opens the door to the engine room. To find this keycard, the player must enter a dark room and turn on the flashlight to illuminate it.
After gaining the keycard, the player must walk back to the engine room door, at which point it opens automatically.
Behind the engine-room door is a large area with lots of equipment. Multiple mechs patrol this area with flashlights shining. The player must take care to avoid being discovered by them.
Although the player may be able to kill one or two of the mechs, fighting too many of them will likely cause the player to run out of bullets or health.
We found that using the Oindrasdain was helpful in trying to down these mechs. But we also found that this weapon will not shoot out locks. So you may need to switch back and forth during the demo.
On one of the walls is a lever that can be used to shut down the engine’s power. This is the first step to repairing the engine.
In our testing, we were able to kill all of the guards in the engine room. But we still couldn’t determine what the next step in the engine-room puzzle was.
We did find the code to the airlock. But without a spacesuit, we wouldn’t have been able to make it far in space.
Let us know what your experiences are when you play through the demo. We would like to know what else players can do in this limited version of the game.
Age of Rust demo conclusion
So far, Age of Rust looks like a great game. It has incredible graphics and sound and an interesting story.
The puzzles in the game are challenging, but not so difficult as to be frustrating. And the combat is interesting, requiring the player to preserve ammo while simultaneously trying to defeat enemies.
We’re looking forward to continuing to play this game in the future, especially as new updates are rolled out.
Previous games by the Age of Rust team
In addition to playing the Age of Rust demo, players may also want to consider playing previous games made by the team. This may help them to judge whether they will like Age of Rust in its final form.
Space Pirate Games has published two other titles in the past: Space Pirate Text Adventure and Hack and Hash.
Space Pirate Text Adventure
Space Pirate Text Adventure is a text-based MUD that is enhanced with still-images, music, and sound. It takes place on a desolate, deserted planet filled with crashed spaceships and other discarded technology. Here is the link to play Space Pirate Text Adventure.
We found that it was not easy to figure out how to play this game. But this walkthrough was extremely helpful.
Hack and Hash
Hack and Hash is a 1980’s style low-budget dungeon crawl game. The player character can be moved around using arrow keys. When a monster appears, the player can choose to fight or run. If the player wins the battle, he is awarded fictional “crypto.”
Hack and Hash was originally featured as a game-within-a-game in Blockade Games’ Pineapple Arcade. In the first screen of Pineapple Arcade, a number of arcade games can be seen. If the player clicks on these games, one of them is titled Hack and Hash.
In the original version of Pineapple Arcade, the player could click on this image and play Hack and Hash.
Unfortunately, this version of the game now only displays a screen with a couple of grids on it. It is no longer playable.
But luckily, Space Pirate Games has provided an archived version of Hack and Hash so that it can still be played.
There are still not many details known about Age of Rust. But this is what we know so far. Age of Rust will be a puzzle-based sci-fi game that uses crypto items fueled by Enjin Coin.
Rustbits are no longer available from the developer. But if you are considering purchasing them from another collector, you may want to check out the trailer for the game, as well as these previous games from the Age of Rust team – and see for yourself whether you think it will be fun to play and worth collecting its currency.
