Junkyard Astronauts

Build. Launch. Land on the Moon.

The yard runs a night shift. You are a robot with a build deck, a pair of welding arms and a professional opinion about rockets. Everything in the scrap piles is yours if you can carry it: rocket motors, thruster bells, fuel barrels, a leaf blower, a water heater, and a fridge that will absolutely serve as a capsule.

The Moon is 384,400 km up. Somebody has to go.

Weld first, regret later

Weld the junk together and the build readout grades your rocket before it leaves: integrity, thrust, efficiency, and a short, frank verdict. The physics believes the welds, not your optimism. A rocket that looks assembled is assembled. Briefly.

Every few minutes a supply crate comes down on a parachute with a Rocket Motor inside. Everyone in the yard sees where it lands.

The launch is a ceremony

Lock the build and your rocket goes onto the shared launch pad in the middle of the yard. Hit the big red button and the whole yard hears the range-clear call. Then watch your junk climb off a very small planet. The altitude board keeps the score, rung by rung, from "Above the junk piles" to the Moon.

Most rockets veer, corkscrew, flop or come apart. Whatever comes down rains back into the yard as salvage. Try again. The shift is not over.

Your crewmates are the hazard

Online multiplayer for up to 4 players through Steam, with Mac and PC in the same yard. You can play solo, but it is built for 2 to 4.

• Build your own rocket, or join someone else's as crew and share the credit for wherever it ends up.

• Shoot the parts right out of a rival's pockets. They rain back into the yard as salvage.

• Text chat and proximity voice, with per-player mute.

• The end-of-shift board hands out YARD AWARDS (LAWN DART, SIDEWAYS ENTHUSIAST, YARD SALE). It is right about you.

Sandbox: no clock, no guns

Want to build without the whistle? Sandbox is for 1 to 4 robots. No clock, no guns, nobody wins. Everyone has their own rocket, and pressing C next to a crewmate builds on theirs. Reach the Moon and the yard carries on. When you are done, End Session in the Esc menu.

It comes with a lot of new junk: lawnmower engines, shop vacs, oil drums, mattresses, bed frames, kettles and more.

Four robots, one job

• RIVET, hero scavenger. Employee of the month, four years running. Sole applicant.

• GANTRY, crane bot. Used to lift shipping containers. Does not discuss it.

• DOZER, treaded tank. Has never reversed. Sees no reason to start.

• SPARK, monowheel. One wheel, no regrets. Balance is a lifestyle.

They all move, jump and reach the same. They disagree about everything else.

On the record

• 37 Steam achievements.

• Two world leaderboards: highest flight, and fastest trip to the Moon. A sign in the yard reads them out.

Free demo

The free demo has the whole yard, all four robots and online multiplayer. Shifts are 8 to 15 minutes, the host's call: build, launch, crash, rebuild, and the highest flight when the whistle blows wins. Reaching space (the Kármán line, 100 km up) is a milestone, not the end. The demo gives you 90 minutes of play. The Moon is in the full game. So is the new Sandbox mode.

There is also a raccoon. It does not help.