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SpaceEngine
The world's first science-based photorealistic interactive 3D planetarium that models the entire Universe, using procedural generation for uncharted areas.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-08-31 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
77 of the 100 reviews raise this.
“Come for the stars, stay for the existential dread. You haven't lived until you've traveled at 100 lightyears per second and realized you still haven't left your local galactic cluster. This tool is incredible. It makes…”
“This game has incredible graphics and optimization; high quality scenes can easily be rendered. Many features allow you to explore space in ways never possible. The location catalog is expansive and generally intuitive.…”
“i love space and this games just expands what i know to a whole other level. I love to play this game to relax and calm down, its really fun to find other plants from different galaxies”
24 of the 100 reviews raise this.
“Come for the stars, stay for the existential dread. You haven't lived until you've traveled at 100 lightyears per second and realized you still haven't left your local galactic cluster. This tool is incredible. It makes…”
“This game has incredible graphics and optimization; high quality scenes can easily be rendered. Many features allow you to explore space in ways never possible. The location catalog is expansive and generally intuitive.…”
“I can't even begin to describe the scale that this game is on. It's like No Man's Sky, but with actual planets and it didn't come out broken. You can essentially explore the whole universe and see the vast distances…”
9 of the 100 reviews raise this.
“This game has incredible graphics and optimization; high quality scenes can easily be rendered. Many features allow you to explore space in ways never possible. The location catalog is expansive and generally intuitive.…”
“10/10 gave me astrophobia runs 100fps high settings”
“it is mindblowing this runs on my pc without any major issues. this game is the most beautiful game I have ever played and nothing even comes close. 10/10”
7 of the 100 reviews raise this.
“This is beyond words. If you have the money buy it, its worth it.”
“Searched for a discounted game... found a super realistic space simulator. This is just insanely beautiful and you learn a lot. We are so tiny. We are so alone. We are absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.…”
“SpaceEngine is a really cool game and really puts into perspective the true scale of the universe. Though the overwhelming majority of it is procedurally generated, it is still mind boggling. Every now and then I like…”
3 of the 100 reviews raise this.
“I love the visuals of this game and the amount of content you can endlessly search through. I also appreciate the workshop element of this game where you can add to its growth.”
“Amazing game with endless fun and exploration”
“very good graphics and a lot of thing to look at”
7 of the 100 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“(Refunded) If you’re just looking for a game where you can fly around and look at planets, stars, galaxies, etc., this is honestly pretty cool. For me though it didn’t really hit the way I expected. Space is supposed to…”
“Its Good But It Needs Andromeda XXXV The Smallest Galaxy.Can You Add In Custom Objects Easy To Make?And Add In The Baby Boom Galaxy A Starburst Galaxy And How Do You Go To Locatons?”
“Cool game. Looks awesome. It just isn't what I need”
6 of the 100 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“so basically this game is awsome but it broke on proton and commonly crashes so i guess play it on windows for the best compatability”
“This is a great game,the only problem is I lost all text due to a bug, this might be only me but you might want to consider it before purchasing”
“good game!!!! one bug i don't like is that sometimes the textures unload, but it's still good!!!”
5 of the 100 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“It's perhaps the biggest virtual work by just one person: Vladimir Romanyuk and it's absolutely beautiful and mind-blowing. Then, Cosmographic Software took over in February 2022 to keep on with its development. Note:…”
“Best in its genre, only issue is control is very hard and unintuitive.”
“(Refunded) If you’re just looking for a game where you can fly around and look at planets, stars, galaxies, etc., this is honestly pretty cool. For me though it didn’t really hit the way I expected. Space is supposed to…”
4 of the 100 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“The perfect exploration simulator for space nerds. The UI has a lot of options and it takes some getting used to, but there's tutorials to learn the basics.”
“I have been looking forward to space engine for a while but I don't know if its because of me not meeting the hardware requirements but it doesn't look like the videos and has an ugly HUD I am not saying this is what…”
“...wow. Also request for the devs: PLEASE make planet making easier, and have an ingame ui for it!”
