Just like how the pioneering sailors regarded the ocean in the 16th century, space for many represents freedom, adventure, and unending possibility. While most people will never get to play golf on the moon in real life, there are many games set in the recesses of space that offer an immersive and rewarding experience.
For many, the idea of hopping into a spaceship and heading to the stars to begin an adventure is incredibly appealing. It is the idea of taking a path that has not been predetermined that provides the player with the ultimate form of escapism. While freedom seems to be the overarching theme for games set on spaceships, the concept also offers a lot of creative freedom to the developers, who can design their universe while ignoring earthly conventions.
10 Dead Space
The feeling of claustrophobia is one of the factors that make certain horror video games a success, such as the cramped hallways of the original Resident Evil or the stuffy security room at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in Five Nights at Freddy's. One game that uses this type of gameplay to its advantage is Dead Space.
Reaching the USG Ishimura, the game's main protagonist, Isaac Clarke, soon discovers that the ship has been overrun with mutated undead forms known as the Necromorphs. The player must solve puzzles to survive in Dead Space, as well as fight the bloodthirsty abominations using Kinesis, which moves and throws items, and Stasis, which slows down time.
9 FTL: Faster Than Light
FTL: Faster Than Light is set on a spaceship desperately running from a pursuing fleet. As the ship is chased, it is the job of the player to discover resources that can be used to help them escape.
FTL: Faster Than Lightmay have simple graphics, but it's far from a simple game. FTL centers around strategic ship battles, where the player chooses what weapon should target enemy systems to get the best results during the conflict. The player also assigns tasks to the other crew members to stop the ship from being destroyed. Strategic thinking and time management could be the difference between life and death in Faster Than Light. As the game can be paused, it can be incredibly appealing to casual players who enjoy dipping in and out while working or watching something online.
8 EVE Online
EVE Online has remained one of the most popular MMORPGs since it was released in 2003. It has gone on to have several expansions that were completely free and currently has around 180,000 players login every single day.
EVE Online is set in a single universe, with players making their own destinies while piloting their ships through the unforgiving reaches of space. Will you hunt for pirates or become one yourself? Will you track down bounties? Will you Join Factional Warfare? Or will you simply explore the incredible expanse of the universe? The beauty of EVE Online is that the player is in the driver's seat.
7 Elite Dangerous
Elite Dangerous provides players with their first ship and credits before sending them out into the seemingly endless Milk Way to fend for themselves. Elite Dangerous prides itself on its hyper-realistic space environments and its immersive experience.
In Elite Dangerous, you can participate in epic space battles, hunt down bounties, earn an honest wage as a miner, or even become a space taxi. As you gain more credits, you can buy bigger ships and better upgrades to make your life in the cold reaches of space a little more comfortable.
6 Tacoma
Stranded aboard the seemingly abandoned Tacoma lunar transfer station in the year 2088, players control Amy Ferrier. By watching recordings of the crew through an AI interface, the player begins to piece together the tragic fate of the missing crew.
Tacoma is an exploration game that sends the player around the empty space station so that they can listen to the ghostly holograms and discover clues. The characters in Tacoma are incredibly well-written, as is the overall plot, which introduces the player to a disturbing future and an event that called for drastic decisions.
5 Observation
Fans of Isaac Asimov's work, who often wrote stories that featured robotic interactions and early AI concepts, such as I, Robot, will really enjoy Observation. This adventure-puzzle game is set on the multi-national space station Observation, which has been left powerless and spiraling through space.
Observation follows the story of the station's medical officer Dr. Emma Fisher, who is assisted by the player, controlling the ship's AI, SAM. With the crew missing and strange events breaking out on the station, it is down to SAM to keep Emma safe.
4 Among Us
Among Us took the world by storm in 2020 when several content creators began playing the title in collaboration with each other. While the game may look silly on the surface, with its minion-esque multicolored spacemen, the objective of this game is to find the wolf in sheep's clothing before it's too late.
The player objective in Among Us is to either be an imposter and kill your crewmates, or find the imposter before they sabotage the ship and take out the crew. The original map of Among Us was a spaceship called the Skeld, which was released in 2018. Since then, three maps have been added to the game, including the most recent addition, The Airship.
3 Outer Wilds
Outer Wilds is a unique indie game with elements of exploration, puzzles, mystery, and action. The story of Outer Wilds keeps players interested by forcing them to relive the same day while stuck in a time loop, bringing over everything they had learned in their previous experience.
As the player tries to uncover why they are in the loop, they take advantage of the situation by using their knowledge of the future to solve puzzles and advance the plot. Outer Wilds allows players to start their journey wherever they want, with the objectives discovered leading them to the overarching story.
2 Star Wars: Squadron
With the popularity of previous Star Wars space fighter titles, such as Star Wars: X-Wing and Star Wars: Tie Fighter, it's no surprise that Star Wars: Squadrons received positive reviews when it was released in 2020.
Star Wars: Squadron allows players to take flight in iconic ships from the Star Wars franchise, such as the Tie Fighter, X-Wing, RZ-1 A-Wing, and the Reaper, to compete in epic dog fights among the stars. Familiar locations from the franchise also appear in Star Wars: Squadron, which includes Yavin Prime, where the Rebel Alliance operated from in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.
1 Freelancer
Freelancer opens up several possibilities of play, with the player being able to choose to be a pirate, a bounty hunter, a commodity trader, or a miner. Like the endlessness of space, Freelancer was developed to offer the players countless ways to tell their story within the game.
In the single-player mode of Freelancer, players take control of Edison Trent, a pilot who embarks on a mission to defeat an alien force threatening the Sirius sector. While many fans hoped for a sequel to this acclaimed title, the planned title for the Xbox 360, Project Lonestar, was canceled in 2006.