Spaceship Simulator
A fairly decent game for the price, definitely worth checking out. Not very long though, I beat it in about 8hrs and that was with me messing about fighting enemies I didn’t really need to while testing out different ship designs. There are also a few game breaking bugs - namely sometimes you can only attempt a challenge mission once (which is clearly not intended) thus preventing the game from continuing.
Despite that, it is still a lot of fun. The major draw - harvesting parts from enemies to build your ship - is done well enough and the actual ship design segment (despite some counter intuitive elements and a tediousness that could be solved with a copy/paste feature) is actually rather fun. The sinuous nature of the ships moving about like living things is not something you see often, especially not a as major role in the ship design. In that, this game achieves exactly what it set out to do.
– Real player with 7.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Moddable Sandbox Games.
I had a good time playing this game for the most part. The various enemies were cool, I really liked the spider spaceship design. Just keep in mind: when building your spacecraft, you must select the part you want to add and then click and drag from a joint to place it. It must be within a certain range of that joint. The game is pretty simplistic, but it isn’t too expensive and I’m a sucker for games where you build on to your vehicle by destroying enemy vehicles. Some updates to the game and maybe a way to do pvp would be cool. I probably won’t explore the game further unless it gets updated.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
orbit.industries
Build and manage orbital stations rotating around distant planets! Train your skills in a Mission mode or dive deep in a Free Play. Do you have the skills and wits to become a space pioneer, Engineer?
There are many space simulation games out there, most focus on deep space exploration or planetary colonization, still building and managing an orbital station is a new and unique challenge!
orbit.industries blends inspiration from classic science fiction literature, movies, and popular space-opera TV series with actual knowledge and progress achieved in the field of space exploration, space engineering, and orbital stations development.
orbit.Industries offers two graphically separate views while working on your station:
The outside space view shows your station in an orbit. Here, you will build and install new 3D modules - each with different functionality - and polish them with decorations. You will control and supervise all the ships arriving and departing the station. The full 3D environment allows expanding stations in all dimensions, taking advantage of the endless space.
The so-called Abstract System Layer (ASL) enables setting up and monitoring the different production cycles, to organize resources and services as efficiently as possible. These systems are placed and connected in a separate, abstract view that is presented in a circuit board form.
Those two different gameplay visual perspectives secure a high degree of creative freedom and optical variation in the outside view, enabling players to fully take advantage of the 3D in space. At the same time, outsourcing organizational processes with possibly hundreds of production lines inside the station into a separate ASL view ensures maximum clarity.
orbit.industries offers a unique economic system. Your task is to make your station as profitable and efficient as possible. Setting up stable production lines is hindered by the occurrence of errors and malfunctions, like fire outbreaks or hacking attacks. These errors are based on specific error probabilities that each module and each system entails.
Additionally, there are different mechanisms in place to prevent simply overloading production circuits to increase the difficulty of reaching high or even maximum efficiency. You are however able to have a positive influence by building modules and systems like a sick bay or a repair drone. These have a positive impact on the error probabilities of nearby modules and systems in a certain radius and they do make for an even larger variety of projects.
orbit.industries offers 3 different campaigns to play in a single-player mode, each set in a different location, so in every campaign, the station will orbit a different planet. Players need to build a device to terraform a planet to make it habitable and resource-rich.
Each of the 3 campaigns has its background narrative. Players must build one campaign-specific complex module, consisting of several smaller modules. Each of these modules has to be unlocked by researching the technologies through projects first and each of them requires the player to build various other basic modules first.
Additionally, players can choose between Endless or Creative modes, where they can build freely, set their focus, and keep busy for hours:
-
Endless mode is a type of gameplay with no set objective – progress normally through the game, build new modules and systems, earn money through projects and unlock new technologies to make the space station even bigger and more efficient.
-
Creative mode: while similar to Endless mode, allows you to approach the game with a more free-roam attitude and to build your station with absolute freedom. All technologies are already unlocked since the beginning and there are no constraints on money or time!
orbit.industries key features:
-
Full 3D Orbital Station shown in two different visual perspectives
-
Setup and management of production pipelines and cycles
-
Research and Development of new production-related technologies
-
Procurement and reward systems to keep players constantly engaged
-
Contracts players can accept for one of two reasons:
-
Earn money for the space station in form of a reward
-
Research and unlock new technologies, in the form of a new module required for building
-
-
54 extension modules you may build and expand your station
Read More: Best Moddable Automation Games.
