Gratuitous Space Battles
If you get this game, get the complete pack. If you already have this game, get the Campaign module. Without the Campaign aspect, the game is very limited and ultimatey you won’t have much to do.
But with the campaign, while it is VERY limited to just building fleets and maintaining them (with no other 4X concerns; all structures are pre-built in any given system), it becomes a completely different game. Since the fleets are uploaded from players, you’ll always hit new interesting configurations for specific systems; add in all the special per-system rules that you need specialized ships and the concern of maintaining supply lines for your fleets, and it becomes a pretty engrossing game that requires far more planning and leaves you with the threat that the next attacking fleet might have your number with a counter.
– Real player with 632.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Sandbox 2D Games.
Never thought that creating ships to blow alien ships up for no apparent reason or logic whatsoever could be so fun! :D
What you basically do is to design ships which, when deployed in battle, will help defeat the enemy fleet. Every victory you win will give you a credit like reward called Honour. You use this ‘Honour’ to buy new shiny gadgets or weapons that blaze nice looking beams of death onto your enemy.
There is no actual story line. The game is basically composed of about 14 setups (counting the tutorial battle aswell as an additional 9 setups when including all the DLC’s, which brings the number up to 23) which all offer a different challenge along with a certain species to go against. This means that just because your ship designs and the fleet you deployed were successful against a certain race in such a scenario, doesn’t mean that you will be as successful in another scenario with a different species. Not to mention certain scenarios having something called ‘Spartial Anomalies’ which can affect how well/poor your ships perform in terms of their weapons and defences.
– Real player with 308.3 hrs in game
CSC | Space MMO
EDIT: 3/20/20 Since the time of this review, missions have been added, refineries have been added, crafting has been added with the ability to make modules and ships, and more. This is a ton of development in less than 6 months! There are tons of new things to do, and development is moving fast, both great signs. This is a game that takes patience and time, if you enjoy the factory/production type aspect of games, and if you like economics and space stuff, you will like this game. It is not for everyone but it is a gem for those who enjoy this type of game. A player economy on this scale is something special that really sets this apart from other games.
– Real player with 1757.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Sandbox Massively Multiplayer Games.
UPDATE After 1500 hours played…
There now “gate campers” playing the game. These scumbags sit there and wait for players to travel through gates and then kill them when the come out the other side. Wouldn’t be such a big deal if the game developers didn’t purposely leave the players ship completely vulnerable to attack for about 10 seconds after coming out of a gate. Can’t equip shields, or counter attack. If you have hundreds of $$ worth of mods on your ship, you are shit out of luck, and you loose it all. Not only that, but you have to rebuy insurance for your ship, which can range from $5-$15 depending on your ship.
– Real player with 1560.4 hrs in game
Adrorium
Build your ship, defend against drone waves and explore hundreds of sectors filled with stations, asteroids and planets with lots of POIs. The ship systems can be controlled via consoles with several hundred buttons. Craft equipment and blocks, loot the POIs and disabled drones. Upgrade your ship and venture to the center of the galaxy.
HARDCORE SHIP MANAGEMENT
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Hundreds of buttons over multiple consoles and functional blocks
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Subsystems defined by blocks
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Docking + station services
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Power grids + plasma grid, liquids(atmo, fuel, water, coolant) + internal atmosphere
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Toggle blocks to save power
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Nuclear reactor + fuel + turbine management
SPACE SURVIVAL
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Farming, crafting
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Sleep, eat, heal, drink and more other tasks
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EVA suit for looting and raiding
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After you disable drones, go inside them and scavenge resources with tools
EXPLORATION
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Hundreds of sectors per galaxy (procedurally generated)
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Multiple points of interest (stations, asteroid fields, planets, wreckages,….)
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MFM drive for traveling between sectors
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Land on planets and explore them with a rover
SPACE SIM
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Newtonian physics + autopilot
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Docking (ship-ship or station-ship)
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Dogfight against enemy drone waves
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Mine asteroids + use hook gun to grab the ores
LOOTING
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Hundreds of items and crafting recipes
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Drones and bases are filled with loot containers and rare blocks that can be dismantled
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Stations have many traders (and one secret trader) that can buy your extra loot
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Many handy inventory shortcuts(hover send, take all if item owned, send stack,….)
