Reactor Idle - Flash Ryview

Reactor Idle, by Baldurans.

Depending on your personality, this is either a super confusing image or a super sexy image [1]

Ah, the return of the written ryview.

It's been awhile since I did a normal written ryview of a flash game. My video to article percentage is very skewed, and especially since I'm about to go out of town, I decided to kick off the vacation with the first of what will hopefully be more than one written ryview!

So, I'm doing Reactor Idle.



Shockingly, it's an idle game. And it does involve some reactors, although I would probably use the broader term "heat based power generation."

At any rate, it's a pretty solid idle game. You set it up with wind mills to start, and you slowly unlock new buildings to increase your power generation. But most of the buildings generate heat which must be converted or it will destroy itself (through overheating). That major gameplay element has kept me engaged for hours on end trying to find efficient layouts. I love pushing each area to the limit to see how much power I can squeeze out.

I'm not going to lie to you, all the images of this game look pretty much the same...[2]

There's also some nice cost/benefit analyses in the background, because as you unlock new areas you have to re-buy upgrades. Not great for your checkbook (in game), but it helps you focus your efforts and consider which area should be focused on what. It makes for some damn good strategic planning.

And while you don't generate income offline, you do get to build up "bonus ticks" while offline, essentially let you rocket time forward once you log back in. It's a nice way to at least defray the problem of logging off.

Because of all the moderately complicated strategy, there's also a good deal of forum folks (I'm going to trademark that term, back off) trying to help their fellow gamers find the best layouts. Like a true idiot, I've ignored most of it in favor of trying my own designs, but I may try to post some videos in the not so near future (let's be realistic) for some strategy tips.

Anywho, if you like idle games and/or you like generating fake heat (and it's associated fake energy income), this is just the game for you. If you like an active and/or cold experience, this game you leave you hot and bothered (haha, I love jokes).

Until next time,

Ryan