Management games can take on many forms, from complex colony sims to business management games. While many of these games take place in science fiction settings, and some of these take the form of fleet management games, such as NEBULOUS: Fleet Command, few management games have players managing the crew itself.

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Outside an array of FTL clones on the market, there is a distinct lack of game developers breaking the mold when it comes to spaceship and crew management/simulation. The titles here mostly feature core gameplay that revolves around managing both a spaceship and its crew, often with aspects of simulation.

Updated February 24, 2024 by Harry Ted Sprinks: Management games that take place on spaceships are a rare occurrence, especially those that include the option to hire and manage crew members. However, there are a few games - both new and old - that attempt to fill this gap in the market.

Due to the naturally large scope of managing a spaceship and its crew, a handful of games that attempt this are still in Early Access after years of development. Games like Stellar Tactics and Ostranauts may be rough around the edges, but they also provide some of the most in-depth simulations of spaceship management.

9 Holy Potatoes! We're in Space?! - Light-Hearted Space Exploration

Steam User Rating: 70%

• Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation
• Released: 2017
• Developer(s): Daylight Studios

This space-exploration game features gameplay that centers around strategic turn-based combat and spaceship management. As its name may suggest, Holy Potatoes! We're In Space?! does little to take itself seriously, but it manages to be a rewarding experience regardless.

The humorous approach to Holy Potatoes' writing may be an acquired taste, as it's often plagued by tiresome puns, but those who enjoy the game's silly humor will find themselves in good company. Players will spend a lot of time fighting tactical battles and managing their crew, but Holy Potatoes stands out with its light-hearted tone and humor.

8 Ostranauts - A Hardcore Sci-Fi Space-Sim RPG

Steam User Rating: 75%

• Platform(s): PC
• Released: 2020
• Developer(s): Blue Bottle Games

This game from the developer of Neo Scavenger is a deep and complex hardcore space-sim with a focus on gathering and interacting with a unique crew. Ostranauts takes place in a dystopian science-fiction universe, and its atmosphere and tone are relatively grim-dark.

Ostranauts features a handful of RPG elements, but it's mostly focused on its space-sim gameplay. Specifically, players will spend a lot of time manually exploring and salvaging wrecked spaceships, as well as managing and customizing their ship and crew.

7 Space Crew - Managing The Crew Of A Battleship

Steam User Rating: 78%

From the developers of the revered indie title, Bomber Crew, this game tasks players with defending Earth from aliens and androids alike, depending on the campaign scenario. In Space Crew, players manage a battleship and its crew, with a heavy emphasis on the crew itself.

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Although the crew in Space Crew is small, every member feels distinct and useful in their own way, and the progression of crew members throughout a playthrough helps keep Space Crew's chaotic gameplay engaging. Furthermore, Space Crew's "Away Missions" allow players to board outposts and other ships with up to three crew members, injecting some much-needed variety into the gameplay loop.

6 Stellar Tactics - A Tactical Sci-Fi RPG

Steam User Rating: 81%

• Platform(s): PC
• Released: 2016
• Developer(s): Maverick Games

This open-world, science-fiction RPG tasks players with running a mercenary company in space. Stellar Tactics has been in Early Access on Steam for many years, but it remains a labor of love and still receives regular updates.

Stellar Tactics features both space combat and turn-based, tactical ground combat. The gameplay loop mostly revolves around space exploration, trading, salvaging, and mining, but Stellar Tactics also features a storyline that players can follow. Although Stellar Tactics is focused more on exploration and freedom than anything else, players will spend a lot of time recruiting and hiring various crew members, as well as managing their spaceship.

5 The Last Starship - Building And Managing A Spaceship With Deep Customization

Steam User Rating: 81%

This combination of base building and large-scale management is currently in Early Access and being developed by Introversion Software, the team behind indie classics such as Darwinia, DEFCON, and the more recent Prison Architect.

The Last Starship combines elements of Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica with the construction simulation of games such as Factorio and Kerbal Space Program, though not quite as in-depth. Although The Last Starship is in Early Access and focuses a little more on construction than management, it's already in a strong place, and the high pedigree of the team behind it makes The Last Starship one of the most promising Early Access games currently on Steam.

4 Star Traders: Frontiers - An Open-World Sci-Fi Sandbox RPG

Steam User Rating: 84%

This open-world strategy RPG features in-depth crew simulation and management in which every member of a player's crew plays an important role with passive and active talents that affect every aspect of Space Traders' gameplay.

Every member of a player's crew in Star Traders: Frontiers has both health and morale that need to be managed effectively, lest they start a mutiny aboard the ship. Losing members of the crew or, even worse, an officer, is especially painful, as each crew member is important. Crew talents and abilities can be useful when traveling, during Space Traders' card-based mini-games, and in combat. Fans of questing and other traditional RPG gameplay mechanics combined with in-depth crew management, spaceship customization, and sandbox gameplay will likely adore exploring Star Traders.

3 Space Haven - A Colony-Sim On A Spaceship

Steam User Rating: 86%

This game plays similarly to colony simulation games such as RimWorld combined with more simulation-heavy games such as Oxygen Not Included and offers a unique experience with a distinct visual style.

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In Space Haven, players must design and build a spaceship while keeping several simulated aspects in mind. Life support, the generation of hazardous gas, temperature, power, and crew comfort must all be accounted for to successfully manage a ship. Furthermore, the game's in-depth characters feature unique traits and systems for mood, conditions, and even RimWorld-style mental breaks, making crew management an engaging task.

2 Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander - A Deep, Complex Simulation

Steam User Rating: 95%

This heavily simulated spaceship management game allows players to design and construct a spaceship with deep and intuitive customization tools, and then take it into the game's procedurally generated world.

Although Cosmoteer focuses on construction simulation, mastering its in-depth crew management mechanics is integral to a player's success. A poorly managed crew can turn a well-designed ship into a total disaster in the game's real-time tactical battles. On top of the game's sandbox single-player gameplay, Cosmoteer also features online co-op and PvP, as well as a creative mode.

1 FTL: Faster Than Light - A Unique, Modern Classic Rogue-Lite

Steam User Rating: 95%

Developed by Subset Games (the team behind the indie strategy game, Into The Breach), FTL: Faster Than Light is a modern classic that any fan of science fiction and indie strategy games should play.

FTL's real-time-with-pause tactical combat has players managing their crew, assigning them to the ship's various stations, and fending off enemy boarders. FTL's rogue-like structure, combination of real-time combat, and choose-your-own-adventure events make it a highly replayable and immersive experience that merges management gameplay with fast-paced real-time action.

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