Vector rocks, one ship and hyperspace; Atari's 1979 arcade high-score machine.
Manage a starship crew through a roguelike galaxy; every run ends in a story.
A single-shard galaxy where players run the economy and the wars cost real money.
Into early access in February 2023 and left there: the studio was shut down in 2024 and the last patch landed that June.
Fly for the Rebellion in 1993, managing shields and laser power by keyboard; the sim TIE Fighter answers.
Isaac on the Sprawl, with the needle in the eye; more action, same dread.
Eight galaxies, wireframe ships and free trade; the game that invented open-ended space.
Custom races, ship design and a galaxy to argue over; the 4X the genre still copies.
Build rockets, kill Kerbals, learn orbital mechanics by accident.
Grand strategy in a galaxy of your own species; Paradox in space.
A corporate colony in space; Obsidian's Fallout in the stars.
A solar system that ends in 22 minutes and a loop to learn it; the best game about curiosity.
A thousand planets and Constellation; Bethesda in space.
An artificial body on a space station, dice and rent; Jump Over the Age's tabletop RPG in prose.
Eighteen quintillion planets and the comeback from a broken launch; Hello Games.
Talos I, mimics that look like coffee cups and the GLOO gun; Arkane's System Shock.
Dogfights against the Kilrathi and a branching campaign; Chris Roberts in 1990.
Isaac Clarke dismembers necromorphs on the USG Ishimura; the best horror shooter.
Fly for the Empire; the best space combat sim, from 1994.
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