Isomer

Isomer is an isometric real-time strategy game set in procedurally generated sci-fi worlds, where players take on a survival role inspired by 1990s turn-based classics and modern sandbox titles, building and managing bases while exploring, mining, looting, and conquering hostile environments filled with enemies like alien engineers that can infiltrate and sabotage fortifications.

Isomer: Review

Introduction

In the annals of indie game development, few titles capture the raw ambition and solitary determination of a solo creator quite like Isomer. Released in 2014 as an Early Access project on Steam, this isometric real-time strategy game thrusts players into the role of an alien commander invading procedurally generated planets, blending the tactical depth of 1990s classics like XCOM with the emergent chaos of modern sandboxes such as Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress. From its humble alpha beginnings on Desura to its brief flirtation with Steam’s Greenlight, Isomer promised an unlimited canvas of exploration, mining, and conquest, where every world felt alive with peril and possibility. Yet, like many Early Access dreams, it flickered brightly before fading into obscurity, abandoned by its developer amid community pleas for updates. This review argues that Isomer stands as a poignant artifact of indie risk-taking: a mechanically inventive survival-strategy hybrid that, despite its unfinished state, highlights the perils of solo development and the enduring allure of procedural creativity in gaming history.

Development History & Context

Isomer emerged from the mind of Konrad Strachan, a former professional developer who spent five years crafting financial software before pivoting to indie game creation around 2013. As the sole force behind Ionising Software—the studio that both developed and published the game—Strachan built Isomer from the ground up, including its custom engine, which handled real-time lighting, destructible terrain, and procedural world generation. This solo endeavor was no small feat; Strachan worked flexible hours, often from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but admitted the project’s demands frequently bled into nights and weekends, a common trap for indie devs relying on it as their sole income.

The game’s inception traces back to the late 1990s, when Strachan played X-COM: Apocalypse, the polarizing sequel to the iconic UFO: Enemy Unknown. He was captivated by its real-time chaos—blasts shattering walls, fires spreading, and the joy of terraforming maps for ambushes—but felt the series underutilized environmental manipulation. This seed idea lay dormant until the early 2010s, revived by the procedural wonders of Dwarf Fortress (with its simulation depth) and Minecraft (its sandbox freedom). Strachan sought a “change in pace,” quitting his job to pursue Isomer full-time, a decision he later described as a “huge risk” without crowdfunding like Kickstarter.

Launched in alpha on Desura in February 2014 for £5.99 (about $8 at the time), Isomer entered a gaming landscape dominated by Early Access experimentation. Steam Greenlight had opened the floodgates for indie titles, but the era was rife with pitfalls: oversaturation, unmet promises, and the pressure on solo devs to juggle programming, art, design, and marketing. Strachan collaborated sporadically with a part-time designer/illustrator for visuals, but the bulk of the work—including code, procedural algorithms, and AI systems—fell on him. Technological constraints were modest; built for Windows XP-era hardware (minimum Pentium 4 3.0GHz, 2GB RAM, 500MB storage), it ran on basic setups, emphasizing accessibility over spectacle.

By July 2014, Isomer hit Steam Early Access at $9.99, introducing features like adaptive AI and unit mutations. Patches rolled out steadily at first—version 0.8.5.1 added refinements—but communication dwindled after 2015. Community forums on Steam reveal growing frustration: threads from 2016 lament “0 communication” and comparisons to abandoned projects like Towns. Strachan’s last known update was in early 2016, citing personal life demands as a solo dev. In a 2014 interview, he expressed hope that sales (initially insufficient to cover living costs) would sustain development, but the indie market’s volatility—amid hits like DayZ and flops from overambitious EAs—doomed it. Isomer reflects the 2010s indie boom’s double-edged sword: empowering solo visions while exposing them to burnout and obscurity.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

Isomer‘s narrative is minimalist, eschewing scripted cutscenes or dialogue for an emergent survival tale that unfolds through gameplay. Players embody the commander of an alien invasion force, crash-landing a dropship on a hostile, procedurally generated exoplanet to establish a mining outpost. The “story” begins with a terse alert: your power core is under immediate attack from native human defenders. From there, it’s a tale of imperial hubris and precarious endurance— you, the extraterrestrial aggressor, must harvest resources, fortify your position, and repel waves of “unwitting humans” intent on eviction. No voice acting or lore dumps exist; instead, the world narrates itself via environmental cues, like abandoned enemy facilities or lootable corpses whispering tales of prior skirmishes.

