Co-operative starship mishap sim Jump Space just received the first major update of its early access phase, bringing both functional capitalism and a surprisingly enjoyable trio of melee weapons. The former takes the shape of newly opened item shops at your home base, giving you a chance to stock up on guns, repair kits, or artifact buffs before shipping out on a mission. And, having thwacked a few bots with the latter, I’m liking how worthy they are of a precious weapon slot, even in a game previously set up entirely for gunplay.
Besides their generous impact damage, the newly added wrench, crowbar, and sci-fi Heatblade sword can – with a timely block – deflect laser blasts back at the mechanoid dickhead who fired them. Yes, Jump Space now has parrying, which I’m aware in 2025 is the action game equivalent of saying wow, this strategy game’s got deckbuilding in it. But I still think these three hittin’ sticks are good additions, for two reasons: one, they add a needed extra dimension to Jump Space’s otherwise simplistic shooting, and two, it’s simply a right old laugh to perform laser-bouncing ninja nonsense with what is outwardly a completely mundane pipe wrench.
Basically: Oh, good. Why that’s very good. Yes, I like that.
The shops aren’t as interesting, though I imagine the ability to quickly tool back up with basic guns might take some sting out of losing your upgraded arsenal in a failed run. Speaking of which, the patch notes also share some of Keepsake Games’ thinking on equipment permanence: in short, it doesn’t sound like they’re adding the (apparently much-requested) option to stash favourite guns for safekeeping, though the plan is to make higher-tier loot spawns more common. “This will make good weapons frequent enough that hugging your MK3 for dear life won’t be players’ top priority,” the post explains.
Back in the present, this update also adds a handful of mission modifiers, potentially throwing in yet more baddie spaceships to dogfight or extra salvaging opportunities, as well as a little Hallowe’en event involving the fetch-questing of pumpkins. Your reward? Another pumpkin, specifically one to wear on your head. It presumably still protects you against the vacuum of space, unlike the ones they have in Tesco.
Jump Space still has a lot of early access jumping to do. Nothing here fixes its biggest issue of mission and environment repetition, which will need solving if it’s to have real legs. This patch feels like a pretty good enough start, though.