Freespace 2
There are no words in the English language (or any other, for that matter), to describe how much I loved Freespace 2. Especially Free Space Open from the modding community of the Hard-Light Project, which is basically the definitive edition of freespace, enhanced to todays graphical standards and featuring hundreds of hours of very high quality user made content they could actually charge money for. Writing, voice acting etc. the modding community did a better job at those than many AAA titles within the industry.
– Real player with 36354.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Moddable Classic Games.
Why I recommend this game
This game is what made me the gamer I am today. I bought it back when it first came out, I bought it on Good Old Games and now I’ve bought it on Steam. Why? I’ll tell you why - I believe it’s the greatest game ever made.
Why this game is awesome and deserves your attention;
-
The original graphics were fantastic back at release in 1999.
-
You won’t be using the original graphics when playing the game.
-
The story was - and still is - amazing. Far better than the usual tripe.
– Real player with 412.8 hrs in game
Kerbal Space Program
I kind of feel it’s late to post a review for KSP at this time as I think that anyone who would be interested in such a game has heard about it by now, but hey, you never know.
For me, KSP is more than a game, it is more like a hobby. You spend hours building your ship, you fill it up with little green Kerbals and then actually fly it to space!
Every milestone you achieve feels extremely satisfying. You feel proud of yourself for every new goal you reach, and not in the way you do in other games, it’s not that you had good reflexes, or that you killed some big boss. You actually designed, built and flew a spaceship! And you did all that using realistic rocket parts, and realistic, unforgiving Physics. No clicking “launch” and poof you’re in space in this game.
– Real player with 2380.7 hrs in game
Well, actually, this test flight was not my idea…
…doesn’t matter now anyway!
After years of “test flying” I have solid ground under my feet again thanks to the Almighty!Where this uselessness of Jeb is hiding? He really tell me, “Just travel to the moon and back,with his best apprentice till now. No big deal!”. I should have told his grandma about the idea, after all, she would have told me something! Why i was so dumb to agree this flight?
When I get him in my fingers. Believe me! ..Oh..
– Real player with 2033.8 hrs in game
Starpoint Gemini 2
Update : Now LIVE V1.400 (Internal Test build)
I myself have been playing since Alpha (September 2013 release) and I have seen SPG2 come along in strides. Below is a basic list of what is in-game and can be done whilst playing. SPG2 brings back many memories of quite a few spaces games I have played since the mid 80’s onwards.
Star Point Gemini 2!
DLC - Secrets of Aethera - Adds in new ships, new storyline arc, tweaks and updates to game systems.
Riftways - Oh my, something to experience yourself! - Rollercoaster rides in Space.
– Real player with 223.6 hrs in game
======================================
Starpoint Gemini 2
(Updated review!)
======================================
Don’t Forget to Nominate this Game for the Steam Awards!
LGM Games’ successful debut title, Starpoint Gemini, an RPG tactical sim set in a unique SciFi setting was released in 2010. It was a great learning experience for them and it paved the way for their next game - Starpoint Gemini 2, the sequel. It entered Steam Early Access program in September 2013, and a year later after what most would consider one of the best Early Access communities on Steam, Starpoint Gemini 2 hit the shelves on Steam in Sep 26, 2014.
– Real player with 85.3 hrs in game
Void Destroyer 2
Early access review to be updated at release.
I’ve spent around 70 hours playing this game until I reached the end of the current story missions (early access) with another 30 hours spent fallen asleep with the game open at various points throughout.
This is the best spacecraft combat game I have ever seen, period. And I’m kind of a fan of the genre. I’ve played the legendary Independence War: 2 Edge of Chaos with its amazing controls, story and combat. The equally revered and economically focused X3: Terran Conflict, its 1.5 style expansion Albion Prelude, and the good at piracy but nothing else X: Rebirth. I love the indie games like the arcady SPAZ/SPAZ2, Funny/Simple 3030 Deathwar, the very charming and intense submarine stealth style of Objects in Space, the small scale survival of the Evochron series, the stylish but shallow Rebel Galaxy and the very promising Starsector with its focus on fleet combat and even empire building. I conquered galaxies in the truly excellent Sword of the Stars and the be-the-space-pirate-bastards-that-bother-4X-players-in-their-early-game Distant Worlds: Universe, managed a space station and fleets in Halcyon 6, watched armadas annihilate eachother in Sins of a Solar Empire and carefully managed limited resources while running from an ancient enemy in Homeworld 1/2. Truly great experiences we are all very fortunate to have been able to enjoy and which shaped my expectations and standards for quality.