SHIP BUILDING
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Hundreds of blocks, majority are functional like cockpit, ship weapons, doors or consoles
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Extend the hull with hull pieces and wall blocks, the drill can remove hull
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Repair blocks after drone fights and upgrade them, hull can only be repaired at stations
PROGRESSION
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Missions, campaign
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Many upgradable tiers for blocks
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Research, skills (coming soon)
IMMERSIVE
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No loading screens
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Realistic and complex ship procedures
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Dock your rover inside of the ship and deploy it on planets
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Explore wreckages after drone fights
MULTIPLAYER
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Currently using Photon Networking to avoid NAT issues
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Cross-platform servers
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Dedicated servers, steam networking and p2p connections will come soon
OTHER
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Joystick/controller support
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Localization (coming soon)
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Memory efficient (less than 100 MB)
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Runs on potato rigs
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Full modding support
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The game is in early access so expect regular updates with new features and bugfixes
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Read More: Best Sandbox Space Sim Games.
Starship Simulator
Starship Simulator is a true work of passion, born of many a childhood dream to experience what it would truly be like to live and work on a massive deep space exploration vessel, just like the ones you see depicted in classic science fiction. A dream of walking among the stars, exploring distant worlds, and answering one of mankind’s oldest questions… what awaits us in the great unknown?
You will serve as a crewmember on the maiden voyage of mankind’s first-ever deep space exploration vessel - the Magellan Class. The ship has been designed and built from the ground up with an unprecedented level of detail. From the bare structural framework to the miles of cables and conduits, every part of the ship is fully simulated and designed to be scientifically plausible. Nothing is mere surface detail. Every button does something, and every piece of hardware serves a real purpose.
Real Structural Framework
The bare titanium that defines the physical structure of the ship has been designed in line with the latest manufacturing techniques used in the real world today, projected forward 200 years with advances in 3D Printing and AI-driven automation in mind. Unlike typical games where nothing exists behind walls and under floors, our ship exists as a completely solid and physical vessel.
Cables, Pipes & Hardware
Every system on the ship has simulated hardware driving it, and these systems are connected together by a complex network of pipes, cables, and conduits that exist in real-time. As an Engineer, you can follow every cable from source to destination while it passes through various pieces of hardware along the way.
Fully Explorable
With over 200 rooms spread over 7 decks, you are free to explore the entire ship on foot without barriers or loading screens. Gaze out of the panoramic lounge windows while the action outside of the ship is taking place in real-time, or hop in a shuttle and take it out for a quick spin. Our goal is to create a truly immersive sci-fi experience.
Our focus on science and realistic simulation also extends to the galaxy itself, with currently over 2 billion procedurally generated star systems to explore.
Procedural Generation
Our procedural algorithms are based on real-world astrophysics in order to generate not only believable but also scientifically plausible star systems. If you want to find Earth-like worlds, then you will need to seek out a star’s habitable zone where liquid water can exist. This is based on not only the distance from the star but also the planet’s albedo and atmospheric makeup.
Life Among the Stars
When you find a planet that’s capable of supporting life, your scans will reveal the nature of that life and how advanced it is. It could be anything from simple bacteria to ancient alien civilizations that are millions of years more advanced than you. How will they react to your presence, and do you attempt to contact them?
Breathtaking Beauty
A NASA astronaut once said that without exception, every person to have ever looked down upon the Earth from aboard the ISS has shed a tear over its sheer beauty. We find that incredibly inspiring, and we’re leveraging all the latest technologies and pushing Unreal Engine to its limits in order to achieve the most stunning visual experience possible. Entering orbit around a distant exoplanet should take your breath away.
Players can choose to occupy one of a number of different roles on the ship, with each one presenting the player with unique and interesting gameplay challenges.
Captain
Born to be in command, as the Captain, you will be making the big decisions such as which star systems the ship should explore, whether or not an alien species should be contacted, or whether or not to stand your ground or retreat in a hostile situation. How well you handle first contact situations will have a very real impact on how the mission plays out.
