Become an entrepreneur in space with Galactic Trader

6waves is a very large publisher of Facebook games with over 30 titles so far. A brand new title to join the masses is Galactic Trader, which is an adventure game developed by 3 Blokes Studios (known for their work on Virtual Villagers). Galactic Trader is a hybrid of the Treasure Isle style of seek-and-click games combined with the theme and flavor from sci-fi games like Mass Effect. In fact, there are some serious similarities with Mass Effect that make the game feel comfortable for those of us who are totally comfortable as Commander Shepard.

The main objective of Galactic Trader is to level up by a combination of exploring new planets and fighting enemies encountered in space. Traveling through the solar system is as simple as clicking on the planet you want to go to. Landing on planets takes energy, as does seeking for resources while on the planet. One neat feature is the ability to scan planets to reveal the best locations to dig. (We told you that there are similarities to Mass Effect). Scanning costs 3 energy but is virtually an "I win" button since it shows you exactly where to dig. While digging you discover a variety of materials such as aluminum or titanium, money to spend, and experience.


Galactic Trader

Collecting materials is one of the main goals of because there is a market (named the Galactic Trading House) where you can buy and sell materials. Materials cost coins or Facebook Credits and can also be transmuted in a laboratory into higher level resources.

Another big part of Galactic Trader is combat. Each player has ships purchased in the Shipyard which can be upgraded with boosts to do more damage or have more defense. Combat is easy, and just requires you to move close to the enemy and target it while your ammunition is automatically fired. Buying and upgrading new and better ships requires finding or buying the resources needed to build them, collecting particular items from friends, and spending money. Better ships do better damage and have more boost slots to upgrade their power.
Galactic Trader
There definitely feels like there is something here and this game could appeal to that core gaming demographic. It's fairly easy to understand and doesn't venture too far off the beaten path, but could use a bit more polish on some of the interface elements and the combat. We'll be keeping a close eye on this game to see if it gains any traction.