– Real player with 284.2 hrs in game
First and Only review to anything. So here is what the game is and about.
Void destroyers 2 is an Early Access, Indie, Strategy, Sci-fi Space Sim. Its always nice to start off with pretty much nothing and working your way up into something powerful or a fleet of something powerful. For Void destroyers 2, it does just that. To becoming something powerful you will be needing money, and reputation. Money is the big part, but reputation gives you access to buying bigger ships of different factions.
– Real player with 275.2 hrs in game
Flotilla 2
Got me hooked instantly
Got this game on sale, but honestly it’s well worth the (already cheap) full price. Started playing and went through the first 20 scenarios one after the other. It’s like eating potato chips, once you start it’s hard to stop.
You control a fleet of blue ships facing up red ships. The size and composition of the fleets vary from scenario to scenario. The objective is to eliminate all enemy ships, which you have to accomplish using your ships' characteristics, the environment and strategy. There’s no story or campaign, it’s just scenario after scenario (I think 100), with increasing difficulty.
– Real player with 8.5 hrs in game
Floats My Missile Boat
More reviews on our Curator Page
Flotilla is quite beloved on Steam. An utterly solid, understated turn-based strategy game with whimsical story encounters and accessible but challenging combat set to classical music. It was utterly unique. Utterly Blendo.
Flotilla 2 brings back that unique dance of ships with its one rule ‘HIT THE REAR OR THE BOTTOM’ to damage, in a very VR way and benefits massively from it.
– Real player with 7.6 hrs in game
Black Sun
In this game, you fly a space ship through an open world. Your sidekick is an AI assistant who understands your text-written commands and helps you to steer the ship, survive heavy space combat or to find the next gas station.
"Space is a terrible place. The kidnapping of my brother and the Captain’s death didn’t make it easier. Thank god, there is Hopper."
You play Eli, a young man stranded on the antique star freighter Lucky Beggar. You don’t like space yet here you are.
Features
-
Text freely in natural language with your AI assistant Hopper: let her fly the ship, get her help during combat or ask for a market analysis to maximise your trading profit. She knows a lot - including terrible space jokes.
-
A large 2D open-world universe containing numerous solar systems, space stations and ships to discover. Large means astronomical and impossible-to-fly-through. Be grateful if the jump engine works properly.
-
Find your kidnapped brother while making interstellar friends and enemies. An over 5-hours long cinematic storyline is waiting for you!
-
Enjoy epic space battles with hundreds of ships.
-
You decide how you pay the bills for fuel and supplies: be a smart trader, solve rewarding quests or take missions from shady people in the space pub.
-
Your ship is a temple. Repair it, get upgrades and don’t fly it into asteroid fields. Those dents stay.
-
Put on the headphones, fasten your seat belt and relax: one hour of orchestral soundtrack - originally composed just for this game!
-
Modding encouraged! Most of the game’s content is freely changeable by using a beginner-friendly script language and images. Add your own quests, ships or places. Teach new commands to the AI assistant.
Stardeus
Stardeus is a sci-fi colony management simulator with aspects of automation, base building and space exploration.
Visit https://stardeusgame.com for more information about the features and current state of development.
X Rebirth
X REBIRTH 3.5: CURRENT STATE OF THE GAME
With the release of X Rebirth 3.0 the game finally reached the state it should have been in at its initial release in 2013. There are still a few rough edges and design decisions that some might find mind-boggling, but overall it is a great space game that can be polished with the use of a number of mods, some of which bring back ‘classic’ X features such as automated galaxy traders and miners. (as of the 14th of March 2015 some mod makers are still updating their work for the new moddable UI, some mods are temporarily out of action).
– Real player with 692.7 hrs in game
As a fan of previous X games, I pre-ordered X Rebirth and started playing it within minutes of release. Like many others, I was struck both by the sweeping changes to the “X” formula established in the preceding few titles, as well as the horrid, god-awful, soul crushing bugs and technical hang-ups.
I invested approximately 180 hours in the first couple of months, doing my best to study the universe and bludgeon my way through the infuriating campaign, and after doing so (the dev’s released a steady stream of patches through this period, turning the game from utterly broken to sort of kind of maybe just a little playable), and my private verdict to my gamer-y friends and family was “Do Not Recommend, Stay Far Away!” Which hurt a little, because I could see the game’s potential glimmering far down in the deeps.
– Real player with 393.0 hrs in game