Let's Countdown The Best Space Games of Today
What are the very best space games you can play in 2019? Which games let you get your interstellar travel on and finally realize your fantasy of visiting strange planets and meeting alien races? Which games make you feel like you’re just a few midichlorians away from being a ship-driving, blaster-wielding star jockey with more guts than sense? Here are the top 11 ultimate best space games to play in 2019.
11. Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 Gameplay
Made by the team behind the celebrated Warhammer 4,000 tabletop game, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 is an exciting and engrossing experience that lets you vie for control of the Warhammer 4K universe. Can you survive, conquer, and dominate?
Play as one of the original twelve factions featured in the tabletop game. Embark on one of three solo campaigns, or test your skills against other spacefarers in multiplayer. Experience space combat at its most thrilling, and see if you have what it takes to be king of space mountain!
What makes this one of the best space games:
- Dynamic campaigns that adjusts to your gameplay for enhanced replay value
- Improved multiplayer mode that gives the game added depth and dimension
- Dramatic narrative that links the game to the larger Warhammer 4,000 universe
- Spectacular graphical detail that shines in 4K
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 is available now on Steam.
Run and gun: Gather your fleet, shoot the bad guys, and get home in time for supper.
Ramming speed: Sometimes, a little extra force is required to get the job done.
10. Space Engineers
Space Engineers Gameplay
Space Engineers is a sandbox game that lets you build and develop ships, space stations, and whole colonies. Get down and dirty in the world of interstellar construction, and scratch your resource management and development itch.
Inspired by the realities of space travel and habitation, Space Engineers emphasizes exploration and construction, but it packs a punch as well. Play as a badass welder or as a badass gunfighter, and get to know the galaxy from all angles.
Build a universe of your own, and learn the joys of cosmic construction!
What makes this one of the best space games:
- Realistic physics engine that makes space construction true to life
- Fully destructible objects, from ships to entire planets
- Robust and enthusiastic modding community
Space Engineers is in Early Access on Steam.
If you build it, it will explore: Learn the ins and outs of resource management and ship construction.
It’s probin’ time: Send probes throughout the galaxy to find resources and shoot little green men.
9. Empyrion - Galactic Survival
Empyrion - Galactic Survival Gameplay
Empyrion - Galactic Survival is a space-based sandbox-and-survival game that tasks you with staying alive in a cold and harsh frontier populated by strange planets and bizarre creatures. Do your best to keep breathing in a universe that offers wealth,resources, and so, so many ways to die.
Explore planets, and find and develop resources. Grow crops, and create thriving settlements. Encounter new lifeforms, and choose to either cooperate with them or blow them up. Hunt, capture, and raise alien creatures for food, or train them to be warbeasts.
Indulge your wildest impulses—construct whatever you want, and go wherever you please in this massive and amazing universe.
What makes this one of the best space games:
- A unique blend of open world, survival, shooter, and resource development
- Extensive crafting and tech trees for customized play
- Fully modifiable terrain
- Amazing wildlife and enemy races
- In-depth and intuitive farming and food systems
Empyrion - Galactic Survival is in Early Access on Steam.
A boy and his habitat: Use your character to develop your home base, and strike out in search of new life and supplies.
It’s clobberin’ time: The rock golem is only one of many creatures who’d really like to squish you.
8. Stellaris
Stellaris Gameplay
Stellaris is a strategy game from Paradox Interactive, the company that brought you the Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis series.In a cutthroat universe, you must test yourself against the rest of the galaxy and become the leader of a interplanetary empire.
Spread your footprint across the cosmos with this engaging and captivating mix of adventure and strategy. Face off against aliens, colonize distant worlds, and make decisions that affect your entire career.
Start small, build your brand, and finish as galactic overlord!
What makes this one of the best space games:
- Paradox’s trademark depth of gameplay
- Complex and effective diplomatic system
- Gorgeous visuals
- Thousands of planets, resulting in endless possible outcomes
Stellaris is available now on Steam.
Like snowflakes, only planets: Each planet is unique and offers special challenges and rewards.
Let’s get it on: When diplomacy fails, it’s time to negotiate with lasers.
7. Endless Space® 2
Endless Space® 2 Gameplay
Endless Space® 2 is a strategic space opera that lets you conquer the universe and discover the secret behind the mysterious substance known as Dust. Take down your otherworldly opponents, and become master of the stars.
Lead one of eight civilizations, all competing for dominance. Manage your settlements, and develop your resources. Get hooked on the complex narrative in this addicting space strategy game that leaves you saying, “one more turn…”
What makes this one of the best space games:
- Well-written narrative
- Highly customizable ships, settlements, and strategies
- A Hero Recruitment system that provides champions when you most need them
Endless Space® 2 is available now on Steam.
One faction to rule them all: Choose which faction you play on your way to cosmic dominance.
Soup it up and watch it go: Select and customize your ship for maximum strategic value.
6. No Man's Sky
No Man's Sky Gameplay
In No Man’s Sky, explore an entire galaxy of planets and creatures. Released to great expectations, and regularly updated to meet those expectations, the game allows you to trade, explore, and fight, either solo or with others. Embark on a grand voyage of exploration, and see worlds you never dreamed were possible.