Thematically, Isomer inverts colonial invasion narratives, positioning the player as the colonizer in a sci-fi lens. Humans aren’t faceless fodder but adaptive foes: engineers dig into your base, heavies wield stolen alien tech, and alarms summon reinforcements, evoking themes of resistance against exploitation. Survival is the core motif, amplified by permadeath stakes—if your power core drops to zero, the world deletes permanently, underscoring futility and loss. Subtle undertones of evolution emerge through unit mutations: minions “level up” via experience, morphing from basic drones into specialized scouts, engineers, or warriors, symbolizing adaptation in a Darwinian alien ecosystem.

Deeper analysis reveals environmental imperialism as a key theme. Planets vary in biomes (lush forests to barren ravines), resources (biomass from plants, rare minerals), and threats (catacombs teeming with life, enemy bases with traps). Looting human outposts hinders their “war effort,” while trading with passing resupply ships hints at a larger interstellar economy. Yet, the lack of explicit dialogue limits emotional depth; characters are silent proxies, their “personalities” inferred from behaviors like drowning in water (a darkly comedic “Glug!” achievement) or triggering alarms. Compared to XCOM‘s geopolitical intrigue, Isomer‘s themes feel raw and procedural—chaotic, replayable fables of conquest where player choices dictate morality. In an era of narrative-heavy indies like Undertale, this austerity amplifies its sandbox purity, though it risks feeling impersonal, a flaw exacerbated by the game’s incomplete state leaving arcs unresolved.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

At its heart, Isomer weaves real-time tactics into a sandbox survival loop, demanding multitasking amid escalating threats. Core gameplay begins with landing: select a world seed for procedural generation, then deploy a starter squad of alien minions around your dropship. The isometric view (first-person perspective toggle available) reveals a vast, destructible terrain—mine rocks for metals, harvest plants for biomass, or blast paths through soil. Resources fuel construction: erect walls, turrets, and traps to safeguard the power core, or build extractors for passive income. The UI, while sparse (no robust options menu in early builds), uses hotkeys for efficiency—WASD for camera, mouse for commands—though its minimalism can overwhelm newcomers, as one Steam guide laments the “lack of instructions.”

Combat is the pulse: real-time skirmishes blend XCOM-style squad tactics with RTS fluidity. Minions auto-path but require micro-management for flanking or overwatch. Weapons range from alien plasma guns to looted human rifles; proximity mines and secondary explosions (e.g., chain-reacting barrels) add chaos, earning the “Pyromaniac” achievement for 500 blasts. Units gain XP, promoting to elites with new abilities—engineers fortify, warriors melee—via a mutation system that encourages specialization. Adaptive AI shines: humans react to your aggression, looting your tech (triggering “Did you see that??” for ironic reversals) or sieging with heavies. Attacks scale periodically, forcing expansion or extinction.

Progression loops around survival cycles: explore ravines for loot crates (revealing maps or promotions), trade with ships for reinforcements, or raid bases to cripple foes. Innovations like real-time lighting (shadows shift dynamically) and terrain deformation feel fresh—carve chokepoints or flood enemy advances. Flaws abound, however: pathfinding bugs let engineers “dig into” bases unexpectedly, and balance tilts toward defense over offense. The sandbox shines in replayability—biome distributions vary threats (e.g., water-heavy worlds for drowning traps)—but Early Access halts deeper systems like advanced crafting or multiplayer. Achievements (30 total) track milestones, from killing 1,000 engineers (“Lambs to the Slaughter”) to max promotions (“5 Star”), rewarding endurance. Overall, mechanics foster emergent stories— a “Lucky start” near an enemy base (per Steam screenshots) spirals into fortress-building epics—but abandonment leaves it feeling like a prototype, potent yet unpolished.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Isomer‘s worlds are its crown jewel: procedurally generated behemoths spanning biomes from verdant forests to subterranean catacombs, each teeming with resources, ruins, and peril. No two playthroughs repeat—algorithms distribute ores, plants, and human facilities dynamically, creating “almost unlimited” variety. Destructible environments enable true world-building: blast craters for cover, mine tunnels for ambushes, or plant biomass trees to terraform barren zones. Enemy bases pulse with life—alarms blare, patrols roam, crates hide tech—fostering a lived-in invasion vibe. Atmosphere builds tension through scale: your dropship dwarfs minions, yet feels vulnerable amid endless horizons, evoking isolation on alien soil.

