We’re gonna go into space and finally meet with Wheatley. Well, maybe we won’t until Valve finally makes Portal 3. Anyways, we’ll talk about futuristic games that take place in space - you can expect combat between spaceships and exploration of other planets and all that jazz. Let’s get into it:

25. The Outer Worlds

What’s strange about this game are the weird zooms into other NPC’s faces after you engage in conversations with them - kinda weird, but ok. Plenty of dialogue options that will shape the story of this game. 

And there’s also combat - it’s awesome, you can acquire and improve weaponry, sometimes slow down the time and slay alien creatures with style. The game is awesome, maybe a little bit expensive, but for some, it will be surely worth the money!

24. Stellaris

A game where you’ll explore, conquer and commit genocide on a planet full of adorable alien creatures. You can establish your own political system on the planet that you’ve colonized, enslave other people or just be a complete degenerate, despicable warlord that thrives off of war and misery of other inhabitants of planets. 

I could talk and talk about this game, but it’s just too much to write about - try this game out for yourself, it’s incredibly addicting and you’ll love it!

23. STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™

This game reminded me of World of Warcraft. One of the most similar features is the faction and class selection - you can either pick the dark or the light side and a list of classes that you can play as. Cool environments and fun leveling is what this game offers - try it out!

22. No Man’s Sky 

A game with an unlimited amount of planets to explore and settle on, many creatures to slaughter or run away from and fun base-building. You’ll have an inventory where you’ll be able to gather more and more resources as you travel, that you’ll use for new tools or building materials. 

You also won’t get bored of it, the game randomly generates terrains of planets that you travel to - monsters included. Sick game, despite the drama it has left behind!

21. EVE Online

A free MMO game - yay! What’s awesome about this game? There was once a time where a battle took place between 717 corporations and 55 alliances - it was called World War B. I don’t know who the hell won, but it took around 21 hours for it to finally end... 

The game is massive - if you love politics in space, this game is totally for you! 

20. Space Engineers

What is this game about? It’s about exploration and building space stations, settlements on planets that you’ve visited, sometimes even your own ships if you’ve got bored of the older models and many more cool features!

The game is hard but very rewarding, graphics are dope and you’ll get hooked up on it - try it, it’s countless hours of fun and you’ll love it!

19. Oxygen Not Included

A 2D game that reminds me of Terraria, but in space. Gather a crew, become more advanced as you progress into the game, worry about alien creatures wishing to bite your head off, and discover new tech in order to survive.

The game won’t shower you with kisses and rainbows in the beginning, but with experience, you’ll eventually learn to have a more comfortable life. Fun game!

18. Kerbal Space Program

Oh, I’ve played this game ages ago. Believe me, building a rocket in this game is quite fun in this game, but trying to break through the atmosphere is another story - you will fail at least a hundred times, your rocket will either disintegrate or explode midair, do some weird turn and crash back into the ground and then, with enough luck, you’ll break through the atmosphere and get to whatever planet you wanna go to. Good luck!

17. Outer Wilds

This game is all about fancy, cartoonish graphics and exploration - the game is full of surprises even after tens of hours of gameplay. Each world you encounter can have diverse environments, ranging from scorching deserts to dense forests.

New adventures await for you in this lovely game - you’ll fall in love with its fun gameplay and simple, but colorful graphics!

16. Dyson Sphere Program

What can you do in this lovely game - create Dyson Spheres, they’re basically megastructures that orbit stars and harvest energy from them, but that’s just one thing!

The game has to offer awesome exploration and resource gathering from a countless list of planets, build your fabrics and fill your galactic empire with space goodies!

15. Mass Effect™ Legendary Edition

There’s one thing that Commander Shepard wants you to know - we’ll bang, okay? Anyways, Mass Effect™ Legendary Edition consists of Mass Effect 1, 2 and 3 and over 40 DLCs, with slightly improved graphics.

About the story - evil aliens are attacking humans, play as Commander Shepard or some other customized character and fight off spooky creatures. We’ll bang, okay? 

14. Surviving Mars

You’ll create fancy-looking colonies on Mars, they’ll be in the shape of glass bubbles, in which humans will reside. You’ll also be responsible for their well-being, building houses, tunnels to other “glass bubbles” and many more cool features.

Also, the tutorial will most likely take you 5 hours - this game is not for casuals and it will take you a lifetime to master this game!

13. Elite Dangerous

An open-world space game, where you can engage in dogfighting with other spaceships. You’ll start with a piece of crap spaceship and a small amount of currency to your name, so you know what that means…

Grinding and grinding in an unforgiving galactic, filled with bloodthirsty players that will gladly destroy you for very little gain or just sport. Lovely!

