IS IXION WORTH IT? | Detailed review

IXION is an unrelenting, city-building odyssey across the stars. As Administrator of the Tiqqun, DOLOS’ prototype space station, you are tasked with balancing preservation and exploration as you manage infrastructure, resources and crew. Can you keep the flame of humanity alight in the cold dark?
Ixion currently has mixed reviews on Steam so you may be wondering, is it worth it? In this video we start with a 30 second overview of the game before a deep dive into the mechanics and what you actually do in the game. We'll also compare it to other similar games you may have played such as Frostpunk to help you decide whether Ixion is worth it.
If you find the video useful feel free to leave a like and consider subscribing for future content. If you're a regular viewer and would like to support the channel, please check out my Patreon to get more involved.
00:00 Intro
00:28 30 second summary
01:00 Why mixed reviews?
01:38 The Detail: Tutorial & UI
02:53 How do resources work?
05:28 How to Science?
05:57 Do I get to research much?
07:11 Ship sectors, how do they work?
08:14 People can go on strike...
09:28 Happiness matters!
11:49 Who would enjoy Ixion?
13:18 Is it good value for money?
14:28 What's on the roadmap?
15:12 But is it worth it?
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#ixion

[@joetheperformer]

Love this channel btw, just found you and you’ve saved me lots of time and I’ve bought a few games thanks to you. Glad to see the RTS community has this great resource.

[@twiglets2]

@joetheperformer Thank you! I'm glad it's been useful. Always feel free to comment with suggestions for other games if a review of those would be useful. Always open to suggestions :)

[@Derek-cw4xr]

Thanks for this detailed and nuanced analysis! It was very helpful.

[@twiglets2]

@Derek-cw4xr You're welcome, I'm glad it was helpful! Did you decide to purchase in the end?

[@Derek-cw4xr]

@@twiglets2 Yes, I picked it up in the Steam summer sale. Haven’t fired it up yet, though, I’ve been working my way through Subnautica Below Zero first.

[@a.bridges]

Promising title, I'll keep an eye on it. Thank you sir !

[@twiglets2]

Thank you sir! Always a pleasure :D

[@leonidastlm90]

I've finished the game yesterday. As it is right now at a price tag of 20 euros (discounted) - it is definitely worth purchasing. Many core mechanics from Frostpunk can be seen in IXION: - exploration; - decision making; - policies (to some extent); - efficient space utilization; - specialized sectors (in Frostpunk it is recommended to build housing in a dedicated area and boost that with churches/towers/fighting arenas and so on). As a side note: the soundtrack is indeed powerful and in some situations it does reflect the pitiful situation of the people on the Tiqqun. What makes this game steer away from Frostpunk: - limited resources (no more infinite coal from thumpers or wood from wall drills); - population is harder to maintain happy; - permanent population trust penalties / bonusses; - no more resources "centralized across the whole town" - each sector has its own resources that can be imported/exported and it takes time to do so; - expansion rate is dictated by the available power in the Tiqqun; - research is dictated by science points and that can be a problem sometimes. And the list goes on... As the game progresses, if the Administrator planned well so far, the Tiqqun transforms into a beast: - it can be self sufficient; - can generate tons of electricity to support ALL the infrastructure; - it becomes independent in terms of research. The abovementioned means that the Tiqqun can be stationed in a system a lot longer before it needs to jump to a new system, thus giving lots of time to prepare, reorganize, rebuild and research. As a recommendation: gather, prepare and optimize the best you can before jumping to a new system - it saves you from A TON of problems.

[@twiglets2]

@leonidastlm90 What a great summary, thanks for sharing!

[@kolomast2541]

Just found out this channel. Soothing voice featuring mostly strategy games? Sign me in.

[@twiglets2]

I hope you enjoy your stay! Suggestions for other games to look at are very welcome if you have any :)

[@ComputerAnarchy]

​@@twiglets2 Battle Tech?

[@twiglets2]

@@ComputerAnarchy I have heard of Battle Tech before but didn't realise it was a turn based strategy game, thanks for the suggestion!

[@MrValgard]

very good informative review, keep the good work! Well part of difficulty(bad part from design) is having complex strategy/sim and tutorials in windows, fr after 5y+ overlaping pc-mobile games, tutorials when UI overlay on buildings view showing places/options should be standard

[@twiglets2]

@MrValgard Thank you, I'm glad it was useful!

[@joetheperformer]

Imagine having this game become a minigame within Stellaris? Or something similar where you’re a civilization that voyages across the galaxy (like the caravans in Stellaris), where instead of planets or starbases, you just worry about your ship? That’s be interesting.

