Defect: SDK Will Have You Build What You (Later) Destroy

Three Phase Interactive is coming out with a new space combat and construction game called Defect: Spaceship Destruction Kit, releasing on personal computers for Windows and Mac, as well as on tablets for iOS and Android the fourth quarter of next year.

The idea with Defect: SDK is you can build your ship up piece by piece, starting out from a single pilot fighter, all the way to a moon-sized space station. However, the game provides another quirk that may compel you to play again and again.

See, your crew is scheduled to defect at some point, taking your custom ship with them. You are therefore faced with the Achilles Conundrum; building the best ship that you possibly can, but also adding in flaws so that it can never be turned against you.

In single player, enemies get successively bigger and more powerful. Gameplay has separate construction and combat phases. Combat is classic top down view, with a camera that dynamically zooms in and out as you move away and towards enemy ships.

 The construction system will provide a rich level of customization, based on intuitively picking out tiles. The game also provides an extra treat for fellow classic science fiction fans: bits and pieces are culled and inspired from science fiction films and TV shows from the 1950s all the way to the 1970s. So, think those familiar tropes like Star Trek and Space Battleship Yamato, obscurer treats for niche fans like Destination Moon and The Black Hole, even those silly floating hubcaps straight out of Plan 9 from Outer Space.

You will also be able to share these customized ships in the official game community, and an additional challenge mode will give you procedurally generated missions to face off with predesigned as well as community created ships.

Has this piqued your interest yet? Windows and Mac users can opt in for an alpha phase early next year. In the meantime, check out the announcement trailer below.