Dust off your space suit, don your helmet, and venture out into the final frontier with the best space exploration games. Some journeys are peaceful and others involve a bit of violence, but regardless of your choice of genre, this list is about the best games for exploring the universe on PC and consoles.
Most space games allow players to explore alien planets, and the more ambitious titles even let you traverse through a galaxy's worth of procedurally generated star systems. Size isn't everything, though, so for our best space exploration games list, we've considered how well a game nails the feeling of exploration, as well as the square footage that you've got to traverse.
But what makes a space exploration game truly memorable? Well, we like to think they don’t always have to be realistic experiences. It’s more about the pure wonder of going out there and uncovering the cosmos’ many secrets, whether it’s a fictional universe or our own. The journey is what really matters in these, and outer space is inherently the most unpredictable setting we can wish for.
Those who lean towards strategy games might feel right at home with the best space settlement games you can purchase at the moment. Feeling more fearless than usual? Check out some of the best space horror games ever, and you’ll come back in no time looking for something more relaxed.
10. Underspace
- Release date: 10 Apr, 2024
- Platform: PC
- Developer: Pastaspace Interactive
We wanted to start the current iteration of this list with a more off-beat and overlooked pick that’s been available in Steam early access since spring 2024: Underspace, from Pastaspace Interactive.
It's described as a “spiritual successor to Freelancer”, which should please a lot of PC gaming veterans, but it has a modern “sandbox RPG twist” and features lots of Lovecraftian DNA that we sure as hell weren’t expecting when we first dove in.
While rough around the edges in its current state, development is advancing fast, and the game already packs plenty of thrills and jaw-dropping vistas. The very bizarre galaxy of Croft is home to star beasts, traders, pirates, and explorers, among others.
As it stands, it features “16 main campaign missions, 45 sidequests, 36 bosses, 114 systems, 533 pieces to customize over 60 ships,” and much, much more. Underspace may not be a good fit for players looking for a polished, release-ready game, but those looking for something that has a voice of its own and high ambitions should love it.
9. Spore: Galactic Adventures
- Release date: June 23, 2009
- Platform: PC
- Developer: Maxis
We know this is an odd pick, but hear us out. Spore: Galactic Adventures was a great expansion pack that turned the basic Spore late-game experience (uneven and mostly shallow) into an exciting set of space adventures. Jumping from one planet to another and exploring every corner of the galaxy became more than just a chore, and the extensive adventure and planet creators gave users even more tools to come up with fun content.
Spore hasn’t aged that well overall, but its Complete Collection is, in our humble opinion, worth revisiting even now. Maxis threw lots of exciting ideas into it, and many of them still haven’t been successfully replicated by more modern titles. We wouldn’t reject a reboot either.
8. FTL: Faster Than Light
- Release date: September 14, 2012
- Platforms: PC, Android, iOS
- Developer: Subset Games
Faster Than Light ain’t a looker, but it’s got it where it counts. It can be largely described as a procedurally generated roguelite, and the goal is to reach an allied fleet in order to deliver a package of critical information. The problem is that there are a bunch of dangerous space sectors between your single spacecraft and the bulk of your allies. Plus, a massive rebel fleet is also chasing you.
The game focuses on managing the ship’s systems and your crew, who are the “blood” that keep the entire thing working. It’s profoundly stressful but highly addictive, and remains one of the most unique space-related indie titles available. Moreover, you get to make some hard decisions as you push forward through the cosmos in a piece of junk, so it’s not all about battling pirates and fixing your ship with little to no resources.
7. Endless Space 2
- Release date: May 18, 2017
- Platform: PC
- Developer: AMPLITUDE Studios
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. It completely behaves like a normal 4X game (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate), but the path to victory is never the same. 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.
Build an isolated empire, expand your borders across the stars through diplomacy, or let money do the talking to keep your enemies away. Its expansion packs make things weirder and more unpredictable, as if sentient trees which colonize worlds with “celestial vines” weren’t strange enough.
