
Its expansion packs make things weirder and more unpredictable, as if sentient trees which colonize worlds with “celestial vines” weren’t strange enough. This sci-fi universe is vast and rich, and so are its possibilities, but one thing always remains true: reaching new systems and colonizing their planets never gets old.īuild an isolated empire, expand your borders across the stars through diplomacy, or let money do the talking to keep your enemies away. It completely behaves like a normal 4X game (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate), but the path to victory is never the same. We promised you a bit of space conquest, and Endless Space 2 is the best turn-based, space-set strategy title that you can find right now. Take that into account before putting on your space suit. Of course, it’s jam-packed with puzzles and situations that make your head spin. This one’s an easy recommendation for almost anyone looking for a compelling and emotional non-linear adventure that doesn’t overstay its welcome and is filled with interesting characters. It’s all about the freedom of exploration and figuring out the system’s secrets – each planet is strange in its own way, and an extinct alien race might hold the key to breaking the time loop and stopping the sun from going supernova. Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo SwitchĪn open-world game on the surface, Outer Wilds takes flight and sends players on a timed adventure across a solar system stuck in a 22-minute loop which ends with the sun going bye-bye.The somewhat extensive list we’ll be exploring in this article isn’t bound to certain franchises or platforms, and we’ve tried to include something for everyone. If you’re looking for something more peculiar, you might want to check out our list of the best PSVR space games, or the best Star Wars games. The journey is what matters, and outer space is inherently the most unpredictable setting we can wish for. Maybe the task is simply to abandon Earth, or maybe space is simply defining an otherwise simple adventure… or tales of conquest.


It’s all about the wonder of going out there and uncovering the cosmos’ secrets. This is not a ranking, and all of the titles mentioned have something interesting and unique to offer despite sharing a common goal: making us feel closer to the stars.īut, what makes a good space exploration game? Well, we like to think they don’t have to be realistic experiences all the time. In this article, our aim is to showcase some of the biggest and best space exploration games out there. There was a time when space exploration games were limited to certain genres, but now it’s more of a theme, a core idea that defines the philosophies of wildly different titles. It’s a big universe out there, and video games have made traversing star systems a common activity. We're going to infinity, and beyond with our list of the best space exploration games out there. The biggest one-hit wonders from the '90s
