Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet

What it is

Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet is a science-fiction visual novel by Key, set decades after a failed space-colonization effort. Humanity is nearly extinct, and a deadly rain falls continually on Earth. A lone scavenger enters a ruined city and finds a planetarium, where he meets Yumemi, a companion robot who believes he is its first visitor in thirty years. The projector is broken, and the story follows his attempt to repair it. The Steam version is a single-player title with Japanese voice acting and English or Japanese text. Steam lists Windows, with achievements and Family Sharing. Key developed the game, and Sekai Project is listed as its publisher. Its Steam release date is September 12, 2014; the original Japanese release was ten years earlier. The game is also described as a kinetic novel, post-apocalyptic game and visual novel.

What players like, and what they don't

Who it suits

It suits readers who want a single-player, text-led science-fiction story with Japanese voice acting and English or Japanese text. Its ruined-world setting and meeting between a scavenger and a planetarium robot are central to the premise.

Planetarian centers on a small encounter in a ruined world, presented as a voiced visual novel. Its Windows Steam version offers two text languages and a single-player experience.