When comparing Motherload vs Star Baron, the Slant community recommends Motherload for most people. In the question“What are the best online flash games?” Motherload is ranked 2nd while Star Baron is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose Motherload is:
Due to the fact that the player can not mine upwards, there needs to always be an avenue of escape to get back above ground. Whether this is leaving enough fuel in order to fly up or leaving dirt laid out in a certain way that the player can climb up. Having this element of complexity through puzzle solving adds a deeper level of gameplay, which is great for the non-casual crowd.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Some puzzle solving elements
Due to the fact that the player can not mine upwards, there needs to always be an avenue of escape to get back above ground. Whether this is leaving enough fuel in order to fly up or leaving dirt laid out in a certain way that the player can climb up.
Having this element of complexity through puzzle solving adds a deeper level of gameplay, which is great for the non-casual crowd.
Pro Interesting story
The story is told through mysterious transmissions that the player will receive at random, making for an intriguing story that is slowly drip fed to the player, which is a good reason to keep playing as to find out what is happening.
Pro Random generation allows for lasting gameplay
Each time the game is started new, the dirt that one will be mining in is randomly generated. This allows for a new experience each time played but also a way to make each individuals experience different. This way the game has a longer shelf life thanks to each experience being different from the last.
Pro Great controls
There are two different control schemes for the game, the player can use the arrow keys or the mouse. This allows the player to choose what works bets for them while also providing good controls for both.
Pro Easy to learn
It's easy to learn the basics - just select the ships you want to fight with and click where you want them to go. Clicking once will send half the the selected ships, and double clicking will send all of them. Other mechanics aren't quite as simple, but still are very easy to grasp (for example, if you are surrounding a planet which you are attacking you get a significant boost to your damage).
Pro Advanced gameplay is rewarding
While beginners will throw around ships, not caring what types of planets to attack, more veteran players will need to play strategically, taking and holding defense planets to help their front line. Finding a few large strategically placed economy and naval stars will be essential to a victory if playing against harder AIs.
Pro Make your own maps
You can create your own maps which you can play on, including 7 types of planets, 5 different planet sizes, and adding up to 5 players. The editor is easy to work with - adding planets is as simple as clicking on a blank space, and editing them can be done by clicking an existing planet again.
Cons
Con Short gameplay
Users have reported to being able to beat the game in around an hour. While the random generation allows for some replayability, the time that this game can be beaten means that a single play-though can be finished easily in one sitting. So for those looking for something to sink more time into, may want to look elsewhere.
Con Repetitive sound
The musical score along with the sound effects in the game can become annoying with time as there is little variation, meaning the sounds and music repeat over and over again, which can be frustrating.