Pilot
Taking the Helm, as the ship’s Pilot, you will be responsible for safely navigating the ship through space. You will also pilot the shuttles and other support craft as required by the current mission objectives.
Science Officer
Working on the Bridge and in the Science Labs, as a Scientist, you will be responsible for performing scans of stellar objects and analysing any gathered data. You’ll also be performing tests on samples and artefacts acquired by the ship on its travels.
Tactical Officer
Working on the Bridge and around the ship, as a Tactical Officer you will be responsible for defending the ship and her crew. You’ll man the tactical Bridge station during combat, and serve as the security detail on any away missions.
Engineer
Working in Engineering and around the ship, as an Engineer, you will be responsible for maintaining and repairing the ship’s many systems. Keeping everything in tip-top condition will ensure the ship is always ready to meet any new challenge, but neglect your daily maintenance duties and critical systems will begin to fail.
Doctor
Working in the Medical Facility, the Doctor is responsible for the crew’s physical wellbeing. You will be dealing with everything from simple cuts and bruises to strange alien pathogens that could infect the entire crew.
Morale Officer
Working in the Mess Hall as the ship’s Chef you will be responsible for preparing healthy meals for the crew, but also as their Bartender, you will perform the important role of listening to their concerns and offering helpful advice. It’s up to you to look after their mental health.
Passenger
As a guest aboard the ship, you will have no duties to perform, allowing you to simply relax and explore the ship at your leisure.
EVE Online
I can no longer in good faith recommend this game to anyone. It boasts of being a sandbox with ‘player-driven economy’ yet the devs keep putting their thumb on the scale with their artificial ‘resource shortages’ and contrived ‘loss mechanics’. I joined in 2015 during Citadel. They went from ‘we want you to own structures’ to ‘we want you to lose structures’ to ‘we want you to lose everything you own and be happy about it.’
EVE had been on my ‘to do’ list for years but I’d never gotten around to it before being busy with other games. I tried it, played the tutorial missions and, having done crafting for guildmates in previous mmos, almost immediately fell in love with industry. I’d dabble in pvp and missions from time to time but mining and building gave me the greatest enjoyment. I used to love building ships for friends. I’d GIVE friends ships. I started getting into reactions but stopped when every base I tried moving to kept getting blown up.
– Real player with 11351.0 hrs in game
Just recently uninstalled, and boy was it tough to do. Like many people have already said, this game is not for everyone. I feel this game could’ve been for me, (And boy did I love it while it lasted…) but the devs and I just have different ideas… Which is what leads me to give the negative vote on this.
Here’s what’s been going on these past few updates:
If you’re not aware already, ganking is the art of attacking and killing unsuspecting people. So, EVE’s developers really like gankers. I don’t think they have ever made an official statement about it. Still, their updates and practices appear to reflect the theory. (Someone, please correct me if I’m wrong btw)
– Real player with 2705.5 hrs in game
Sunshine Heavy Industries
Sunshine Heavy Industries is a puzzle game about building spaceships for a cast of colourful clients.
It starts off very easy but as you go along you unlock more parts and customers have more specific demands, the challenge is trying to meet those requirements (such as enough Thrust, Firepower, Cargo space and so on) whilst also coming in under budget, after all this is a business! (Although a few extra fins and a horn couldn’t hurt, right?)
It’s a very chill relaxing game with some nice music and a cast of fun characters who are always a delight to talk to, there’s some real good witty dialogue at times.
– Real player with 56.3 hrs in game
In the not-so-grim darkness of the future you are a newly employed spaceship designer building spaceships with about as much attention to detail as you would expect to be put into a custom pepperoni pizza.
All the characters are cute, funny and preposterously naive considering how often they must face their own mortality (judging by the size of the arsenals you staple on to the sides of ships).
The game is well paced and gradually increases its complexity.
The puzzles are tricky to do well, but are easy to complete, so players probably will not experience failure or be prevented from advancing the game.
– Real player with 30.4 hrs in game
Starpoint Gemini Warlords
Starpoint Gemini Warlords updated review Current 23rd Nov 2017 - Latest DLC -Cycle of Warfare.
