Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes puts a modern spin on a franchise that’s all about doing what it takes to survive in hostile space. After all, what genre could better reflect the urgency, hopelessness, political maneuvering, and complex decision-making than a roguelite?
As you start the game, Admiral Adama debriefs you: despite decades of silence, the Cylons have made their move, decimating the colonies you once called home with help from infiltrators. The Admiral tasks you with rejoining the Battlestar Galactica, which will allow him to guide the scattered forces of humanity to a refuge. With a chorus of “So say we all,” your orders are made plain, and the path before you is clear. That doesn’t make surviving Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes any easier, however.
For my first run, I started off on the Callisto-class Gunstar Talwar, collectively called “The Wanderers”. Of the six Gunstars shown to me, the main benefit of the well-balanced “The Wanderers” was a 33% cheaper repair cost due to using “Old Tech”. I had nine days to put out sometimes-literal fires before the Cylons would find my fleet. During this time, the options on how you prepare for the Cylons and a FTL jump are many. Do you fix a Negative Situation in the form of a hull breach, or can that wait a couple more days since it takes eight days to impact your armada? Do you investigate one of many Points of Interest (POI) to gather resources, or if you’re lucky, new VIPs or Squadrons? Regardless of how you choose to spend your time, Crises happen in every part of the galaxy, requiring you to stop thieves or track down a murderer. With three different factions at play in the form of the Military, the Workers, and the Underworld, and your VIPs’ standings to consider, something as simple as jailing thieves can become akin to Game of Thrones. While it may be an easy decision to accept extra Supplies or scrap from the Underworld, letting them have too much favor may embolden them, or worse, cause the Military or Workers to actively plot against you.
The combat section of Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes works a bit differently, going from a menu-based day-to-day affair to a space battle where you must guide your squadrons to buy enough time for an FTL jump. You’ll still have plenty of decisions to make, like defending your unarmed civilian ships, if you should use nukes, which could damage your own units, and making sure to stop dangerous enemy payloads from reaching your ships.
This is not an easy game, and soon, you’ll probably find yourself unable to join the Battlestar Galactica, whether as a result Cylon ferocity or ship infighting. This isn’t the end for you as a commander. Favors can be purchased using Fate, a meta-currency you can find in your trips or gain by surviving FTL jumps. These Favors invoke the Gods, and make the start of your journey ever-slightly less of a boondoggle. On the other hand are Trials, which are no means easy, but have much greater rewards. Some Trials reward new Gunstars to try, or Artifacts — items that allow you to further ensure the survival of future colonies.
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes releases in early 2026 on Steam.
