Startopia
Be warned that this game is old and the interface feels all 20 years of its age.
However, if you can stomach old games, this is one of the true classics from its era. A space station management/tycoon game with a lot of heart and humor. Numerous ways to build your station, several ways to challenge yourself or just relax and mess around.
I’ve played this off and on for two decades and still own the original disc so my hours on Steam only reflect buying it again here for convenience.
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Of interest to fans: The original development company obviously went out of business, the game transferred ownership for a number of years to Square-Enix who did nothing with it and then released the game back to the care of one of the original developers.
– Real player with 91.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Colony Sim Management Games.
To date, I have purchased just over 15 games on Steam. Some of them have been complete wastenados of my money - one in particular I shelled out a lot for and only got a couple of hours of semi-enjoyment out of it. Startopia is the exact opposite of that game - I paid very little for it and, so far, I’ve gotten more hours of fun out of it than any other game I’ve purchased on here.
You’re managing a space station which is being visited by nine different alien types, each with their own preferences and skills. You have to build facilities to ensure these aliens are healthy, well-rested, well-fed, entertained and other things like that, make sure any aliens who cause trouble get rehabilitated, keep the station clean, and make sure you have enough energy to keep it all running. You’re aided by this artificially intelligent being called VAL who often peppers his advice with a degree of snark and you get occasional visits from a trader named Arona who I swear is a cross between a Vogon and Moneybags from Spyro 2.
– Real player with 74.2 hrs in game