20 Best SPACE & SCI-FI Game Hidden Gems - Space Sims, 4X, Roguelikes & More!

So many games and so few spare time!

I heavily recommend Star Traders : Frontiers. There aren't many game that scratch that "captain your own spaceship the way you want" itch as well as Star Traders : Frontiers does.

I'd also add that if anyone enjoyed Neo Scavenger, there is a hardcore noir space rpg called Ostranauts which is by the same developer. It's not tile based like Neo Scavenger but shares some similarities. Maybe not as much of a hidden gem as a lot of these but it's quite good. You start with a small ship but can build one to your liking as well though over the course of the game, swap with many of the derelict ones you find by fixing those up or I believe there was an editor to make one which you could use before starting but I may be wrong there, been awhile since I played. To sum it up, you basically begin the game as a salvager who makes a living by stripping derelict ships of their valuable parts and selling them, can recruit npc's to join your crew or keep going it alone and sometimes get into life or death situations whether it be running out of oxygen or fighting hostiles. So if that sounds like something you'd enjoy I'd definitely say to go check it out. I didn't think I'd like it at first but was hooked for awhile.

Happy You Mentioned Star Traders! Fantastic Game 100%

Starship Evo is looking great so far, like a mix of No Man's Sky, Space Engineers, and Elite Dangerous

Not having citizen sleeper on here is criminal😭

Great picks, there is a game i consider a hidden gem and thats Empyrion Galactik Survival. A survival horrorish game were you can build your own bases (on the surface,in space and underground),you can build vehicels,ships of any sizes to, move inside ships,vehicels,bases that you build and wisit other planets,space stations,the galaxy and planets are almost endles.

Thanks man! I apprecite that you mentioned these titles that I've NEVER heard before but I like what I see: Astrometica, Xenopurge, Star Trek Resurgence, although I already have it, Flight Of Nova

Avorion is something im more surprised that got missed. Its older, and the graphics are...simple, the story is mostly implied, but can be pieced together with some minor effort. You can build stations of all kinds, and ships of all sizes. You can build ships so big, that you can legitimately crash your game. To the point where most PvP servers have some pretty hefty size limits....

man u need to add C-Beams, because its look like single rouge soldier from Falling Frontier universe....awesome indie game in development imho

Star traders is a good time and the dev Triese brothers are excellent devs, very loyal to their games - they keep releasing regular updates for star traders even though it's almost 8 years old.

there is a big missing game in the list: "Cosmoteer" who, in my opinion, will become better than some of the game mentioning, or even being two/three game at the same time ^^

SPAZ 1 was the best, still waiting for a space game as good

Avorion is also an AMAZING space sandbox! I've spent over 300 hours in that game. It's like a (much) more accessible X4 with fully designable ships and super satisfying progression systems.

Nice job on the list, mate. I had forgotten about some of these games, and didn't know about others. Thank you!

The last starship

Thanks for this interesting game compilation!!

Great list, a lot of these are masterpieces. And yeah, anything made by Andrew and Cory Trese is an instabuy for me.

Empyrion Galactic Survival is one of those gems, it def has its jank with ground combat but the workshop community is excellent. It is fun just to see some of the builds people come up with. That and X4 are kind of my two favorite space games as of recent times. I need to revisit Space Haven, as it has progressed through early access more.

Subscribed. I wishlisted the first game because I need a Subnautica fix and the expansion of that game has me on dry land. I hate dry land.