Really Big Sky

Really Big Sky, the sequel to Big Sky, is a twin-stick side-scrolling shooter with a craft set in space. Everything in the game is procedurally generated based on a seed shown at the start of a level. That way, every type of enemy, attack pattern, special event, pacing and bonus is different for each gameplay session as they are selected and stitched together from a large pool. There are 12 different game modes and in most of them the goal is simply to survive as long as possible.

The craft can be freely moved around on the screen as it moves forward automatically. In addition a gamepad stick or the mouse is used to aim in any direction. There is auto firing by default and the player can interrupt it by pressing a button. That can be useful to save up a stronger laser with limited ammo until enemies appear. A second button or key is used to flip the craft into drill mode. Drill mode is required to move through certain enclosed sections. These often contain bonuses such as faster speed for instance which are triggered by flying and hovering over them as long as possible. The drill mode is also used to pass through certain barriers or to reach a section of a boss. Next to the regular gameplay there are many events with bosses where the player needs to figure out an approach. There are many power-ups to collect with shield bonuses, points multipliers etc.

The different game modes include a Classic and an Arcade one, but also Countdown (only two minutes to score), Peaceful (unlimited amount of lives), and very difficult ones such as Hell or Nightmare. Others are Marathon, Boss Rush, Pacifism, and Retro, among others. In the Classic mode points can be used to upgrade the ship permanently for a next session. Arcade lets the player select up to three perks before starting the game. There are many unlockables and achievements, and information about enemies and events is stored in a Library.

The game can be played with four players cooperatively and scalable difficulty. Multiplayer has special Cascade events not used in singleplayer games.