The Superfluous

The Superfluous

Voided Pixels · 2017 · Action, Indie, Adventure, Platformer, 2D

PC
Mostly Positive74% · 35 📈 Making a comeback 84%
Best price 49 Good deal
$0.79-84%
$4.99lowest tracked $0.49
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Standard Edition · Steam
-84%
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Standard Edition · Steam
-40%
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MacGameStore
Standard Edition · Steam
-40%
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Humble Store
Standard Edition · Steam
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Screenshots

About The Superfluous

"The Superfluous" \ A cave-diving, sci-fi, rogue-lite, platformer with jet packs and lots of explosions. Help stop an apocalyptic asteroid on collision course with Earth. Lead a squad to the center of the asteroid and blast it into space dust.
 

features


  • Rogue - Levels are randomly generated and get progressively harder as the player progresses through them. The player's goal is to defeat a boss to unlock the next biome.
  • Perma-Death - for the individual characters, but they are cloned back to level 0 and can be used for other missions.
  • Perma-Progress - any upgrades the player purchases or any checkpoints the player reaches are saved. If a mission fails all loot will be lost. The player must decide to leave the dungeon and keep their loot or continue to the next level.
  • Co-Op - Play the campaign with a friend in local co-op.
  • Arena Mode - Challenge up to 3 of you friends in a 4 player local arena mode (WIP).
  • Platformer - side scrolling 2D platformer. The main locomotion of the player is walking and using a jet-pack. Attacking is done in two to four directions (depending on the weapon equipped).
  • Squad Based - Never journey alone! Bring along several squad mates with different tools and weapons to help you dive deeper. Balance your squad with miners, healers, heavy weaponry and explosives.
  • Destructible Terrain - mine and blow your way through the level to collect gems, create a shortcut, or gain an advantage over your enemies.
  • Progression - As squad member kill enemies and clear cave sectors they gain XP. When they gain enough XP the go up a level and a random perk is assigned. These will be lost on death and can be changed for gold back at base.
  • Three Biomes - explore the 'Dark Cave', 'The Underwater', or the 'Lava' biomes on your quest to save the world.
  • Economy - Loot can be obtained in the form of Gold and Gems. Gold is used to buy new crew DNA (unlock characters) and re-rolling perks. Gems are used to upgrade your gear, the number of people in your squad, the starting health of characters, etc.
  • Story - a fun, light story about the impending destruction of earth, bureaucracy, the military and sci-fi culture.
  • Local CO-OP - 2 (shooting for 4) player local multiplayer. A holo-deck 'arena' is planned to add death-match gameplay.
  • Controller Support - This game was designed for both keyboard/mouse and controller support.
  • Sci-Fi - I love reading all types of science fiction {Asimov, Niven, Heinlein, Card, Howey, Clark, Wells, etc.} and have always tried to include that genre in my games.

 

the story



All games should have a story. A story can motivate and inspire or just be something fun and entertaining. In The Superfluous, we are shooting for the later. I know, I know, Indie games should make us feel something to be 'successful' (or so it seems to me nowadays); and we enjoy games with really in-depth emotional stories... but sometimes we all just want to laugh and blow stuff up.

The year is 2121. Scientists have discovered an asteroid (BAR-101), half the size of the moon, on a collision course with Earth. Normally this would cause great distress for the people of Earth, but because this asteroid will not make impact for another 1,000 years, most deem it as not important. Although there remain a few people that are concerned(a fringe political group formally called Republicans). To appease this minority group, the government of Earth spent billions of dollars to send a space shuttle to BAR-101. The shuttle crew’s mission is to place a Zero-Point-Energy bomb at the center of the asteroid and destroy it before it reaches Earth.

The shuttle, your shuttle, is named “The UWN Superfluous”. This ship is equipped with state of the art cloning technology, in case you or your crew is met with an unfortunate end before the mission is complete. New crew DNA profiles are available for purchase in exchange for any valuable metal (gold) found on BAR-101.*

Your ship also has a research lab to upgrade your equipment using any minerals available. Though please note the upgrades are super expensive and don’t really make your gear that much more effective.

Your crew will be equipped with our most advanced environmental suits and super sweet jet packs to help them navigate through BAR-101’s many caves, chasms, crevices, crooks, and caverns.

You have approximately 999 years to complete your mission, so no procrastination. Remember the fate of the world might rest with you and your crew. Though popular consensus says we will either kill ourselves through nuclear war, a super virus, or by proving to aliens we are useless/dangerous to the rest of the galaxy.**
  • While you were in cryo-sleep the funding for this mission was cut in lieu of nicer toilet seats.
  • *Consensus made through a social media poll.

 

environments/biomes



Very quickly you'll find out your mission is not what it seems. You were expecting a lifeless rock your team would spend a few easy years drilling through. BAR-101 was anything but. Riddled with caves and things that love the taste of your EXO suits, the asteroid, and your mission will be anything but easy.

Dark Cave - Fight bats, slimes, 4 legged spiders and more as you pick your way through the first 'Dark Cave' Biome. You'll see mostly gray rocks but strange fireflies will also light up the cave with a strange ambiance.

The Underwater - Deeper down you find there is a large pocket of water trapped under the 'Dark Cave' biome. 'The Underwater' challenges the player with slowed down movement. Imagine deep sea divers in their large brass suits. Players will face rocket fish, sneaky swordfish, methane gas bubbles, butt-pinching crabs, and more as they delve deeper within the asteroid.