Become a diplomat and arrange for trade, or become a freebooter and grab someone else’s goods. Set foot on unexplored lands. Move ever deeper into the galaxy, and discover the secrets that lie there.
Play No Man’s Sky, and take part in mankind’s thrilling voyage of discovery.
What makes this one of the best space games:
- A galaxy shared by all players, leading to countless encounters and opportunities
- Limitless horizons, allowing for constant and expanding exploration
- Regular updates and added content have developed the game into a complex and one-of-a-kind experience.
- An enthusiastic and expansive player community
No Man’s Sky is available now on Steam.
Blammo: If exploration turns sour, there’s always guns, right?
Amblin’: Use walkers and ships to protect your weak, fragile body from alien environments.
5. ASTRONEER
ASTRONEER Gameplay
In ASTRONEER, you discover the galaxy and reshape it as you wish. Work with other players in this open-world survival game to build bases, manage infrastructure, and expand human understanding.
Don’t just explore—build the universe as you see fit.
Play with up to four others, and drop in or out as you wish. Learn how to adapt and conquer planets and alien creatures. Construct and modify everything—vehicles, bases, and terrain. Take on solar systems, and come out on top.
What makes this one of the best space games:
- Procedurally generated planets
- Fully deformable and customizable terrain
- Dynamic multiplayer experience
ASTRONEER is in Early Access on Steam.
Have it your way: Build the vehicles you want, and modify the worlds you explore however you please.
The world is ours: Play with your buddies in a fully drop-in/drop-out multiplayer experience.
4. Breathedge
Breathedge Gameplay
In Breathedge, you play as a simple man who finds himself in the middle of a galactic conspiracy. Do your best to survive in this clever and humorous survival adventure game, and don’t forget to bring the duct tape—you’ll need it.
Use your ingenuity (and duct tape) to create objects. Rescue a damsel. Create your own space station, and deck it out as you see fit. Discover dark forces responsible for your predicament, and come out on top.
Can you triumph over the bad guys and look damn good while you do it?
What makes this one of the best space games:
- Witty, tongue-in-cheek narrative
- Boundless and creative construction options
- Immortal chicken. Yes, you heard me correctly.
- Engaging and entertaining art style
Breathedge is in Early Access on Steam.
Furry friends: Encounter all manner of beasts, many of them already dead.
This old ship: Yeah, fixing this is gonna take a whole lot of duct tape.
3. Elite Dangerous
Elite Dangerous Gameplay
Elite Dangerous is a massively multiplayer experience that puts you in the shoes of a hungry, up-and-coming starship captain. Start with almost nothing, and build your way to fortune and glory as you fight, trade, and negotiate with other players.
Explore the vast galaxy. Join in galactic warfare, or strike out on your own to blaze a new trail in uncharted space. Live in an open world like no other, and learn why the Elite series has been at the forefront of entertainment since gaming’s earliest days. Get rich, and get lost in the wonder and beauty of interstellar travel!
What makes this one of the best space games:
- Uses the actual Milky Way galaxy as its canvas
- Continually growing and expanding with each new update
- One of the largest open-world maps of all time
Elite Dangerous is available now on Steam.
Pew-pew, my friend: You can play nice with others, or you can play rough.
So many worlds, so many stations: Build space stations, and look down on your new worlds from above.
2. Oxygen Not Included
Oxygen Not Included Gameplay
Oxygen Not Included is a space simulation game that tasks you with surviving on worlds that really, really don’t want you to make it. Manage all aspects of your colony, allocate your limited resources, and cross your fingers—it’ll take all of your skill to keep everyone happy and breathing.
Control everything—plumbing, heat, power, and, of course, oxygen. Keep digging, and keep your colony growing; it’s the only way to find essential resources you need to survive. Explore every kind of world, and become a champion hoarder and administrator along the way.
What makes this one of the best space games:
- Unique, whimsical art style
- Constant resource demands to keep you on the edge of your seat
- Procedurally generated worlds that offer all types of environments for true variety
- Practical application of conservation and recycling skills
- A unique look at life off Earth—not your typical shooter
Oxygen Not Included is in Early Access on Steam.
Grow or die: Don’t stop digging and expanding, if you want to keep everyone breathing.
Build me up, buttercup: Construct new machines to maintain your colony.
1. Starbound
Starbound Gameplay
In Starbound, you find yourself lost in space on a broken ship. To survive, you must gather resources, explore, and deal with a big, beautiful universe. Play however you wish, from conqueror to peacemaker to explorer, in this galaxy-spanning adventure.
Wanna capture alien creatures and train em to fight on your side? You can do that. How about discovering the hidden hands that control the galaxy’s fate? Can do, in the included story campaign. There’s no wrong way to play the game, and there are zillions of possibilities. Let your imagination run free!
What makes this one of the best space games:
- Designed to be easily modded, with limitless options
- Smart and fun story campaign
- Allows crafting of everything, from ships to creatures to environments
- An addictive mix of dungeon crawler, exploration game, simulation, and resource management
Starbound is available now on Steam.
Imagine it, design it, build it: There are no limits to what you can create.
Old Space McDonald: Be the best damn farmer in the galaxy.
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