LGM are a small 15 – 20 staff development team, been making the SPG series now for quite some years, and Warlords is the third incarnation of the series. Warlords is a culmination of developer and community coming together with ideas to make what Warlords is currently. (I thank our community for being such a decent group of players with feedback, good bad and ugly in professional manor).
SPG Warlords is a capital ship combat and trade game with some side elements of a 4X game, in resource management to create fleets, build ore mining stations, gas mining stations, junk reclaimers and research further equipment, upgrades for your fleet and mines, and upgrades to your Head Quarters to improve all facets of your game play.
– Real player with 520.5 hrs in game
This will be my first in-depth review of the videogame that I’ve ever done. It may seem a little unpolished but for the sake of Starpoint Gemini and the potential that it has, and does have, I found it best to do this.
If you want to know if you should get this game or not the answer will be yes. This game has the potential to be the Skyrim of space exploration, battles, and trade.
Graphics.
The graphics in this game are spot on. It will be very hard to find other space games that have the amount of detail that this game has when it comes to space specific things such as asteroids nebulas planets and the ships themselves. So visually speaking if you want that kind of visual stimulation so you feel relaxed when you’re traveling and it feels like you are traveling in space this is the game to get. I suggest that you go online and look at some of the images themselves because what you will see in the Google search or whatever search you use you will also find in this game as well.
– Real player with 197.0 hrs in game
The Spatials: Galactology
### Too Long; Long-Story-Short, Version
I have to say; After holding-off from trying this game; for sooo long now… Im glad I finally did. Even in its current state of: - EA / Alpha;.. This game is amazingly well put-together & very immersive & playable & enjoyable so far. For everything that it says it is & does & wants to be; It really does deliver these things very well.
Coupled with, one of the most productive, active & interactive, community-minded / oriented Devs, Ive seen here on steam; which gives GREAT promise & hope; & firm reason to believe that this game, will only continue to advance & grow, in positive & unique directions & become even better into the near future, as it comes to its final completion. Not to mention, the current state of the game itself, also giving proper & solid testaments to those statements, as well.
– Real player with 114.2 hrs in game
The Spatials: Galactology is a real time base simulator. You start with a small crew of ‘redshirts’ and a dream for a profitable space economy. Its current build is in the alpha stage which means that the tutorials are a little clunky and hard to follow. However, this is a real gem of an experience. It reminds me of a less frustrating and less boring version of Evil Genius. Your base is constantly doing stuff, a little space ant farm, while you can travel to various planets for resources.
The planets are procedurally created and they don’t have a huge variety at this junction, but the maps are pretty and serve the purpose of giving your troops something to explore and capture. Each planet has various resources, such as metals from the lava worlds, which must be extracted with a universal building (the old version had more variety but I don’t think it needs it.) As your tech tree increases you can put in recruitment centers and tv stations to run ads for your station.
– Real player with 78.3 hrs in game
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
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
Star Conflict
Star Conflict is a nearly flawless (in my opinion) space combat simulator. The complexities and the fun of this space combat build slowly through the levels, starting from a very high standard and getting better from there. There is an adequate crafting minigame and some half-baked questing. Optimizing the ship is made up of several minigames taken collectively. Optimization in its several pieces makes up a good, fun minigame.
There are areas of the game in need of improvement, yet the game as a whole is certainly in the top ten percent of space simulators. This review makes the case that Star Conflict is easily THE BEST f2p space combat simulator. We will not dwell on the shortcomings here, because the idea here is that you should just enjoy the game as it is at any given time and mostly let the devs worry about how to improve it. Overall, this is a great game.
– Real player with 9185.8 hrs in game
You would think with almost 1500 hours and at least a third of that being money invested I’d rabidly defend this game, but I am not happy with the development direction. I’ll probably still play for as long as I can considering what I’ve invested already, but . . . This game has long deviated from what made me fall in love with it. Remnants are there but I can’t help but comparing. What I really take issue with is how I see customers getting treated. Not me specifically, I am the way I am and I’ve just learned to accept any incoming consequences as a fact of life, to brush them off, and just keep going, but other people who go into things with a certain set of assumptions about their investment both time and money wise . .
– Real player with 1642.2 hrs in game