16 Games Like No Man’s Sky
Our list of games like No Man’s Sky features other sandbox space titles where you’ll explore a vast galaxy, collect resources, trade with aliens and ultimately survive while growing your available tool kit.
No Man’s Sky released in 2016 for Windows and the PlayStation 4 before expanding to other platforms as part of its ongoing development cycle. Centred around the objectives of exploration, combat, survival and trading players explore a vast universe of hidden mysteries, resources and alien races alone or with friends. With more planets than you could explore in a lifetime each come with their own unique flora and fauna due to the procedural generation engine within the game which replicates the vastness and uniqueness of the real world.
Playing as a lone traveller (or a small group) and uploading their discoveries into the central Atlas database players embark on a journey to the centre of the galaxy although the sandbox design of No Man’s Sky lets players set their own goals. In order to do so upgrades to your environmental suit, jetpack, spaceship, weapons and the all important multi-tool will allow you to jump further and further into space while surviving increasingly harsh environments which house rare of minerals and technologies.
The games like No Man’s Sky below offer similar space based gameplay where you’ll jump into a space ship to explore the galaxy, mine asteroids, battle aliens, trade with others and collect resources from multiple planets to achieve your objective.
Kerbal Space Program
Kerbal Space Program has you leading your own space program in a realistic single player sandbox environment that offers a wealth of space themed challenges to overcome. Whether you are a fan of the sandbox genre or have a keen interest in space travel you’ll find an enjoyable adventure as you lead the space program of the humanoid like green aliens referred to as Kerbals. With realistic physics underpinning everything within Kerbal Space Program it’s highly likely the game will also...[Read Review]
Lego Worlds
Pushing the ever increasing number of Lego games into a more sandbox environment, Lego Worlds gives you the goal of becoming a Master Builder as you explore a range of Lego themed worlds. This time around your Lego themed adventure is bigger than ever though with a mostly open world that is also procedurally generated with elements of building resulting in a Minecraft like experience. Lego Worlds starts your Master Builder adventure after a less than stellar landing into Pirate Playground where ...[Read Review]
Starbound
Starbound is a 2D side-scrolling game that weaves together creativity, adventure, exploration and action into a galactic adventure. Not limiting itself to a single world Starbound encourages players to explore multiple procedural generated planets where you’ll find varied resources, inhabitants and other challenges. While Starbound features a number of sandbox design features the core experience still provides significant structure for those that want an overarching purpose to their advent...[Read Review]
Spore
Spore combines a number of genres together and ultimately unleashes players out to space after starting as a single cell organism. Giving you full control over how your species of creatures evolve throughout their development alongside their overall philosophy and technology Spore is a rare experience to shape the planet and the galaxy. The shining star of Spore though is the creation system that gives players a huge amount of options when creating their creatures which has led to plenty of crea...[Read Review]
X3: Reunion
X3: Reunion continues the series of X adventure games with the third game in the franchise released in 2005. Just like the games before it players will find the game to be an expansive single player space experience involving trading, combat and plenty of galaxy exploration in between as you craft your own story within the world. Notable jumps from past additions in the franchise include improvements across graphics, user interfaces, economic systems and enemy AI that all combine to offer a grea...[Read Review]
Wing Commander: Privateer
Wing Commander: Privateer is a space simulation and adventure game that lets you create your own story in a dog eat dog universe of freedom. As part of the popular Wing Commander series fans and newcomers will both be catered for in this 1993 addition to the franchise which was further expanded in 1994 with the Righteous Fire add-on. While Wing Commander: Privateer is the fourth released game in the Wing Commander franchise it’s primarily a spin off set on the borders of Confederation spac...[Read Review]
Freelancer
Freelancer is a spaced based game for Windows that lets you take control of a spaceship and travel the galaxy engaging in combat and trading. Primarily a sandbox themed space title Freelancer is a game that lets players control where they explore, progress and the activities they engage with which includes trading planet commodities, mining resources, protecting other ships and hunting pirates. The events of Freelancer are set 800 years after the events in Starlancer (a similar space game made b...[Read Review]
