Do you own either the Exclusive Edition of Gunpoint, or the Exclusive Extras DLC, on Steam? If so, you also have access to the first alpha test of the spacejacking sim Heat Signature that got underway over the weekend.
If not, you can still get into the club by simply buying Gunpoint (the Exclusive Edition, remember) now. Do take note, however, that Tom Francis, the man who made both games, doesn't think that anyone should actually do that.
"This is very unfinished, very unoptimised, and time-limited: I will close it down in two weeks and then you won’t have it anymore," he wrote. "It exists purely to help me find problems with the game and get people’s thoughts, not necessarily to give them the best experience or one I’d charge for individually."
Francis also emphasized that this is not the same as an Early Access release, and that having the alpha will not get you the final release. Furthermore, there will be other closed alphas held in the future that anyone can apply for. "This first one is just a perk of the [Gunpoint] Exclusive Edition, part of what I promised to say thanks to those who supported Gunpoint so generously," Francis wrote. "I did the same thing with Floating Point—Exclusive Edition folks got the first alpha, then later ones went to people who signed up."
Unless you're desperate to play Heat Signature right freakin' now, in other words, ponying up $30/£18 for Gunpoint to get into the first alpha probably isn't the thing to do. Which isn't to say Gunpoint isn't a fine game—we didn't review it, for reasons listed here, but plenty of other places did and they quite liked it—but when even the guy who stands to make money off the deal is recommending a good dose of sober second thought, you'd probably be wise to listen. Last time we played Heat Signature, we thought it was pretty neat.
(Disclosure: Tom Francis used to work here, but we don't think you should hold that against him.)
