Haul a star through a labyrinth in Today's Star Is, a challenging free game from the Love Eternal devs with a new level coming every day

It is the beginning of a new week, and you find yourself lamenting the Mondays. However, you quickly realize that every day is hard in its own way. You have a multitude of thoughts and responsibilities weighing on your mind. Rest assured, the challenges you face are not as daunting as the Space Invader area in Today's Star Is.

Today's Star Is is a free 2D spaceship labyrinth game developed by Toby Alden, one of the creators of the melancholic precision platformer Love Eternal. Sadly, we have not had the opportunity to review Love Eternal. Interestingly, in the afterlife, games journalists are judged not for our sins, but for the games we have failed to play.

Our list of overlooked games is extensive, similar to the coiled form of Jörmungandr. Despite this, we accept our fate with a good heart, knowing that Valnet Tophet could not be worse than the Space Invader area in Today's Star Is.

In Today's Star Is, you control a tiny, unarmed spaceship with challenging, Lunar Lander-style spin and thrust handling. Your objective is to navigate a labyrinth of spiked surfaces while collecting a star. Regular walls can be safely bounced off without damage, but colliding with a spike instantly results in destruction. As you progress through the labyrinth, the spikes become increasingly dangerous.

Additionally, you must contend with the Space Invader, which lurks in a hunting ground marked by dashed lines. Once engaged, the Space Invader relentlessly pursues you, passes through solid surfaces, and kills you upon contact.

The star you must collect is a challenging obstacle itself. It is situated in a crevice and possesses physics, causing it to swing around like a wrecking ball and cling to corners, disrupting your maneuvers. When you release the tractor beam, the star bounces and skips unpredictably. While you can launch the star through narrow passages, doing so requires great dexterity.

However, more often than not, you will inadvertently skim it into a dead-end from which escape seems impossible. If the star touches you, it will cause your destruction.

Despite the overwhelming challenges, you have two advantages: infinite lives and frequent checkpoint flags. The checkpoints prevent the star from respawning at the other end of the labyrinth, providing a much-needed respite. Completing a level rewards you with the satisfaction of seeing your name on a leaderboard, though the accumulated frustration and hatred of astral phenomena may cause you to lose consciousness.

However, Today's Star Is is not solely defined by its challenging gameplay. The game's presentation adds to its appeal. While the visual design may appear barebones, it compensates with engrossing sonic textures. The hissing rocket emissions create a cavernous echo, while the ship makes distinct sounds upon colliding with surfaces.

The Space Invader, though not an actual Space Invader, emits a harrowing waking-up noise. The game can be played in a web browser or downloaded for Windows and Mac platforms. Created by Toby Alden, a developer of the melancholic precision platformer Love Eternal, Today's Star Is is released daily, and Alden expresses his surprise at receiving such an overwhelming number of oversights, hoping that Love Eternal will prove to be even more challenging.