Evochron Legacy
Explore the dark reaches of space in Evochron Legacy a freeform space flight simulation game that expands on the Evochron universe of games with a broader universe for players to embark on their own path. With an entire galaxy at your disposal Evochron Legacy is a space title that emphasises player control over their progression as you pick your own niche speciality or progress as a generalist instead. The backdrop for this galactic journey is the Evochron quadrant of space where the human race ...[Read Review]
Out There
Choose your own space adventure in Out There a game that challenges you to survive in the vastness of space as you travel between planets and acquire resources. Originally released for iOS and Android device the title was eventually brought across toe PC, Mac and Linux with an enhanced version for the Nintendo Switch in 2019. Set in the future as the human race makes a mad dash for resources outside our own planet players find themselves lost outside the solar system as they wake from their cryo...[Read Review]
Sky Break
Sky Break pits players in a world where humanity is on the edge after being ravaged by a virus of world ending proportions. Set on the planet known as Arcania which was once a planet of human colonisation it holds the potential cure, extracting the cure from the now abandoned planet of Arcania though is no easy adventure and the one that players will be thrown into. The issue with exploring the lost planet of Arcania is that while it once sustained human life it was long abandoned after the dron...[Read Review]
Evochron Mercenary
Evochron Mercenary is a game of vast scale that has similarities to Freelancer with it’s science fiction theme and freedom orientated mechanics that encourage you to explore the galaxy on your own path. Evochron Mercenary belongs to the same universe as the popular Star Wraith series of space simulators that first started in 2000 with various titles in the franchise released since allowing for some cross-nostalgia experiences for fans of both titles. In this space sandbox style game you wi...[Read Review]
DarkStar One
DarkStar One focuses on space trading and combat as players explore the universe before them and carve their own path through the stars and planets. It launched in 2006 for Windows with an improved edition (Darkstar One: Broken Alliance) released two years later for the Xbox 360 platform providing console players the opportunity explore the universe of DarkStar One. In addition to a diverse range of planets and space anomalies your DarkStar One journey will feature half a dozen races with their ...[Read Review]
Galaxy on Fire 2
Galaxy on Fire 2 builds on the setting and gameplay of the first game sending players back into the void of space as they complete a story driven campaign, accept side missions from aliens and upgrade their ship to be a dominating fighter or large transport vessel. Available for both mobile (free to play base game) and computer gamers (paid game only) Galaxy on Fire 2 is particularly a stand out experience on mobile where games with the same level and polish to features are rare particularly wit...[Read Review]
Elite: Dangerous
Master the art of trading, combat and exploration in Elite: Dangerous an expansive space simulation title with open ended multiplayer gameplay where your own actions will impact on the story of the persistent universe. With an entire galaxy waiting for players you’ll command your starship across stars in a video game that seeks to join the ranks of other epic space MMO titles. Launching in 2014 Elite: Dangerous started in the year 3300, which is also designed to run in sync with real time ...[Read Review]
Lunacraft
Lunacraft joins the rapidly growing number of smartphone games that draw inspiration from Minecraft but alter the formula slightly by offering new settings, new mechanics and more importantly a free to play price tag. Designed solely for iOS devices Lunacraft challenges players to survive and thrive in a space environment that encompasses the same premise as other sandbox games focusing on infinite exploration, crafting and random discoveries. In the story mode of Lunacraft you’ll explore ...[Read Review]
X3: Terran Conflict
X3: Terran Conflict is part of the X series of video games. Just like its predecessors the game is about trading and combat in a space environment. The game is set far into the future (2938) and takes place after Earth has been reconnected with the larger system of jumpgates in the X universe. This connection to Earth while an occasion of joy also created many new tensions and conflicts which is what the main story line of X3: Terran Conflict explores. X3: Terran Conflict is a single player only...[Read Review]