12. ASTRONEER

Explore planets and mine them for resources, alter the shape of your surroundings thanks to your tools, visit the 7 planets of our Solar System and explore their different environments filled with caves, vegetation or just pure hectares of nothing!

Besides fascinating exploration, you can also craft and drive vehicles, build awesome bases and have fun with your friends in this awesome multiplayer game. Try it out, it’s worth your time!

11. Warframe

What Warframe is about? It’s about space ninjas. Fight random creatures with some fancy-looking swords or rifles - the game is an RPG, so you’ll be able to develop your character via upgrading your armor and weapons. 

Although this game is fun, it’s challenging for newer players, but not for long - there will eventually come a time where you’ll feel rewarded and satisfied!

10. FTL: Faster Than Light

A simple, but at the same time difficult 2D roguelike. What can you do in this game? Pick 1 out of many spaceships and go on an adventure where you’ll encounter hostile spaceships, gather resources, upgrade your ship and weaponry, and many more cool features.

Also, if you die once in this game, you start from scratch - but don’t worry too much about it, the game has massive replayability and you’ll get hooked on it for tens and tens of hours, maybe hundreds if you’re crazy enough!

9. Star Trek Online

Be in charge of your spaceship and its crew and go on an explorative adventure where you’ll visit new civilizations, unique life forms, and places that you haven’t seen before!

Unless you get attacked by multiple ships at once. That’s why it’s a good idea to hang around with your buddies then going alone and getting bombarded with a long list of Sci-Fi cannons!

8. STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II

Welcome to the Star Wars universe, you’ll be either running around dodging laser beams, flying cool Sci-Fi ships and spectacular, mass-scale battles taking place between enemy factions.

You might also play as a special character - for example, Darth Vader. You’ll be an OP powerhouse, capable of taking multiple hits at once and killing everything in sight. Awesome game!

7. Starbound

Some people call this game Terraria on steroids - they’re correct. But what is this game actually about? Apparently, our main protagonist escaped his home and ended up in space, somehow… But anyways, the game has a long list of craftable items that will help you on your journey of exploring distant space filled with exotic planets and full of hostile creatures, which defeating might be a challenge - nonetheless, the game is extremely fun. Try it out!

6. Empyrion - Galactic Survival

The game is incredible and it was updated plenty of times over the years, as of now, it’s an excellent game, where you’ll be able to land on alien planets with different climates and terrains. The game is also fairly challenging, if alien creatures don’t kill you, then the hostile environment of alien planets will. Pick a faction and have fun!

5. STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™

A third-person game with an intriguing storyline that takes place in the Star Wars universe. It’s also full of action where you’ll engage in epic combat with other humans or hostile creatures with the help of your lightsaber. 

Besides complex combat and an enjoyable storyline, there’s also a lot of exploring to do - you’ll be visiting plenty of planets with different terrains, civilizations and life forms. If you’re a Star Wars geek, you have to try it!

4. Avorion

A game where you can build your own spaceships, that’s exactly what the previously mentioned space games were lacking. In this game, you can craft ENORMOUS or tiny space ships. Depending on the size of your ship, the handling of it will also be affected.

Drift in space, trade, harvest resources via mining, wage wars on others and spend countless hours in this fascinating game - it’s a must-try!

3. ENDLESS™ Space 2

What can you do in this game? Colonize other planets and be a complete jerk to everyone around you. Combat in this game is pretty simple, but satisfying at the same time - equip your spaceship with a long list of Sci-Fi weaponry or defensive capabilities and witness the epicness of battles in this game - that’s until you get a cutscene of a ship exploding, at that point, it becomes kinda meh.

Nonetheless, the game is intriguing and fun as heck and worth the price.

2. Hardspace: Shipbreaker

This game is a little bit less tense, it’s perfect after you’ve finished working and wanna play a game where you’ll find abandoned/destroyed ships, cut them into pieces, and gather important materials that you can sell. 

The game also has to offer impressive physics - one wrong cut and you’re gonna get sucked out of the ship or electrocuted. It’s also pretty cheap on Steam!

1. Star Citizen

The behemoth of space games, although it’s a bit buggy, it is still being regularly updated with bug fixes and other updates that give content. The community in this game is fantastic - you can expect help from everyone, even if you ask the most obvious question!

If you love piloting, this game is most definitely for you - there’s a steep learning curve for spaceship piloting in this game, but with enough patience and time, you’ll get a hang of it and wreck some kids while dogfighting. The graphics are also out of this world - they look incredible and the world itself feels infinite. This is a game that you just must buy!

You may also be interested in: 

• Best Space Exploration Games
• Top 7 Spooky Space Horror Games for PC
• Top 15 New Upcoming Space Games We're Excited For