For those of you stuck in the office or who are hardcore fans of classic space trader games, Big Block Games’ newest web-based universe may interest you. Styled after titles such as X3: The Reunion, Black Market is a simple but fun browser game currently playable in open beta.
In Black Market, the player captains a small spacecraft and flies over different parts of the solar system while trading goods and completing missions. Of course, space is often a dangerous place and there are a number of warring factions and pirates with which to contend. As the player progresses through the campaign, he will gain experience and credits in order to upgrade his ship and a small list of personal attributes for combat and navigating the space map. All of this works in basic roleplaying game fashion, but the game itself looks quite good for a Flash-based title and it’s quite well paced.
While the game will eventually cost $6.99 to unlock the full campaign, the offering available for play online gives players hours of content for free. Big Block Games is a small development team so we certainly recommend supporting them should you enjoy the game. The beta of Black Market can be played here.
