STARFLIGHT - A SANDBOX SPACE ICON FROM THE JOURNEY

Take a journey into outer space with the new Seven Squared Starflight Tee.

The infinite expanse of space is the setting for Seven Squared’s new featured tee this week.

Originally released on the PC back in 1986, Starflight is an epic voyage of discovery, exploration and danger – the very grandest journey of all.

Beginning at a space station, the player can literally go anywhere, at any time, in Starflight, making it one of the earliest and most notable examples of a sandbox game.

Taking its cue from classic sci-fi such as the original Star Trek TV series, the space ship’s terrain vehicle is used to explore planets, mine valuable minerals and scope out those worlds suitable for colonisation.

Starflight’s own journey took it from the PC to Commodore 64 and Amiga, before settling on home consoles with the Sega Mega Drive in 1991. And in addition to the exploration, there’s a galaxy-wide mystery to solve – why are some stars flaring up dangerously, threatening all the life around them?

Combining role-playing with a space travel simulation and strategy gameplay, Starflight is a true pioneer of the sandbox genre, and has inspired many famous progenies, most notably BioWare’s classic RPG series, Mass Effect. Will you go boldly on this journey?

Enjoy looking back at a real piece of space procedural game history:

Back To Skool!

It wouldn't be a Sandbox post without mentioning Skool now would it...

It’s a bitter-sweet return to school for many children this week, but if you want to go back to the happiest days of your life, 8-bit-style, then there’s no better place to start than that pair of classic classroom adventures, Skool Daze and Back To Skool.

As with Starflight, these are early examples of the sandbox genre before gamers even knew that term existed.

Playing Eric the cheeky schoolboy with a heart of gold, this is a rite of passage tale encompassing an incriminatory school report, cane-bending teachers and a besotted girlfriend named Hayley.

Take aim at Mr. Withit with your catapult and remember – you are not a kangaroo!

These are games that helped define a genre, an era and a generation – the legends of Starflight and Skool Daze continue at Seven Squared!

Thanks again to Graeme Mason for writing this chapter in the story. 

With your support we will continue sharing the journey and #KeepingTheGameAlive