Lava Zone - The last of the three biomes is where the asteroid gets its life-giving heat. The lava zone adds the extra danger of overheating the players EXO suit. If the player stays on the ground too long the heat will damage the player. Enemies like the Splitting Fire Slime, the Fire Spitting Spider, falling rocks, and flame shooting fissures will try to abate the player.

 

meet the Team



Adam Truncale - Lead Programmer
Melissa Truncale - story and Marketing
Andrew Dees - Music and Soundtrack
Alex Lazar - Artist and Box/concept Art

 

other reviews


BIGBOSSBATTLE.COM

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

✦ AI summary

Players praise The Superfluous as a fun, chill experience with an engaging story, solid squad management mechanics, and good humor that works well solo or in co-op via Steam Remote Play. However, common complaints center on control issues like the inability to shoot downward on keyboard and lack of diagonal aiming, along with criticism of the retro pixel art style and occasional lack of visual polish and feedback during combat. Despite these rough edges, most players find the ambitious blend of platforming, roguelite progression, and crew management worthwhile, especially at its low price poin

Recommended Aug 9, 2020
TL;TR - Fun chill game to play alone or with a bud using steam remote play together has a good story. Bit of learning curve with the controls. Worth picking up for only $1.99. This is actually a fun chill game to play alone or with a friend (using steam remote play together). There is a bit of a learning curve with the controls though other then that its smooth sailing. In the beginning you might unfortunately die a lot especially to bats( O'NEIL's pickaxe 1 hits them). The tip is to make sure you have a miner like O'NEIL in your squad so you can dig to safety and mine gems. The story is pretty intriguing with sprinkles of humor, and interactive with the dialogue. Each level has more areas to explore and enemies to fight the only way you keep your loot is by finding the exit door at the bottom. Once you reach the exit you can "continue on" or "go to base". The longer you last the greater the rewards. There are other squad members you can buy with gold that have unique abilities like Fat Steve who can drop teleporters back to base. Gems are used to permanently upgrade your gear. Each member of your squad gain their own xp after each adventure that can be used to gain special traits…
3 found this helpful
Not recommended Jul 24, 2020
The Superfluous is a retro pixel 2D platformer/RPG-lite game where you manage a crew of astronauts who flew out to a deadly asteroid to mine it of valuable minerals then destroy it before it hits the Earth. For some reason the asteroid is full of monsters and chests and some of the walls have bricks. I know this makes no sense, but that's what you get when you let Starbucks employees make video games. I think it's unfortunate that a lot of effort went into designing the games progression/advancement system, and there's some comedy storyline bolted on as well, but the whole thing falls into a heap because the developers lacked the talent/funding to hire an artist to do decent graphics, so they fell back on lazy retro pixel graphics, because then they can pretend it's "art" and that they made it look bad on purpose. Apparently this cope is better than devs just admitting decent graphics are beyond their reach. Regardless, here we are. What could have been a great game ruined by ugly retro pixel graphics. Also, resolution is fixed and controls are fixed and can't be changed, so this falls beneath minimum standard for PC. Also, there's not really much in the way of an end g…
2 found this helpful
Recommended May 27, 2026
The Superfluous is a science-fiction roguelite action platformer developed and published by Voided Pixels, combining procedural cave exploration, squad management systems, destructible terrain, and fast-paced traversal into a unique independent experience that blends multiple genres together. Rather than focusing purely on platforming precision or combat intensity, the game builds much of its identity around experimentation, strategic planning, and adapting to unpredictable environments. Its systems-heavy approach creates an experience that feels ambitious, occasionally chaotic, but consistently interesting for players who enjoy overcoming challenges through preparation and flexibility. The game introduces an unusual futuristic premise centered around a distant threat that humanity struggles to take seriously. In the year 2121, scientists discover a massive asteroid called BAR-101 moving toward Earth. Despite the danger, the impact remains far enough into the future that urgency becomes lost within bureaucracy and political hesitation. Players become part of a mission aboard the UWN Superfluous, assigned to travel toward the asteroid and destroy it before catastrophe becomes unavo…
Recommended Jan 9, 2025
it needs some polish but so far i like it. the squad mechanic is fairly in depth, the game has a good sense of humor. i just think the game needs basic things like more of a response when your bullets hit enemies and more readability. i would recommend this game just to see where the developer takes it.
Recommended Sep 12, 2024
Pretty cool game so far. The BIGGEST annoyance so far is the fact that you cannot shoot down. You can shoot left, right, and up, but not down. In the control menu, it shows that you can fire down with the controller using the "A" button, but using the down arrow on the keyboard does not allow you to fire down for some reason. Also, I wish there was an option to aim and fire using your mouse instead. I should be able to aim with the mouse where I want to fire, fire normal shots with the left mouse button, and the secondary shot could be the right mouse button. Another thing that is somewhat annoying is that you can only shoot left, right, and up. You cannot hold the right and up button to shoot at angles. It would be better if you could do that. Other than that, the game seems pretty fun so far. You can collect gems in the mines to upgrade your guns, stats, etc. Not a bad game for a few bucks, although it could have some improvements with the movement/aiming and firing system.
Recommended Apr 6, 2022
is gud

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