| E.O.S.: Earth Orbit Stations | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher | Electronic Arts |
| Producer | Joe Ybarra |
| Designer | Karl Buiter [1] |
| Platforms | Apple II, Commodore 64 |
| Release | 1987 |
| Genre | Simulation |
| Modes | Single-player, multiplayer |
E.O.S.: Earth Orbit Stations is a space station construction and management simulation video game developed by Karl Buiter for Electronic Arts. [1] It was released for the Commodore 64 and Apple II in 1987.
The game focuses on both the material and economic challenges of building a permanent, fully functioning space station in geocentric orbit. [2]
The player(s) chooses to play one of the various scenarios, each with differing objectives to fulfill, all of which start in the spring of a fictional 1996 [3] . These scenarios consist of mundane tasks such as setting up a simple space station, to developing and supplying a specified amount of high-grade, zero G pharmaceuticals, and to being the first to contact alien life [3] . The game is also a cutthroat strategy game in multiplayer, as players compete over finite resources to achieve the scenario goal first [2] .
Computer Gaming World in 1987 gave the game a mixed review. While the single-player portion was praised, the review felt the game had too high a learning curve to be suitable for multiplayer. The user interface was particularly bothersome, described as "a textbook case of how not to design a window/menu/graphics interface." The documentation was similarly described as poorly organized and cryptic. [4] In 1992 and 1994 surveys of science fiction games the magazine gave the title two-plus stars of five, calling it "An interesting failure ... the logistics just are not that much fun". [5] [6] Compute! reviewed the game more favorably, stating that "EOS offers a level of challenge unusual in space-related software. To succeed at this game requires careful thought". [7]