6. Starfield
- Release date: September 6, 2023
- Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S
- Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
For all its design-related faults, Starfield was an inspiring space odyssey that nailed the sense of wonder and mystery that permeates the cosmos, masterfully blending a slightly more grounded approach to science fiction with zanier concepts that felt natural coming from the developers behind The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.
While there’s an intriguing main questline to follow and plenty of secondary missions to tackle, Starfield never loses sight of what makes it special — the freedom to explore the Settled Systems and roleplay however you want.
Its procedurally generated planets and moons (on top of handcrafted areas) might not be as impressive as No Man’s Sky, but it packs more than enough surprises and space (pun intended) to live out a classical sci-fi fantasy that’s highly replayable... and moddable if you’re on PC.
It’s one of our favorite space games on Xbox Game Pass, so access to it is remarkably cheap and easy, too.
5. Homeworld Remastered Collection
- Release date: February 25, 2015
- Platform: PC
- Developer: Gearbox Software, Aspyr
Relic Entertainment’s Homeworld games are landmarks of the real-time strategy genre, and even bigger triumphs for lovers of good, meaty science fiction. Gearbox Software’s substantial remaster of both titles only solidified their legendary status and made them relevant again. The series has now started to grow past the classic games, but they’re still must-play releases.
As in most RTS titles, the Homeworld games focus on gathering resources to build military forces to crush your opponents, but the plot and worldbuilding that hold everything together make them stand out: the Kushan exiles of the planet Kharak set out on a mission to reclaim their ancient homeworld of Hiigara from the Taiidan Empire. It’s a sprawling epic about space nomads with really cool ships. What’s not to love?
4. Kerbal Space Program
- Release date: June 24, 2011
- Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5
- Developer: Squad
Squad’s Kerbal Space Program (KPS) is another game that may not seem very enticing at first, but contains lots of absorbing ideas and executes most of them in an engrossing and charming manner. It took a while to get KSP out of Steam’s early access program, but the final result has captured countless players’ minds for years, and user-created mods might have something to do with that.
The player controls a space program operated by small humanoids called Kerbals, and the goal is simple: come up with vehicles and plans to explore their star system while avoiding catastrophic failures. KSP plays out like a comedy based on the history of space exploration, and it’s slowly gained a cult following, especially after the sequel disappointed.
3. Outer Wilds
- Release date: May 28, 2019
- Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch
- Developer: Mobius Digital
An 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. 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.
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. Of course, it’s jam-packed with puzzles and situations that make your head spin. Take that into account before putting on your space suit.
2. Elite Dangerous
- Release date: December 16, 2014
- Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PS4
- Developer: Frontier Developments
Space flight simulation aficionados are familiar with this one, as it’s been dominating that genre for years now, and with good reason. In spite of its steep learning curve, few games are as massive and rewarding as Elite Dangerous – the persistent online universe and a 1:1 scale representation of the Milky Way galaxy houses many gameplay possibilities that move at their own pace.
Elite Dangerous certainly isn’t for everyone, and is more of a lived-in experience that grows with you. Don’t expect to get a lot done in one hour. The journey matters here way more than crossing off tasks. Still, the number of different occupations (from space trucker to pirate) guarantee more than enough variety to keep patient players entertained for hundreds of hours. Furthermore, the Odyssey expansion (released May 19, 2021) introduces an on-foot FPS element to the game, although the community doesn’t seem to be vibing with it.
1. No Man’s Sky
- Release date: August 8, 2016
- Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch
- Developer: Hello Games
Everyone remembers how much of a disaster the launch of No Man’s Sky was, but Hello Games turned the ship around in spectacular fashion around a year and a half into post-launch development. With a few more years of massive updates, it now packs an absurd amount of content, so you’ll never be at a loss for anything to do. And, in case you didn’t know, its procedurally generated universe is practically endless and can be fully explored with friends and/or random players.
As stated by the developers, No Man’s Sky captures a sense of exploration and optimism typically seen in the sci-fi literature of the 1970s. That promise was always there, but the original experience was extremely shallow. Now, it feels like one of the liveliest universes we’ve explored in a video game. The first couple of hours might be rough, but it quickly picks up and goes where no game has gone before.
