Hi everyone, here’s the final post of my Space Game recommendations:
Top-5 Small and/or Indie Space Games
Honorable Mentions
Space-adjacent Games, Small
Hopefuls (games in development now, that I hope will grow into their own in the future.
Disappointments (ones that imo didn’t turn out good in the end)
Small and Indie games make up the bulk of any genre, but for Space Games this is particularly pronounced in my opinion, due to a long period of industry trends/bandwagons which publishers jumped on which tended to exclude space-themed games from wider production, thus leaving a lot more space for Indies to fill. One of those trends was the “PC gaming is dead” console push of the 2000-2010s, and the other the concomitant dearth of RTS and other Strategy games, which previously represented a sizable chunk of Space Games.
Because of this larger pool of small games, I’m also including a “Hopefuls” and “Disappointments” section here, with more games to be aware of and check out.
Right off the line with an unusual and interesting one, Duskers is a top-down, realtime investigation roguelike, where you are a human ship captain, using remote-controlled drones to explore derelict ships, in order both to gather resources, and to figure out what happened to all the other humans. It’s claustrophobic, it’s alien, it’s conveys loneliness very well, but also heart-pounding action when you need to… run from things. If you want a smaller-scale story, and more laid-back, Duskers is a gem.
Endless Sky is a FREE and Open Source game, created entirely by community contributors! It is a top-down fleet-command game, in which you can trade, transport, fight, negotiate, and more, across a decently-sized galaxy. It has a lot of neat hidden content, alien factions, and cool ships to find. It also supports mods. Since it was made by a bunch of FOSS Linux nerds, you can install it on just about anything (phones included).
It’s procedural (galaxies, ships, modules, etc)! It’s co-op! It’s got lots of mods, lots and LOTS of star systems, and lots of bespoke content as well. It has a really cool mix of RTS and third-person ship combat, where you can swap into a top-down view to issue orders to your fleet, and then pop back out into just your ship’s 3p view. You can build space stations, or take over systems, or just run missions if you want. For me it really feels like what I want Eve Online or Astrox Imperium to be.
Another Kickstarter success story, FTL is a top-down ship crew-simulation game, where you control crew members as well as the ship, through a procedural series of sectors in order to reach and then defeat a giant enemy boss ship, all while being pursued by their fleet. You can recruit different species who have different abilities, fly different ships, change out weapons, or drones, or defensive robots to attack borders, or equip stealth cloaking devices, and on and on. It is NOT infinite, and an infinite mode that was promised at one point never materialized, but mods have attempted to rectify this grave injustice.
Starsector is truly a special game. It is a top-down fleet command game, in a universe full of aliens, warring factions, mysterious artifacts, unexplained mysteries, pirates, bounties, rogue AI fleets, and a now-defunct mass effect relay portal ring network. It is still in development, and has an active and extensive community of modders. I truly can’t rave about this game enough, if you are a fan of open-world space sandbox games. Take a look at the game’s media page to see screenshots of what the games looks like, as well as the kinds of stuff you can do- or check out the trailer.
And don’t worry, if you’re like me, and you suck at the Ur-Quan Masters-style ship combat… you can have the game handle it for you (while you watch and intervene as you like).
This game would have been in the top-5 for me if I was only considering the game itself, but there is controversy about its development: in short, the developer signed on around 12 fans/ community members (including minors), who volunteered to produce art assets unpaid. Supposedly, none of those made it into the final game, but the project lead (who is also the head of Chucklefish games) is also- according to many previous employees- a massive asshole, manipulator, and creep.
I personally reject the premise of Death of the Author (either good or bad), and doubly-so when that person stands to benefit from sales; my view is to support good people, and not support bad people. If you agree, or where that line lies for you, and whether you’re interested in looking at this game, is up to you.
That said, Starbound is an amazing game. It was created to be Terraria In Space (said asshole also worked on Terraria), and it succeeds at that in spades. It can be played alone or in co-op, is massively moddable, and is all-around an astounding game. There are tons of different types of planets, all proc-gen, and populated with various factions, cities, storylines, and missions.
The Frackin’ Universe mod is considered a must-have expansion by many in the community, for the sheer amount of content it adds (many mod authors in the community pooled their work together).
This is the 2019 sequel to the 2015 Astrox: Hostile Space Excavation, which was more focused and small-scale. Astrox Imperium massively expands on the original, to create a game where you can mine, manufacture, research, train, fight, trade, build (stations, ships), etc. Its biggest limitation (to me) is its restrictiveness around fleets, but it’s still in development, and the devs have said they’re working on that. If you just want to mine in peace, give this a go.
A tactical fleet command sim. This ‘game’ is all about tactics. Controlling range. Controlling information. Controlling visibility. EWAR and positioning are major factors in this game. If you want to play a game that feels like what combat in The Expanse would be like, it’s this. It’s very cinematic, watching a PDS try to screen incoming missiles, or railgun rounds punch through ships. Hardcore, but satisfying.
Battlevoid: Harbinger is a hard sci-fi space exploration game blending roguelike, turn-based, star map strategy, and real-time space battles. You are a young commander venturing out into enemy territories, to unknown galaxies, never knowing what you will face as you jump out from hyperspace.
Space-adjacent Games, Small:
Startopia (this is a must-have classic, if you enjoy management games)
Planet Explorers now Free, but was originally paid, and was Kickstarted. This is a real love-it-or-hate-it gem. I love it. Also, Pathea Games is the studio that made My Time At Portia and My Time at Sandrock.
STASIS Point-and-click HORROR that is ACTUALLY scary
Starship Titanic by Douglas Adams- oh yeah, did you know he made a video game?
Hopefuls:
The Last Starship
Stardeus
Starmancer
Ostranauts
Star Valor
Star Traders: Frontiers
Space Reign
Celestial Command
Space Haven
Disappointments:
Note: The disappointments are only here because I saw something promising in them, so just because I didn’t like them in the end doesn’t mean you won’t. Not every space game is for me!
Endless Sky has sucked up large chunks of time from me over the years! Definitely recommend it if anyone hasn’t tried it yet. I’ve worked on several mods for it over the years, and that’s lots of fun as well.
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Endless Sky has sucked up large chunks of time from me over the years! Definitely recommend it if anyone hasn’t tried it yet. I’ve worked on several mods for it over the years, and that’s lots of fun as well.