Jump into hyperdrive and launch yourself into the best space games

July 20 marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon’s surface, with Armstrong delivering one of the most iconic quotes in history to millions of viewers and listeners on Earth: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” While not many have actually been in space, millions have traveled to the depths of our galaxy and fictional galaxies in video games. In celebration of the momentous accomplishment, we decided to put together a list of the best space games you can play today.

Best Space games

FTL: FASTER THAN LIGHT

FTL: Faster Than Light is one of the best real-time strategy games around. It also happens to aptly demonstrate the unknown dangers of space travel. Part ship management, part exploration, part challenging real-time strategy combat, FTLhas a wealth of depth. Viewed from a top-down perspective, your job is to navigate your ship across eight different planetary systems in an attempt to deliver important information to allied crews. All the while enemy fleets are chasing you down, trying to destroy your ship and kill your crew.

As a roguelike, each adventure in FTL is procedurally generated. The randomization makes each mission feel unique and somewhat limits your ability to remain prepared. Just like space exploration, you can plan for what you think to expect, but things can go haywire in a hurry. FTL is available on PC, Mac, and iOS.

$10 FROM STEAM

ELITE DANGEROUS

Elite Dangerous is probably the closest representation of the Milky Way galaxy in games. As a 1:1 representation of the galaxy, it’s absolutely massive. What you do with your time flying around space is really up to you. You can become a mercenary, a simple trader, or even just explore at a leisurely pace. Frontier Developments plc consistently updates the game to add new layers to an overarching narrative that has already seen extraterrestrial encounters and a slew of memorable moments for its dedicated player base.

Elite Dangerous isn’t for everyone, but if you want to feel the vastness of space, you should definitely check it out. If you have an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, you can explore the Milky Way in VR.

$30 FROM STEAM

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