[@twiglets2]

@joetheperformer I think you just blew my mind, that sounds awesome!

[@ninochaosdrache3189]

I've heard that the story also needs some suspension of disbelief, at least on the start. Like that basically the entire world put their fundings together and only managed to create a space ship that is constantly falling apart or the reason why humanity is on the brink of extinction.

[@twiglets2]

That's an interesting point. Personally I don't think it's that bad but I suspect it depends how much you think it over while playing the game. My understanding is the ship initially is meant to colonise Alpha Centauri and in the background the Earth is slowly ripping itself apart / a ticking timebomb anyway. Then as you fast forward a few decades due to a engine misfire (or something) you're witnessing the result after that ticking timebomb has exploded. I don't want to spoil the story or anything but I didn't personally think it was a huge leap in imagination!

[@cordar7547]

To be fair, the Tiqqun was only supposed to be a field test for the VOHLE engine that involved quick jaunt to Proxima Centauri and then back again.

[@Shyraton12]

Yeah, the player is galavanting around in what is supposed to be just the "prototype", and its falling apart because its systems weren't supposed to be used long term.

[@cooperj7982]

naming saves like you mentioned haha that comment made me buy it when i was on the fence. haha see how i go!

[@twiglets2]

@cooperj7982 Glad it helped! Although the game has it's issues, feeling the need to name my saves to help me remember where I was just goes to show how absorbing it was. Let us know how you get on!

[@deciomartins7789]

👍

[@twiglets2]

😁

[@kcw1879]

No, it's not worth it. No reply value at all, and you WILL have to replay it a lot until you memorize what to do. There is no strategy at all, just learn the build order and research order, and do it in almost exacting order, and you'll survive. And the "people" in your crew are Karens who get permanently upset (for the ENTIRE game) at the slightest mishap (or like, if they have to work more than 40 hours a week).

[@twiglets2]

Have you played Frostpunk too? Similar things have been said about that in terms of lack of replayability and learning the order of things. But then there are sill many who very much love that game.

[@patus1111]

@@twiglets2 Frostpunk is a good game, however when I played the same mission second time, it was super dull. I had the same issue with Frostpunk, people are on the brink of extinction, but can they work few more hours? Noooooo, that is soo inhuman :) Game designers should make those RNG situations with more sense and logic and it would be all good.

[@twiglets2]

@@patus1111 Agreed, that doesn't work very well. Do you think they got much of Ixion to feel realistic? I felt like a lot of it was logical.

[@koboDresden]

@@twiglets2 I'd say this game has very low replayability factor especially compared to Frostpunk. Not counting endless mode, since that wasn't part of the original release. It is hard to compare it mission wise, I'd say Frostpunk's three campaigns together are similar length as this game's story. But I played this game twice - my first playthrough was difficult but the second one was very easy - no middle ground. Compared to this, I played Frostpunk missions many times - once on normal mode, and trying the hardest mode many times until succeeding. And in my subjective opinion, Frostpunk was also a bit overpriced on release - but that got amended with endless mode and inflation. But if we don't factor in the money aspect this is a wonderful game with good atmosphere and worth the time.

[@twiglets2]

@@koboDresden All very interesting points! It does seem to me that this game is overly difficult until you figure out "the way" of playing it, at which point it becomes easy. There is hope that the developers can address this as I felt the overall atmosphere of the game was well done, they just need to tweak and expand! Now I'm just waiting for Frostpunk 2 to release...!

[@lastburning]

I recommend Against the Storm if you like settlement managers like this. It's a rogue-lite so you're supposed to play many runs of it. You have to improvise and adapt a lot more than in any other settlement builder. You either win or lose and then start again. It feels more like a game and less like a simulator or relaxing idle game.

[@saucylemon4331]

Your videos... I enjoy them, and there ain't a fuckin thing you can do about it.

[@twiglets2]

Damnit! I mean, thank you!

[@havocgr1976]

It kinda pissed me off on the final mission.

[@twiglets2]

How so? The story?

[@havocgr1976]

@@twiglets2 It has a secret timer, so I had to replay although I was doing perfect because suddenly I lost,so you have to rush like crazy but without knowing how much time you have.Not to forget game decides to start fires for no reason everywhere at the same time.

[@twiglets2]

@@havocgr1976 Oh I didn't realise that! Thanks for pointing it out :)

[@jsy1851]

this game good game..

[@memoryfurika6155]

Frostpunk is a baby compared to this game, its cringe that a lot of people compare it

[@twiglets2]

There are definite similarities, but to say the games are the same is misleading in my view. They basically took a few mechanics out of Frostpunk and bolted them onto an evil game!