Strange Adventures in Infinite Space

By the five moons of Gnaz, it's true! Strange Adventures in Infinite Space is back (for Linux, macOS and Windows), and we present it here for FREE, just as it was, in all of its pre-OpenGL, 8-bit, scratchware glory!

Strange Adventures in Infinite Space (SAIS) was released in 2002 by James Ernest and Cheapass Games. It was created by Rich Carlson, Iikka Keränen and Bill Sears--aka, Digital Eel (but you knew that).

SAIS generates a different interstellar region every time the game is played. Stars, planets, black holes, nebula mass, alien patrols, items, lifeforms and other encounters are randomized for each new Strange Adventure.

  Playing time: 5-20 minutes
  Number of players: solo
  Difficulty: variable
  Replayability: infinite

SAIS features:

  + 21 different ship types
  + 69 different weapons, drives, shields, gadgets and artifacts
  + 18 alien lifeforms
  + 17 different planet and star types
  + 7 unique alien races

SAIS was the first science fiction/space roguelike (or roguelite) and the second roguelike (at least, on this continent) to be set in a realm other than Tolkienesque fantasy (the first was Jeffrey R. Olson's  post-apocalyptic roguelike, Alphaman, released in 1995).

SAIS was innovative in many ways. One example is how it handles game failure. Instead of being many hours in length as typical roguelikes are, SAIS plays to its conclusion in less time than it takes to eat lunch. (Hence the game's tag line, Explore the Galaxy...in Twenty Minutes or Less!) This eases the frustration of permadeath (and, in fact, evokes a "just one more potato chip" response), yet sustains the tension and "every step counts" aspect that we all like about it.

Many thanks to Chris Collins for creating the new SAIS builds. In fact, let's all give him a big hand right now, okay? (This is labor-of-love stuff, folks.)

Strange Adventures is free, DRM-free and ready to be shared, so everyone can play it. Don't let its "size" fool you. SAIS is a subtle and challenging roguelike that game guru Ernest Adams called a perfect short game.

Experience the little game that did. The game that opened the door just a crack, yet wide enough to allow a new roguelike subgenre to emerge. One which would eventually give us classics like FTL.

Note: this special release includes most if not all of the mods created by the SAIS community for the game. Check out The Urluquai Crusade and Even Stranger Adventures in Infinite Space, and more.

Also note: this version runs (mostly) uniformly on Windows, macOS and Linux from the same codebase.

The original Strange Adventures in Infinite Space webpage is still available here, though much of its content is dated and many of its links are now irrelevant or defunct. The original versions of SAIS can be found here, and the original SAIS source code, here.  Also see the SAIS Galactic Guidebook for gameplay help and other nifty details.

Lastly, two sequels were created by Digital Eel based on Strange Adventures--Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space (2005) and Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars (2015). Both games improved aesthetic aspects of the series and built on what came before, but the essential gameplay remained unchanged.

Get Weird Worlds from Steam or itch.
Get Sea of Stars from Steam or itch.

Visit Digital Eel
Visit Digital Eel on Facebook
Visit Sea of Stars on Facebook
Visit Weird Worlds on Facebook