Free Stars: Children of Infinity’s free combat demo has been released. Developed by Pistol Shrimp Games, this version of the space adventure RPG includes the one-on-one “melee” section, where players can fight against another player or a computer-controlled opponent. The ships differ from one another in terms of maneuverability, weapons, and special abilities; there are 38 ships in total. Nearly all of the ships familiar from The Ur-Quan Masters return, while the Slylandro probe is not included. Ships from the new game, as well as vehicles designed by Kickstarter backers exclusively for melee mode, have also been added to the roster.
The flight and weapon characteristics of the old ships were recreated in Fred Ford’s new SIMPLE game engine. However, the ships can turn more naturally this time compared with the game from the 1990s. Although the existing skills of The Ur-Quan Masters players largely carry over to the new environment, they will need to adjust some of their habits. Players can select their fleets and plan which ships to use against their opponents.
The article also notes that the writer has been working as a volunteer on the Children of Infinity writing team since 2021 and has contributed to the story through NPC dialogue. The writer says they have not received any financial gain from the project and will not receive payment from people who download the demo or purchase the full game in the future. They state that they have written approximately 100,000 words of NPC dialogue for the game’s seven alien species over five years.
Paul Reiche III left the project in summer 2023, after the story was largely completed; narrative director Mallory Littleton converted the scripts into a branching interactive structure. Lead designer Dan Gerstein, meanwhile, led the scattered team during the Kickstarter campaign and the prolonged development process. While development is said to have reached its final stage, more information about the full game will be shared later. The combat demo is available for free through Steam and GOG.
Why it matters
The demo offers longtime players of the series an opportunity to test how familiar ships move and use weapons in the new SIMPLE engine; although existing skills remain largely valid, changes to turning dynamics may affect players’ habits. The 38-ship roster and fleet selection show that in one-on-one encounters, planning which ships to use based on the opponent will be as decisive as reflexes. The new ships designed by backers and assigned exclusively to melee mode demonstrate that the game is preserving its historical legacy while also incorporating community contributions into its content. Although development appears to be nearing its final stage, it is not yet clear when the full game will be released or what the scope of the information said to be shared later will be.
Background
Stars is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we published a news article mentioning the name in the past 90 days; that article was dated September 9, 2026.