Grease Junction – Newest Star Solo Location

I’m  happy to announce a new colonized space location – Grease Junction – has been added to the Star Solo free version’s newest update! This version has:

• Added Grease Junction as location in Colonized Space
  • Added Colonized Space News Item
  • Added Buy/Sell Cargo for Coronado and Grease Junction
  • Added Coronado Job
  • Added x4 jobs for Grease Junction
  • Includes Garages for Overdrive Ship Upgrade for Grease Junction
  • Includes Scrap Collector Upgrade in Grease Junction
• Added Passenger Cabins as ship upgrade at CORE Industries
• Increased Coronado Starport Docking Fee to 3 credits per day

Notably, the Overdrive upgrade and mechanic on Grease Junction was suggested by Lars Martin, a fan of Star Solo!

You can download the newest version of the Star Solo free version here.

Grease Junction

Grease Junction is a scrappy, oily, inventive corner of colonized space. It’s populated by free thinkers, inventors, and eccentric personalities. It’s common for the inhabitants of Grease Junction to have a day job (for example, selling scrap), but also have a workshop below their home, where they pursue inventions of their wildest dreams.

Scrap is introduced as a new cargo type. Scrap can be sold at Grease Junction for 30 credits per crate. Scrap, however, can’t be bought anywhere. It can be found in space, using the Scrap Collector upgrade (which can also be found at Grease Junction). It’s one of many ideas I have to give the player a bit more freedom and flexibility to play the game how they want. 

Players can also get the Overdrive Upgrade for their engine at Grease Junction. A month or two ago, I received an email from a fan of the game, Lars Martin. Lars had a lot of suggestions for Star Solo (and Dwarf Mine), and I thought this Overdrive idea was spectacular and fit perfectly with the theme of Grease Junction. The upgrade allows you to “overdrive” your engine, arriving at your destination 1d4 days earlier – but at a cost. You see, your ship just wasn’t built to travel at those speeds.

Coronado

Coronado also received a few updates. The one I am most excited about, is kind of a secret. Coronado Gold was introduced as cargo you can buy at Coronado, but there’s no where to sell it (yet). There is a job at Grease Junction that will buy Coronado Gold from you…but that’s it.

I added this cargo into the game at this point because I think that I want Coronado to have a gold rush style track, similar to Kote’s revolution track. I read a book a while ago about the cycle that different regions of the United States went through during booms and busts of the gold rush. All I could think about while reading the book was “there is a game in here.” I’m hoping, in a future update, to capture this excitement with a Coronado Gold Rush Track.

Looking Forward

I just finished my first Star Solo retro for the year, and I’m very excited about the game and where it is headed. When I first released Star Solo as an in-progress free game, I outlined the risks of taking this approach. However, I was stuck in design loop that wasn’t getting me anywhere.

So far, things have gone well. I’ve made progress on the game, received great and helpful feedback, and the game has received a ton of downloads (almost 500 as of publishing this article from itch.io alone). 

I haven’t finalized any plans (and probably won’t for a while), but my hope is to add 3-4 more free updates next year, and then in late 2025 or 2026, possibly add art, update the layout, and start working on the paid version. But, as always, these things are subject to change for a hobby game.

Join and Play Star Solo

If you’re still reading, you are probably interested in playing Star Solo! You can download the most recently updated version of Star Solo free here from itch.io

You can also join the newsletter here, which will allow you to receive updates on news around Star Solo and other games.

Finally, if you have feedback, you can follow me on itch.io and favorite Star Solo. You can also share your comments through my Star Solo feedback survey.

Thank you for being a fan of games! I’m looking forward to flying with you!