Image: Samekh Meryuiet & Amurdat Phantasmagoria

The (now-unavailable) demo for Ablahshikar was one of the weirdest, most memorable experiences I've had with a game in a while. A dreamlike crash course into briny hell, casting you as the clueless captain of the doomed/cursed/hungry titular ship in a wonderfully written, arabesque cyber-fantasy world, tasked with navigating the turn-based ASCII ocean, harvesting scrap, and upgrading the vessel with anything usable you find. The weirdness only escalated when the game launched into early access at 3 am last night. Of course I happened to be awake at the time and bought it immediately.

The full game (thus far) is significantly prettier, thanks to a glow-up on the UI side featuring a bunch of ornate border art, and a bit more accessible to play. That is, death or quitting the game no longer sends you having to replay the lengthy narrative prologue segment, answering questions on your gender and stance on alchemical malfeasance. There's a bit of Pratchett's whimsy in the game's tone, which takes the edge off the darkness somewhat.

It's also possible now to make slow, steady progress through the game without the fear of permanent, spectacular death. Returning to the port city of Dastegerd presents the 'Etch mooring mark' option, which is a multi-slot save and load system. A small concession to those unprepared for the brutality of old-school roguelikes where you really did just have one life, and everything was reset upon failure. On that note, if you do die, there's an option to skip straight to the next captain without tedium either. Good improvements.

This only does a little to offset the intimidating gameplay, though. The game still opens with the joke of your character announcing that they've little or no maritime experience, only to be smash-cut straight to a hideously intimidating multi-layered UI. You're not just walking around a field here, so your ship sometimes drifts in directions you weren't expecting, or gets snagged on things, and many important bits of text pop up in the event log which need to be paid attention to.

Beyond that, there's the crew management screen where you can do stuff like feed and pet your loyal staff, who apparently can also be later sacrificed to fuel your increasingly hungry vessel. I guess it's best to be nice to them before that betrayal. There's also a complex UI for welding components to your ship, turning it into some many-headed maritime chimera, which is just cool.

Like recent other Terrible Job Games (such as Lethal Company), you've got a deadline and a scrap quota to fill on each expedition. Keeping up with that is largely a matter of trial, error, and determination, but the game's developer has been kind enough to put less diegetic instructions on the game's Steam guides page. If you're intimidated and don't want to learn by drowning, this is a good place to start. But I'm an idiot, so I'm going to keep floundering the fun way.

Because Ablahshikar's developer is clearly cut from a different cloth, the early access plans for the game are radically stranger than what you'd see elsewhere. Early adopters are getting the game at a third of the regular price, and receive half the game for it - the ASCII roguelike salvaging side, slightly expanded over the demo release. This side of the game can be completed on its own terms, and even has a New Game+ mode, but it's only half of the equation.

By Christmas (or slightly into the new year - the estimate is 6-8 weeks), the other half of the game will release - a more art- and prose-driven RPG side set within the city of Dastgerd, which looks fascinating, and the store page has a bunch of screenshots. I'm already curious how the two halves gel, or if they will at all. Either way, curiosity was enough to part me with £4 and change, which, to be fair, is cheaper than a disappointing cup of Starbucks coffee.

Ablahshikar's first part is out now on Steam for £4.19/$5. The remainder should be out by the end of the year, and the price will be going up to (presumably) £12/50/$15. For what it's worth, I think this kind of weirdness should be fully encouraged. The game also launched alongside a hundred-page book featuring the short stories behind twelve artifacts within the game's universe, and I am sorely tempted to pick that up too, because I really like the writing in-game.