SPACEPLAN

SPACEPLAN: A Narrative-Driven Clicker Adventure Game

SPACEPLAN is an experimental clicker game that masterfully blends idle mechanics with a compelling sci-fi narrative. Developed by Jake Hollands, this unique title tasks players with harnessing the power of potatoes to generate energy, build probes, and unravel cosmic mysteries from a satellite orbiting a strange planet. The experience of playing SPACEPLAN is defined by its clever progression, which evolves from simple manual clicking into a complex automated system, all while delivering a surprisingly profound and humorous story inspired by a misinterpretation of Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time." It’s a must-try for players seeking a thoughtful and engaging twist on the incremental genre.

Manual Clicking for Initial Power Generation

Players begin their journey in SPACEPLAN with a single, crucial action: clicking on a large potato. Each manual click generates a small amount of power, the game's primary currency. This initial phase is intentionally hands-on, requiring the player to actively tap to accumulate their first few watts. The immediate feedback of seeing the power meter rise with each click establishes the core gameplay loop. This gathered energy is not spent but is instead saved, creating a foundational stockpile that will soon enable the player to purchase their first automation upgrade, a critical first step in the progression of SPACEPLAN.

Purchasing Automated Potato Plots

The first major progression milestone in SPACEPLAN is using your manually generated power to purchase automated potato plots. Players navigate to the "Shop" interface and select the initial upgrade, which permanently deducts the required power amount. Once purchased, these plots automatically generate a steady, passive stream of power at set intervals without any further clicking required. This fundamentally shifts the gameplay from an active clicking task to a more strategic management simulation. The player’s role evolves into monitoring this automated income and deciding when to save for more expensive upgrades or to spend on launching the first probes, a key strategic element of SPACEPLAN.

Launching Reconnaissance Probes

Once a sustainable power income is established, players can invest resources into building and launching probes. From the main interface, players select the "Probe" option in the shop, spend the requisite power, and then activate the launch. These probes travel into the depths of space, and after a set amount of real time passes, they return with crucial data. This data is the key narrative currency in SPACEPLAN, slowly filling a progress bar that unlocks new segments of the story. Each successful launch brings the player closer to understanding the strange planetary system and advancing the plot, making it a compelling reward loop.

Upgrading Power Generation Efficiency

A core strategic element of SPACEPLAN involves continually upgrading your power grid's efficiency. After establishing basic automation, players return to the shop to invest in successive tiers of upgrades. These include enhanced potato plots, superior wiring, and advanced generators, each costing significantly more than the last. Each upgrade multiplies the output of your existing systems, creating an exponential growth curve. Players must constantly decide between spending power on immediate story progression through probes or investing it into their infrastructure for greater long-term gains. This cycle of investment and return forms the strategic backbone of the entire SPACEPLAN experience.

Unlocking New Planetary Systems

The narrative of SPACEPLAN is advanced by accumulating enough data from launched probes to unlock new planets. Each planet represents a new chapter in the story and a new stage of gameplay. Once the data bar for a planet is full, a cutscene triggers, and the player's satellite moves to orbit a new celestial body. These new environments often introduce fresh gameplay mechanics or unique upgrades specific to their context, requiring the player to adapt their strategy. The drive to see what bizarre new world comes next and what part of the story it will reveal is a primary motivator for continuing to play SPACEPLAN.

Experiencing the Branching Narrative

Unlike most clicker games, SPACEPLAN features a defined beginning, middle, and end, with a story that unfolds through text-based logs and visual cues. As players generate data, they unlock narrative messages that appear on the satellite's console. These messages range from humorous system diagnostics to deeper, more philosophical musings on the nature of the universe and reality itself. The story is the ultimate reward for the player's patience and investment, providing context for the seemingly absurd premise of potato-based space exploration. This narrative depth is what truly sets the experience of SPACEPLAN apart from other idle games.