After recovering from a disastrous launch, No Man’s Sky has become a go-to answer when someone asks about games involving galactic travel and survival. That being said, it debuted eight years ago, and you may be wondering what other games have released that have the same kind of depth.
Though the games listed below may be different from No Man’s Sky, they do share certain gameplay similarities. If nothing else, it’s worth giving them a try if you’d like to unwind from a stressful day.
5
Spore
Released in 2008, Spore has players begin life as a single-celled organism and gradually evolve to the point you’ll be capable of traversing the stars. This occurs as you guide your creature through five evolutionary stages, each more complex than the last.
The space stage is likely what will appeal to No Man’s Sky players the most, as that is when your creature’s civilization is capable of interstellar travel. This stage allows you to colonize other planets, explore the galaxy, and even interact with other civilizations. The game grants you a lot of flexibility with the latter, allowing you to be as peaceful or aggressive as you like, and this ultimately decides your civilization’s survival, or even dominance.
You can customize your creature and its species at every stage of the game, giving it a ton of replayability and variability from one playthrough to the next.
Though multiplayer isn’t present, you can share your creations or download ones others have made online through Sporepedia. The AI will control the copy of their creatures and vehicles as they populate your world, meaning your game can be teeming with a multitude of different species.
4
Elite Dangerous
Whereas many of the games on this list focus on planet exploration, Elite Dangerous is an MMO flight simulator where you explore a 1:1 scale representation of the Milky Way. Like No Man’s Sky, discovery is a big focus, as is resource extraction and upgrading your ship. In fact, trading at different stations and gaining credits (the in-game currency) is a key component of its gameplay loop. You’re the commander of your ship and are free to do whatever you like, whether that’s getting into dogfights with pirates, space trucking, or being a bounty hunter.
Elite Dangerous has a much higher focus on flight from a gameplay perspective, as opposed to No Man’s Sky, where exploring planets and survival aspects are front and center.
The universe is also more dynamic due to the impact players have on the in-game economy, political landscape, and galactic events. Additionally, Elite Dangerous may be harder to get into since it has a bit of a learning curve and can be overwhelming for new players. Luckily, despite coming out more than 10 years ago, it still has a strong playerbase and a welcoming community.
If you like space-faring games with an emphasis on ship gameplay and want a more realistic journey through the galaxy (made even better with virtual reality), you should pick it up.
3
Subnautica
If exploration and survival are the primary allure of games for you, you may want to dip your feet into the waters of Subnautica. It isn’t procedurally generated like No Man’s Sky, but its enormous ocean is meticulously crafted and promises hours upon hours of discovery.
The game’s premise is that your character crash-lands on an alien planet where you need to gather resources, create tools and vehicles, and even build bases.
Like most survival games, you’ll need to ensure your character’s basic needs, such as hunger, thirst, and oxygen are met. You might think simply exploring an ocean would get stale, but there are a large amount of different biomes to keep the experience fresh. You’ll also encounter a variety of aquatic life, some of which are relatively friendly and some that definitely are not.
The base game is multiplayer, but mods enable you to play with others, making it a great game you should play on PC if you can. Subnautica 2 is slated to release in 2025 and even includes multiplayer, so you’ll soon have another sea-faring adventure available if you enjoy the first game.
2
Astroneer
Astroneer is a third-person adventure game that tasks you with exploring and reshaping planets with your Terrain Tool. It’s quite similar to No Man’s Sky in that the planets are procedurally generated, you gather resources, and it features a rich crafting system. It’s lighter on survival aspects, but you will need a constant supply of oxygen for yourself and power for your base/equipment.
You’ll similarly need to be mindful of environmental hazards like storms, dangerous terrain, and even certain plants. You can also play with up to four people on dedicated servers, so playing with friends is always a possibility.
Astroneer and No Man’s Sky probably sound quite similar, but they do differ in many respects. For instance, the planets in Astroneer are procedurally generated, but you’ll explore the same five (and two moons) with each save file. There also isn’t any ship-piloting in Astroneer, so when you travel from one planet to another, the entire process is automated.
At its core, Astroneer is more about resource-gathering and building, so it will definitely be your cup of tea if you enjoy that kind of gameplay loop.
1
Astrometica
While Astroneer doesn’t have space flight gameplay, Astrometica features it extensively with vehicles and a jetpack. Like many games on this list, it is a base-building survival game revolving around exploration and discovery.
Its environments span more than just planets, though. You’ll fly through asteroid belts, abandoned space stations, and even cosmic anomalies while looking for resources and new pieces of technology. Like No Man’s Sky, there are survival elements in place (oxygen and battery management), resource-gathering, and a crafting system.
Unlike No Man’s Sky, the locations and assets in Astrometica are almost entirely hand-crafted, meaning there’s very little procedural generation. As you can imagine, this means the depth of exploration in Astrometica isn’t nearly as wide, especially considering it takes place in a lone star system. This is also a single-player game, so you won’t be able to roam around with friends.
If a structured, more close-ended experience sounds interesting, the game is definitely worth your time. It should be noted it is in early access and regularly receives updates, making it a good long-term investment.
It may have launched back in 2016, but No Man’s Sky is still going strong thanks to a satisfying core gameplay loop and consistent support from the developers. There aren’t games that can do exactly what it does, but many do share its characteristics. Whether you enjoy exploring space, gathering and crafting, or simply doing your best to survive, these games can oblige.
