TAU-09

TAU-09 is a programming puzzle game in which you prospect TAU-09-XT4, a newly discovered stellar body drifting through the galaxy. The planet is rich in radiation and may contain rare minerals. You must complete a 10-day rotation without being stranded; to win, survive ten days or finish exploring 30 sectors.

Plan your prospecting

Each in-game day assigns you three sectors, with three deployments to each. Every sector is a mini programming puzzle. You inspect orbital scans of your assigned sectors, plan an exploration strategy, then program robots to explore remote parts of the surface and test your code in a simulation.

The simulations are imperfect: data missing from sector scans is treated as common tiles. Each completed day earns credits based on your performance, but running out of credits is a game-over condition.

Upgrade your robots

You can spend credits to improve your robots, helping them last longer under radiation and process longer code. Upgrades include radiation shields and memory slots.

The work terminal

The game uses an alternative 1980s-inspired, retro-futuristic interface presented as a work terminal. It is designed for keyboard use, with limited mouse interaction.