What most wants to kill you, it seems at times, is the game itself. FTL, like many roguelikes, has a simple random number generator which determines the outcome of every jump between the stars, every shot fired from your Burst Laser II, every time you send a crew member into harm's way. While certain crew skills and upgrades to your ship increase the percentage chance that the randomly generated number will come up on your side, there's always the possibility of an extraordinary string of bad luck that ends an otherwise successful run prematurely.

Another roguelike element is permadeath. When your ship is destroyed, your run ends and you must start over again in Sector 1. This adds real weight to every decision you make, and how it will affect your ship and crew.

RPG elements abound in FTL: in order to overcome the Rebel flagship at the end of Sector 8, a prudent commander must upgrade his or her ship's systems, find, purchase, or salvage new weaponry, as well as recruit and train crew members. These elements contribute directly to a successful run, and it is almost impossible to win without them.

Finally, many mods await the experienced commander. The Captain's Edition mod installs a host of new features including new weapons, random events, space station battles, and sector hazards, to name just a few. Turning the Tide, another mod, allows a courageous (or perhaps foolhardy) FTL captain to turn and face the demons in pursuit, and not only escape, but push the rebels back. All of these mods and more are compatible with Advanced Edition, a completely free DLC which adds a new ship and race, new weapons, subsystems, and a few tweaks to the game.

Don't be daunted by FTL's difficulty – dying is half the fun. No, really, it is!