The manual is a very important requirement for playing this: There’s a big backstory, plus it lists the systems and planets you can visit. Even with the manual, it took a while to get used to playing the game. Unlike most text adventure games, the text you write isn’t your actions, instead you’re playing as Kirk and the text is what Kirk is saying to other people, giving them commands. Kirk’s actions are done via the Function buttons.

The game starts with the Enterprise out of power and a quick jaunt on a planet to learn how the game works to reach a species called the Orna that can fix the Enterprise. From there on, you’re free to explore the systems mentioned in the manual (or put in your own coordinates) with the mission to find the USS Heinlein (a ship that Sulu is in command of).

Some of the planets are side quests, while others will present you with clues and new information. The planets are varied, from a medieval planet where you have to kill a dragon to a Dyson sphere with communities in areas (I found out the hard way that travelling between locations requires a spacesuit.

The way the game works reminded me a bit of The Outer Wilds, a time loop game where you have to learn how its universe functions. You can use knowledge from previous games to skip sections, although you do get a higher score if you do everything in one run.

I had a lot of fun with this, there’s a lot to like about it.