Rogues' Galaxy (2019)

From publisher blurb:

In an ideal galaxy, there would be a just, equitable government. But what if the government is not just? Or the economic playing field not level? "Revolution" is easy to say but hard to do. So what then?

A crime is just a revolution on a personal scale. When the trials of life pushed the lasers past their breaking point, they stepped outside the rules laid out for civilians and took real control over their lives. As a gang of thieves, they find their own separate justice and get their own fair compensation. They can't change the system, but they can do something almost as unimaginable — beat it.

This story is both cynical and adventurous in tone. The government, the military and the police are not your friends. They will easily kill innocents to maintain the social order, whether out of corruption, carelessness or cruelty. This is no anomaly; this is the system working as designed. But because you see society for the meat grinder that it is, you can escape it to live free. You may even secure wealth, prestige and power. Sure, you probably won’t die of old age, but this is the life you’ve chosen.

Rogues’ Galaxy puts this life on the grandest stage. The game takes inspiration from many stories of science-fiction thieves — “Firefly,” Guardians of the Galaxy, “Cowboy Bebop,” Han Solo, the Stainless Steel Rat, Consider Phlebas — but also from countless stories of more mundane thieves: Ocean’s Eleven, The Godfather, Danger: Diabolik, Reservoir Dogs, Kelly’s Heroes, City of God, and “The Wire.” With some work, they can all be transposed to interstellar space, depending on the tone you want your story to have. Crime can be funny, thrilling, gritty or bleak.

It’s a treacherous galaxy for crooks: You have to stay one step ahead of the law, compete with rival gangs, and make enough money to survive.