TECH2

Like Star Trek: The Next Generation? Got a few minutes to spare? PixelTrek is a web-based “game” that lets you explore areas of good old NCC-1701-D, in adorable 8-bit form.

You control Commander Data as he wanders around the Enterprise, exploring strange new rooms, seeking out new closets, and new bathrooms. Bolding going where no pixelized android has gone before.

There’s no plot to PixelTrek. It is purely a game of exploration. You get to see rooms and areas never shown on the show or movie. Of the few games that took place in the TNG universe, and specifically on the Enterprise, there was precious little exploration. I just wanted to walk around the ship, even if just virtually. Sadly, by the time games had gotten advanced enough to render decent 3D graphics, Voyager was the Star Trek show. There were a couple of OK Voyager games, and you could walk around the ship a little, but they were primarily first person shooters. I like FPS, but come on, this is Star Trek.

So in that way, PixelTrek is a pure old-school take on what Star Trek used to be: the joy of exploration.

There’s all sorts of cute, perhaps anachronistic, touches throughout PixelTrek. I won’t spoil some of the funnier ones, but all of them add to a certain adorableness to the whole thing. Like a cartoon TNG.

Basically, what I’m saying it, PixelTrek is far more fun and amusing than you might think ad I’ve certainly lost about an hour wandering around the decks of the Enterprise. A friend of mine once said, of the most recent (and largely mediocre) TNG movie, “It’s an amusing night out with old friends.” That’s the sort of warm nostalgia PixelTrek evokes, in its 8-bit, isometric-view way.

PixelTrek is free, plays in your browser (Flash), and is clearly a labor of love. Only a few decks are finished, as it’s a work in progress, but even so you’ll be amused by what’s there. Definitely don’t miss the bathrooms.

Oh, and there’s no sound, but just open this in another window and you’ll be all set: