When we think of space, we tend to imagine distant worlds of endless imagination. Sparkling stars, radiant nebulas, planets of all shapes and sizes, and perhaps other species may await us out in the great beyond. Let’s explore the possibilities.
Here are the 30 best space games to play today.
30. 60 Parsecs!
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Take all the time you need to prepare for imminent destruction. You have 60 seconds. Go!
These will be the most important 60 seconds of your life. Your space station is about to explode, and you’re rushing to the escape pod. You grab as many supplies and crew as you can before it blows. Was it enough to survive the next leg of your journey?
What Makes 60 Parsecs! Awesome
Use your scavenged goods to survive as long as you can.
Encounter dangerous enemies while exploring unknown worlds.
Keep up the morale of your crew. Mutiny may be just around the corner.
Official site: http://robotgentleman.com/60parsecs/
It has been 230 years since the Imperium launched from Earth, taking the remains of humanity with it. No one remembers exactly what happened. The ship was destroyed, and it took most of mankind with it. The survivors of this tragedy are the ancestors of the world in which you live.
What Makes Astrox Imperium Awesome
Enjoy an open world atmosphere with a non-linear story progression. Your decisions decide your end game experience.
Take part in quests and crafting, and choose from over 100 different skills to train to make your character truly unique.
Experience real time combat with hundreds of weapons, bombs, drones, and more.
Pilot an interstellar cruiser on a mission to protect civilization against the Children of the Sun. This faction dominates other planets of the known universe, and is seen as the primary threat. Travel across the galaxy and save your people!
What Makes Between the Stars Awesome
Real time combat where every decision can mean the difference between defeat and victory.
Hire crew and upgrade them as they gain experience. Protect them, for they may save your life.
Discover new technology to add to your own arsenal.
Mercenaries in space. Decide how to earn your living.
Become a mercenary and form your own group of bandits in this space exploration game. Earn your fortune and fame by selling data, or establishing your own trade routes between systems. Procedurally generated worlds and lootable items leaves you with unlimited scenarios and guarantees new and exciting adventures.
What Makes Stellar Tactics Great
Turn-based team combat brings back a hint of nostalgia of the older RPG games.
Build your team and train them for specializations in various abilities.
Explore ancient ruins, caves, and hidden bases on many planets in search of the best treasure.
Looking for something a little more old-school? This classic real time strategy game has gotten a rehaul. An updated rendering engine and higher resolutions means taking over the universe will look better than ever before.
What Makes Imperium Galactica II Great
Explore galaxies and expand your empire through colonization or conquest.
Economy and population management means you have full control of your colonies.
Take part in three unique campaigns for a fresh start every time.
Official Site: https://www.facebook.com/ImperiumGalactica
Join the freedom fighters, but proceed with caution. Not everything is as it seems.
Two years ago the second Gemini War ended. The Gemini League freedom fighters are now a simple unit while the Empire takes over their sector. But something is amiss and has the Empire nervous. There’s only one way to find out.
What Makes Starpoint Gemini 2 Great
Play through the campaign or explore the galaxy as you see fit.
Choose from fifty different factions to perform missions for, or to work against, affecting your gameplay by your reputation.
Hire mercenaries to fight alongside you in one of over seventy unique ships to pilot.
Official Site: https://lgmgames.net/starpoint-gemini-2/
Humans left Earth three thousand years ago, and now the galaxy is locked in a struggle between mercenaries and empires. But one world was once inhabited by a great alien civilization, seemingly wiped out by some cataclysmic event. Not all who explore this region return. Those that do have acquired great wealth from artifacts and treasures. Will you face the danger of Sector 1337 for the chance at a new life?
What Makes Star Conflict Great
Features both PVP and PVE experiences. Group up with friends or play alone in missions.
More than a hundred ships to pilot, from nimble scouts to giant warships.
Lots of downloadable content to choose from, but it’s not necessary for a full game experience.
The Hades Galaxy has just recently been discovered. Despite reports of indigenous species’, unstable planets, and dangerous stars, huge colonization missions began. More and more ships arrive daily. Your own fleet will work to colonize planets, build space stations, find resources, stabilize an economy and create a name for yourself amongst the star systems. Join other players or go at it alone against the hostile alien race.
What Makes Hades’ Star Great
Cross-platform play includes smartphones, tablets, and computers.
Interact with other players to expand your empire and watch your colonies grow from tiny posts to thriving civilizations.
You have offline protection. Casual players can play at their own pace without worry.
The humanoid inhabitants of the planet Kharak discover a buried spaceship with a map showing their planet and another one across the galaxy named “Hiigara”, meaning “home”. The clans of Kharak know they are not native to this world, so they join together in a mission to reach this new planet in search of answers to their true origin.
What Makes Homeworld Remastered Great
Choose from a story-driven singleplayer campaign or team up with friends in multiplayer to destroy opposing motherships.
Watch immersive cut-scenes between levels during the campaign.
Add points to a technology tree as you level to upgrade your skills and ships.
Official Site: https://www.homeworldremastered.com/#home
Space game based on a planet? Nice change of scenery.
Deserts of Kharak is the prequel to the classic Homeworld games. Navigate the sands of Kharak and discover the origin story of the characters who first led the journey to find their home planet.
What Makes Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak Great
Ground-based real-time strategy means this isn’t simply an extension of the original game.
Your choices matter when it comes to resource management and technology research. Choose the wrong path and you may not survive.
Discover the original story through the single-player campaign, or jump online for multiplayer in a variety of different game modes.
Explore a rich, open-world universe filled with adventure and treasure just waiting to be found. This epic RPG is guaranteed to give you tons of options to make it your own game.
What Makes Star Traders: Frontiers Great
Choose your destiny. Thirty-three jobs, such as smugglers, spies, pirates, merchants and more are available.
The narrative of the game depends on your choices. Who you decide to keep as your circle of friends can influence multiple kinds of motives for other factions.
You have a fully customizable crew, complete with their own equipment and talents.
Teamwork is the name of the game. Pilot a complicated starship while each player controls one aspect of the vessel. You are only as strong as your weakest link. Are you prepared to face the perils of an unexplored galaxy?
What Makes PULSAR: Lost Colony Great
Five unique classes make up the crew of your ship.
When missing players, AI will fill in the gaps.
Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are supported for VR Mode for a truly immersive experience.
Your mission is to lead a team of Void Bastards out of the Sargasso Nebula. The decisions are up to you. Which path do you take, which fights do you fight? Better decide quickly.
What Makes Void Bastards Great
It’s a first-person shooter game including cartoon violence and gore if you’re into that kind of thing.
Comic book graphics based on games such as BioShock and System Shock 2 include both 3D and 2D elements.
It contains lots of humor, unlike many other space-based games.
Many lives have been lost since the beginning of the war four years ago. There’s been a stalemate between the Cylons and the Colonies. After a surprise attack by the Cylons and the death of the Colonial Fleet High Command, humankind faces a challenge like never before.
What Makes Battlestar Galactica Deadlock Great
Recruit officers to pilot your capital ships and take on squadrons of Cylon raiders.
Both you and your opponent plan your moves simultaneously, giving a unique take on turn-based strategy.
The game offers many bundles of downloadable content to keep your game feeling new and fresh.
Does anyone else get a Galaga vibe from this? No? Just me then.
You’re a simple factory worker who’s just saved up enough cash to get your pilot’s license and make a down payment on your very first starship. Start with a small, derelict vessel and build your savings for bigger and more advanced ships by performing missions and tasks. Once you’ve proven yourself, will you take part in the rebellion?
What Makes Endless Sky Great
Endless Sky is free and open source, available for MacOS X, Windows, and Linux.
The game is presented in a classic 2D setting.
Your gameplay is based on the type of character you want to be, whether it’s a chauffeur, a mercenary, or a simple trader.
Ruins and artifacts are all that remain of the Endless, the God-like beings that once inhabited your world many eons ago. Now it’s your turn to ensure civilization thrives.
What Makes Endless Space 2 Great
Choose from one of nine factions, each with its own story, technology, and heroes.
Discover ancient races on unknown planets.
Colonize where you see fit, exploit trade routes, and interact with newly discovered races.
Embark on a journey towards the center of the universe in search of the origin of the cosmos. Encounter countless planets and lifeforms along the way, and also come face to face with dangers perhaps no other player has ever seen before.
What Makes No Man’s Sky Great
An infinitely procedurally generated universe means you should never run out of gameplay.
Enjoy all seven major updates since the game’s release.
No Man’s Sky is VR compatible with Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift.
Overpopulation has led humanity into the reaches of the Milky Way to fight over the depleted resources necessary to survive. Once a wormhole is discovered to a place dubbed “New Eden”, colonization began in this new area of space. One day, the wormhole collapses, cutting off contact between the Milky Way and New Eden. Eventually the origin story of humanity is lost.
What Makes EVE Online Great
EVE Online is one of the most popular MMORPG’s of all time, so the online community is alive and well.
Many in-game professions to choose from, such as miners, traders, and fighters.
Players have a total of 7,800 star systems to explore.
You’ve taken off in your spaceship, only to find yourself stranded and lost. Make your way to the planet below and attempt to repair your ship, or you may not survive for long.
What Makes Starbound Great
The way the game is played is up to you. Save the universe or let it burn.
Settle on a planet and become a lowly farmer, or explore the galaxy.
Starbound is easily moddable, so create your own universe as you see fit.
Was that eyepiece part of the original board game?
Fans of the Warhammer 40,000 series will recognize this tale. The 13th Black Crusade has taken Cadia. An unstable region called the Eye of Terror lies at the center of the Aegis Ocularis. Join one of the galaxy’s factions and play your part.
What Makes Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 Great
Choose from three separate singleplayer campaigns.
Every decision you make affects the billions of lives hanging in the balance.
All 12 factions from the original tabletop game are available to play
Official Site: http://www.battlefleetgothic-armada.com/
"No one knows how to properly park a spaceship around here."
You’ve crash landed on an alien planet with nothing but your escape pod. After a bit of exploration, you discover not all aliens are friendly. Will you side with the commerce-based Polaris, the farming Talon, or the hostile Zirax?
What Makes Empyrion - Galactic Survival Great
Procedurally generated planets and moons means the game never gets old.
Build yourself a home, but be prepared to defend it against enemy drones.
Create your own ships block by block, or download premade blueprints made by other players and simply provide the materials to spawn in one of hundreds of vessels.
Is that the "ruling with an iron fist" thing everyone talks about?
After more than a quarter century of war, the three factions in this world are splitting amongst themselves. Some of the Traders focus on defense, while others believe the only way to peace is by crushing their opposition. The Advent Unity sees one side dedicated to fighting their enemies, the Traders, but the other thinks there are other influences from within providing ulterior motives. The people of the Vasari Empire either wish to move on to new space as quickly as possible, or join with other races to bring them along.
What Makes Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion Great
Choose from the three main factions to start your game.
Explore up to 130 different planets across five solar systems.
Sins of a Solar Empire is a “RTX4” game; it mixes strategy and management with the four X’s. Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate.
Official Site: https://www.sinsofasolarempire.com/
This game is all about exploration and expansion. Start every game with a civilization that has just discovered the means of space travel. Take them on a journey to their future.
What Makes Stellaris Great
Use science ships to explore and research surrounding areas where you’ll often find quests to complete.
Choose how your people evolve with procedurally generated traits and ideologies.
Stellaris has several DLC’s to purchase to keep even your longest games feeling like new.
Official Site: https://www.paradoxplaza.com/stellaris/STST01G-MASTER.html
It's important to be color coordinated when you're exploring space.
If you’re a builder, then this game is for you. Space Engineers is focused around engineering and construction. Explore planets and asteroids for resources to survive.
What Makes Space Engineers Great
Space Engineers offers both creative and survival modes.
Build anything you can dream of.
Utilize the realistic in-game physics to your advantage.
Official Site: https://www.spaceengineersgame.com/
The year is 3301. Start with a small ship and little money and work your way through the ranks of the iconic Elite. Your narrative is directly affected by your choices. Tell your own story.
What Makes Elite Dangerous Great
400 billion star systems.
Elite Dangerous features the largest designed playspace in video game history.
Encounter other players in Open Play mode, never knowing if they are friend or foe.
Set during the 25th century Intergalactic Age of Discovery, Astroneers are sent out to explore the wild frontiers of space. They are tasked with discovering the mysteries of the universe.
What Makes ASTRONEER Great
Reshape any planet you are on. Use your imagination to create, or destroy, any terrain to meet your construction needs.
Team up with friends for an even more enjoyable experience. Use teamwork to build massive bases or to cover more ground in exploration missions.
The developers of ASTRONEER are dedicated to continually releasing free updates that include new content.
From the murky depths of the Louisiana swamp, Kay spends thousands of hours trekking across virtual landscapes of all sizes and shapes. She enjoys sunsets on radioactive beaches, sipping
Gamer Since:
1990
Favorite Genre:
RPG
Currently Playing:
Empyrion - Galactic Survival, Rocket League
Top 3 Favorite Games:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dragonborn, Rocket League, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
