Ian's Rocket

Ian's Rocket is a historybased strategy and openworld game where you guide a nation's economy from the stone age to the modern world. Developed and published by single person, it's the kind of game that rewards patience, planning, and a love for systems that slowly click into place. You're not just building an empire you're helping Ian build a rocket to return home, and every resource you gather, every building you construct, and every trade route you establish brings him one step closer to the stars.

The Core Gameplay

The goal is deceptively simple: help Ian build a rocket to get home. But the path there is anything but. You start in one of 4 openworld starting regions, each with its own resources, wonders, units, buildings, and characters. From there, you research through 5 eras of time, and every technology you unlock opens up new buildings, units, wonders, or upgrades. You'll establish an economy by hiring and training labor, gathering and crafting resources, and selling your goods to the inhabitants of the world. There are over 75 resources to gather, craft, and trade, and you can sell more than 35 of them to the people you meet.

Wonders, Labor, and Trade

One of the most satisfying parts of the game is building the 24 wonders of the world. Each one has its own unique ability that improves your economy, and they serve as longterm goals that give every era a sense of purpose. Your labor force can be developed into 12 unique specializations, each one improving the output of resources specific to that specialization. And when your cities start producing more than you need, you can set up trade routes on land, sea, air, or rail to automate the delivery of resources to and from cities all over the world. Routes can be saved and loaded, which saves a lot of time when you're optimizing your trade network.

Historical Figures and Conquerors

The world is populated by famous figures of history, and they don't all want to be your friend. Some will trade with you, offering unique resources in exchange for your help on tasks. Others 20 historical conquerors, to be exact will fight to stop your efforts, each with their own set of unique units within their army. You'll also find 24 additional characters who ask for your help and trade unique resources. You'll build armies to defend yourself and fight back, though combat is the simplest and weakest part of the experience compared to the economic and logistical depth.

Reception and Details

Ian's Rocket was released on July 3, 2026 on Steam for PC, macOS, and Linux. It's built on a 64bit architecture and supports Windows 10 or newer. The system requirements are mercifully low: an Intel Core i3 or equivalent, 2 GB RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or equivalent. You'll only need 2 GB of storage space, so it'll run on virtually any computer made in the last decade.

The game currently has only 3 user reviews on Steam, so there's no real consensus yet on how it plays longterm. But the one detailed review available is genuinely enthusiastic. One player called it "an interesting, 'lite' take on empire building and trading that is more than meets the eye," noting that it's a "pretty cozy and fun game to grab and just build a little empire, but it has more problem solving and logistics than you would expect." They compared it to games like Patrician, Port Royale, and older empirebuilding titles, and praised the additional consumption mechanic your populace buys your sellable goods like pottery and stone sculptures, which is a clever way to "tax" them back for their production. They also loved that you control a Hero's party (Ian) directly, making the scale of the game feel very personal. After 4 hours of play, they reported zero bugs or issues, and said it's "definitely worth a check if the features seem interesting."

Who's It For?

If you love empirebuilding and trading games like Patrician, Port Royale, or Anno, and you want something with a cozy, approachable take on the genre that still offers real logistical depth, this is exactly your kind of game. If you enjoy the slow burn of building an economy from scratch gathering resources, setting up trade routes, and watching your cities grow the loop here is genuinely satisfying. It's also for players who appreciate a game that lets you be directly involved in the action through a hero character, rather than just managing abstract systems from above. And if you just want a cheap, lowstress strategy game you can sink dozens of hours into while listening to a podcast, this one's got your name on it.