Astroneer: Countdown Vol.1

by Dave Dwonch, Xenia Pamfil (Illustrator)

For fans of the hugely successful Astroneer videogame, comes an all-new, all-ages adventure set in developer System Era’s universe!

Inside each graphic novel, readers can redeem a unique, exclusive cosmetic game code!

When bored young Astroneer Seven plucks a mysterious crystal from the planet Boreas he is catapulted across time and space!
But the intrepid young adventurer has got bigger problems — by taking the crystal the very fabric of the planet starts to unravel threatening to start a chain reaction that could destroy the entire universe!

Now, Seven and his ragtag crew of Astroneers must traverse the infinite to get the crystal back to Boreas before it’s too late! The countdown has begun… and it’ll take more than one plucky Astroneer to solve this astronomical problem!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Video Games

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2023

Reviews

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Summary:

Are you a fan of a game called Astroneer? Well, good news! There's now a graphic novel portraying this exciting and sometimes humorous universe. Astroneer: Countdown Vol. 1 contains four stories in total: Countdown, Out of Bounds, Decaf Noir, and Have We Met?

This is a universe where people can explore different and strange planets. Naturally, this occasionally leads to bizarre antics, to put it mildly. Get ready for a romp through space!

My Review:

It took me less than thirty seconds to decide that I would read Astroneer: Countdown Vol. 1. Seriously, I saw it and knew that I had to read it. While I've never actually played Astroneer, I enjoy watching Let's Plays of the game. It's so entertaining!

Let me tell you, the graphic novel is not a disappointment. It's fun and chaotic in equal proportions and full of the bright colors and landscapes fans have come to expect. Overall, I enjoyed the primary story (Countdown) the most. However, I'm mainly saying that because of the characters – they're a delight (and made me laugh on more than one occasion).

The other stories, Out of Bounds, Decaf Noir, and Have We Met? did do a great job of balancing out the universe. I also really enjoyed how they changed the tone, art styles, and color palettes for each of them. It added to the whole experience.

Highlights:
Based on a video game world (Astroneer)
Humorous
Space Exploration

Thanks to Titan Comics and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number seven is exploring a strange New World. They fall into a gem cave awaken two weeks later. A new astronomer has been sent to that location as Astronmer 7 was not “found”. Now seven and eight are there trying to figure out what happened and where seven was for 2 1/2 weeks. They eventually figure out that it’s stress and that a crystal found by seven sends someone into the “oatmeal”. The oatmeal is between space-time, so it feels like instant. Like a warm hug. But it’s actually taking you through time. Eventually the astronomer, seven and eight end up with as many as 16 astronomers in a quest to put the crystal back, and discover more about the planet, in which they are inhabiting. This was a fun, middle grade book. There are a few extra stories in the end, each done with different illustrators, and writers that give a different feel to the main story. Overall I did like this but it was a tad long.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adult-proof comic based on a game I've never heard of, and which goes nowhere before settling on two characters who wasted ten pages before I noticed the too-subtle difference between their space suits. I mean, what more do I need to say before "I got little from this!" becomes clear?! It's not even as if the story has any correlation with that given by the blurb, as far as I got. And when the bonus shorts looked as cheaply cartoonish as the main effort, it really was game over.

[Alex Maitland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel, it was just short stories that end with what you’re given but it gives a glimpse into the life of the astroneers that you play as and it was fun and made me recall memories from playing the game. Also i really loved all the different art styles.

If you’ve played the game and know how it works then i think you’ll like this as long as you keep in mind it’s just a glimpse into the lives of astroneers and

[Mee Too · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh, didn't know it was a video game. So I had no background story, cause i'm not fanatical enough to read the book, play the game, watch the movie, and buy all the merch...(blah blah soapbox) I'll just say that this was probably a "goodread" to someone.

gave it 3 stars because I enjoyed the last short story.

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC...Even if one is not aware it is an adaptation of space colony building video game "Astroneer", still makes for a decent and fun spacey read! Despite being only aware it's a game, I didn't feel lost when reading the narrative.

[Richard L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this books story and it relates a lot to the game

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun adventure with cute characters, though a little younger than I was expecting. The artwork is really bright and colourful, and the characters come through even though you never see their faces.

[Ron Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generic media tie-in. Weirdly long.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, very funny, no violence, cute art. I think I will check the game out for my kids.

[Tayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recieved an e-copy of this on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

cute artwork and the little helper jasper is so cute even if he gets some things wrong

MC feeling disappointed/not enough - finally get dream job and feel like it doesn’t live up to their expectations and feel like they aren’t even able to do their job

Accidentally find a new area and unknown crystals which finally sparks joy and a sense of purpose within their job again - however seven actually had been missing a long time and has been replaced by eight

Seems like maybe these crystals aren't so innocent after all and could be the cause of all the strange goings on

Fun teamwork/friendship building story with messages of persevering and believing in yourself

Loved the artwork and the colours

Bonus stories: 

Out of bounds - similar to first story - finding unknown area and discovering new things. Gets assumed as missing or dead and replaced but has actually time travelled/gone into a time rift

Decaf noir - missing coffee cubes drama - what has really happened?!

Have we met - losing time/memories & friendship.