XenoMiner by Gristmill Studios
XenoMiner begins as you wake up after having crash landed on Xenos, the largest moon orbiting a gas giant. With only a few batteries and oxygen tanks left in the remains of your ship, you must find a way to survive alone. Xenos is rich with ores, glowing minerals and other valuables you can use to build tools and shelter with which to survive the deadly radiation from the nearby star. But it appears that you're not the first visitor to Xenos: Find the relics of a lost civilization and the secrets they contain.
XenoMiner is the latest block-building sandbox game from Gristmill Studios. Now part of Indie Games Uprising 3, it will be arriving September 19 on the Xbox Live Indie Games channel, with a release for PC to follow soon afterwards.
"Approaching eight hours in play time, I’m nowhere near where the game wants me to be, but I’m still digging. I can understand the attraction of these games now. If you like what Minecraft represents, but love a greater challenge and have a ton of disposable free time, XenoMiner is a hell of a deal at 80 MSP, compared to other indie voxel-types. The emphasis on survival, the potential of the programmable bots to lessen the strain, and a general sense of purpose that’s missing from the more casual clones, gives the game a leg up at the final tally." – The XBLIG
XenoMiner includes an extensive crafting system and several exciting gameplay hooks. One incredibly fun feature includes the ability to walk on walls with gravity-bending boots - players can build bases, bridges, tunnels and mine shafts without regard to any given orientation, which can lead to some mind-bending structures and architecture, as well as many interesting gameplay situations.
Even more exciting, XenoMiner includes construction bots of alien origin that are programmable with scripts and routines, and can be directed to build structures of immense scope or assist in the mining process. Deciphering the language's basic instructions should be an easy but enjoyable task, and we are eager to expand this feature in future updates.
Unlike the other voxel games for Xbox, XenoMiner does not constrain the player to small world sizes; players are free to explore a rich terrain consisting of multiple biomes across a nearly unlimited landscape.