Visually, Isomer adopts a retro aesthetic, isometric pixels evoking 90s strategy games but with modern twists like volumetric lighting and particle effects for explosions. Art direction is utilitarian—blocky aliens in exosuits, angular human soldiers—crafted by Strachan’s part-time collaborator, prioritizing function over flair. Screenshots show modded human-playable modes, hinting at untapped potential, but the core palette (earthy greens, metallic silvers) suits sci-fi grit without overwhelming low-spec hardware. UI elements, like resource readouts, are clean but basic, contributing to a focused experience.

Sound design amplifies immersion: a “calmingly wonderful sci-fi soundtrack” (per a 2014 IndieDB review) underscores base-building with ambient synths, shifting to urgent alarms and laser zaps in combat. Procedural audio—distant gunfire, echoing cave drips—enhances the sandbox feel, while unit chatter (grunts on promotion) adds personality. No voice acting keeps it abstract, but effects like secondary blasts “smashing walls” (echoing Strachan’s XCOM Apocalypse inspiration) make chaos visceral. Collectively, these elements craft a cohesive, oppressive atmosphere: worlds that feel conquered yet conquerable, where every mined vein or felled foe reshapes the narrative of survival.

Reception & Legacy

Upon alpha launch in 2014, Isomer garnered niche praise for its ambition. A single IndieDB user review hailed it a “10/10,” praising its addictive loop after initial jitters, while Steam forums buzzed with early adopters sharing “Let’s Play” videos and guides for defenses against engineer swarms. MobyGames lists no critic scores, Metacritic has zero reviews, and Steam’s aggregate sits at “Mixed” (around 60% positive from sparse votes), reflecting excitement tempered by bugs. Commercially, it underperformed—sales failed to sustain Strachan full-time, per his interviews—selling modestly on Desura and Steam amid 2014’s indie glut.

Post-2015, reception soured as updates ceased. Steam discussions from 2016-2017 accuse abandonment (“Safe to say this game has been abandoned?”), drawing parallels to Towns and critiquing Early Access’s flaws: devs collect funds pre-completion, eroding motivation. A 2017 thread details failed dev contacts, with Strachan absent from Twitter or his site (ionisingsoftware.co.uk). Community mods (e.g., human-playable factions) extended life, but frustration peaked in censored forum rants about “pathetic devs.” By 2019, MobyGames noted only 9 collectors, underscoring obscurity.

Isomer‘s legacy is bittersweet: a cautionary indie tale influencing procedural survival-strats like RimWorld (2018), which refined its unit evolution and base defense. It pioneered alien-invader perspectives in sandboxes, predating They Are Billions (2019) in zombie-like horde repulsion. As a solo project, it exemplifies 2010s dev heroism—Strachan’s engine innovations persist in mod scenes—but highlights Early Access pitfalls, fueling Valve’s later refund policies. Today, at $0.60-$1 on gray markets, it’s a relic for historians, its untapped potential a reminder of gaming’s fragile ecosystem.

Conclusion

Isomer is a bold, unfinished symphony of strategy and survival, where procedural worlds and adaptive warfare craft endless tales of alien dominion. Its mechanics innovate through destructible chaos and unit growth, while themes of inversion and endurance resonate in sci-fi’s grand tradition. Yet, solo development’s toll—burnout, sparse support—left it adrift, a promising alpha eclipsed by abandonment. In video game history, it earns a niche as an indie underdog: not a masterpiece like Dwarf Fortress, but a vital experiment reminding us that even flawed visions illuminate paths for successors. Recommended for tactics enthusiasts willing to embrace its raw edges, Isomer scores 7/10—a testament to creativity’s spark, dimmed but not extinguished.