3 of the 100 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Great game! really neat way to relax or get cool space photos, absolutely delivers on its core premise. Default planet gen is good but behind in some areas compared to other games with procedural planets (mainly elite…”
“I have been looking forward to space engine for a while but I don't know if its because of me not meeting the hardware requirements but it doesn't look like the videos and has an ugly HUD I am not saying this is what…”
Counted across 100 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 96.1% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“this game is so beautiful the details on this is insane im literally crying from this beautyness. my dad bought this game for me for 30 bucks and he says it was worth it and he likes it because im learning about space. you never know whats out there space is so cool. if a dad or…”
— a player, Steam review · 4 hrs played“I don't usually review games, but I have to with this. This is the best exploration game I have found next to stuff like Minecraft. The seamlessness of the exploration of real and auto generated objects is really immersive and fun. The wacky stuff the program generates has…”
— a player, Steam review · 36 hrs played“I LOOOOOVEEEE this game!!!! But theres a problem, they didn't add buildings or trees, so please, can you add it?”
— a player, Steam review · 14 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Build 0.991.50.2155
Hey folks! The August update has passed Beta and is now live! This includes some future-proofing work for system builders and ship modelers, as well as catalog adjustments made from community notes an
0.991.50.2155 Public Beta
Hey folks~ The next batch of updates and fixes is now available for public testing. This includes some future-proofing work for system builders and ship modelers, as well as adjustments made from comm
Build 0.991.50.2145
Hey folks!No issues arose from the Beta, so the June catalog update is now live! This update brings a fix to unit conversion for stars with masses defined in kilograms, as well as a fix for artifacts
0.991.50.2145 Public Beta
Hey folks!It's been a busy month for exoplanet data releases, with as many, if not more, than the entirety of Spring!We appreciate the increase in quantity and quality of catalog notes we've been rece
Build 0.991.50.2140
Hey folks!The first regular update of the year is now out on the public branch! We've been chipping away at some tricky technical issues, which will be the focus in the patch notes below. The first is
Games like SpaceEngine
From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.
Universe Sandbox
96.7% · 22,242 reviews
shares Science, Space Sim, Education, Space
Starpoint Gemini 2
71.5% · 2,853 reviews
shares Science, Space Sim, Flight, Futuristic
ΔV: Rings of Saturn
92.8% · 2,769 reviews
shares Science, Space Sim, Procedural Generation, Space
Spaceflight Simulator
96.7% · 5,500 reviews
shares Science, Space Sim, Space, Sandbox
The Sapling
89.5% · 1,626 reviews
shares Science, Education, Procedural Generation, Sandbox
Solar 2
90.4% · 1,597 reviews
shares Space Sim, Procedural Generation, Space, Sandbox
Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator
96.4% · 998 reviews
shares Science, Space Sim, Flight, Education
Hardspace: Shipbreaker
89.5% · 18,161 reviews
shares Space Sim, Futuristic, Procedural Generation, Space
Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Casual, Indie, Simulation, Early Access |
| Player tags | Early Access · Open World · Casual · Sci-fi · Sandbox · Space · Space Sim · Flight · 3D · Science · Realistic · Colorful (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Tracked Controller Support · VR Support · Steam Workshop · Steam Workshop · Partial Controller Support · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English, German, Russian, Italian, French, Finnish, Polish, Spanish - Latin America, Spanish - Spain, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Czech, Swedish, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Turkish, Ukrainian |
| Official site | https://spaceengine.org/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel Core i3-3220T or AMD FX-4100 Memory: 6 GB RAM Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or Radeon RX 460 (4 GB) Storage: 4 GB available space VR Support: SteamVR or Oculus PC Additional Notes: Screen resolution of at least 1280x720 required to display all user interface elements. Graphics card must have at least 3 GB of VRAM.