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SpaceEngine is a realistic Universe simulator, featuring trillions of galaxies, stars, and planets at their actual scale, all shown in 1:1 ratio. Explore the solar system and beyond, seamlessly transitioning from planetary surfaces to interstellar space. With procedural 3D terrain and textures, every celestial body is detailed and interactive, allowing you to study or simply appreciate the beauty of our Universe. Spacecraft with Newtonian physics are also available for those interested in space exploration .

SpaceEngine screenshot
SpaceEngine screenshot
SpaceEngine screenshot
SpaceEngine screenshot
SpaceEngine screenshot
SpaceEngine screenshot
SpaceEngine screenshot
SpaceEngine screenshot
SpaceEngine screenshot
SpaceEngine screenshot
SpaceEngine screenshot
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96%
Audience ScoreBased on 14,160 reviews
graphics684 positive mentions
story56 negative mentions

  • The graphics in Space Engine are stunningly realistic and visually impressive, enhancing the immersive experience of cosmic exploration.
  • The game offers endless possibilities for exploring the universe, with a focus on realistic orbital mechanics and a captivating atmosphere.
  • Players appreciate the atmospheric soundtrack, which complements the visuals and creates a meditative experience while exploring diverse alien landscapes.
  • The game lacks traditional gameplay mechanics, objectives, and progression, making it feel more like an exploration tool than a conventional game.
  • Many players report significant stability issues, including bugs and crashes, particularly when running the game on higher settings or specific hardware configurations.
  • The monetization strategy has been criticized as a cash grab, with players feeling that promised features were not delivered, leading to disappointment.
  • graphics
    1,148 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics in Space Engine are widely praised for their stunning realism and breathtaking detail, making it one of the most visually impressive space simulators available. Players appreciate the ability to explore a vast universe with high-quality visuals, although some note that the game can be demanding on hardware, requiring a good graphics card for optimal performance. Overall, the game's graphics are considered a major highlight, enhancing the immersive experience of cosmic exploration.

    • “The game is unimaginably large and detailed and the graphics are stunning.”
    • “Absolutely stunning visuals!”
    • “The graphics are breathtaking, controls are easy to learn, and it's not too messy.”
    • “As an astronomer, I was bored after 5 minutes... unrealistic graphics, no labels about features on moons or planets.”
    • “However, if you try to run any graphic higher than medium, most of the time, it will crash and you won't be able to play it.”
    • “I am extremely disappointed with this simulator because of the amount of 'overwhelmingly positive' reviews... the controls are super wacky and hard to understand and like I said the game looks like I'm running it on a super outdated graphics card potato PC.”
  • gameplay
    316 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of this space simulation is largely criticized for its lack of traditional game mechanics, objectives, and progression, making it more of an exploration tool than a game. While it offers stunning visuals and realistic orbital mechanics, players seeking structured gameplay or challenges may find it disappointing. The experience is primarily about leisurely exploration of the universe, with some users appreciating its educational value and immersive qualities despite the absence of engaging gameplay elements.

    • “This game is absolutely stellar; it is so accurate to real space, and I absolutely love the mechanic to land on each planet. I recommend this game to people who love space as much as I do.”
    • “The gameplay is straightforward and focuses on the experience itself.”
    • “Endless possibilities for exploring the universe, for learning celestial mechanics, for piloting starships with realistic physics.”
    • “But the 'game' part, even if there is any 'game' here, is severely lacking: as a space sim, you won't get anything here beyond orbital mechanics and a simple warp drive.”
    • “There's no goal, nor gameplay loop, no grind, and no progress.”
    • “If you're buying it thinking it's Elite Dangerous or Star Citizen, you'll be sorely disappointed since, as far as I'm aware, there are no game mechanics in place.”
  • music
    278 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its atmospheric and calming qualities, enhancing the immersive experience of exploring the universe. Players appreciate the ability to customize their soundtrack, adding personal music to complement the beautifully crafted original score. Overall, the soundtrack is described as a perfect accompaniment to the stunning visuals, creating a meditative and transcendent experience that resonates deeply with space enthusiasts.

    • “The atmospheric soundtrack is on some kind of interstellar vibe, leaving you with a profoundly enlightening experience as you float around in a world you were born too early to ever experience otherwise.”
    • “The music is so beautiful, and the graphics are just icing on this delightful universal cake.”
    • “Put on some awe-inspiring music, and set off on a journey to explore the stars, planets, and galaxies – it’s a genuinely moving experience.”
    • “Play some music, give it a shot, but if it's getting you into a place of being down?”
    • “And sometimes it's very stressful when you're playing alone, especially when you're close to a black hole, the very depressing background music will definitely make your adrenaline rush, very immersive feeling.”
    • “All while listening to some not very inspiring 1980s - mid-'90s synth music.”
  • story
    238 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game lacks a traditional narrative, offering players the freedom to explore the cosmos without linear objectives or missions. While some users appreciate the vastness and beauty of the universe, many express a desire for a more structured story or goals to enhance the experience. Overall, it serves as an exploratory tool rather than a conventional game with a defined storyline.

    • “The freedom to roam the cosmos, unencumbered by the constraints of a linear narrative, is incredibly liberating, allowing players to craft their own story within the universe.”
    • “Absolutely breathtaking, I am the type to absolutely despise games where there are no goals or story... this might be my only exception.”
    • “This helps me with my story-writing greatly, in addition to allowing me to explore and goof off around all sorts of astronomical bodies.”
    • “The game is essentially a viewer for various stellar bodies and there is no instruction on how to navigate or move around space nor is there any type of storyline or mission-driven achievements.”
    • “There's no story whatsoever, and not really any 'real gameplay' aside from the very early in dev ship stuff, otherwise you're mostly in a freecam with control over time as well.”
    • “If you are looking for action or high-octane gameplay or storytelling of any kind, you won't find it here.”
  • atmosphere
    124 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its stunning visuals and immersive sound design, creating a captivating experience as players explore diverse alien landscapes and atmospheric phenomena. Users highlight the detailed scientific elements, such as atmospheric composition and temperature variations, which enhance the realism and depth of exploration. Despite some minor bugs and occasional repetitiveness in planetary features, the overall atmosphere is described as beautiful and engaging, making it a worthwhile experience for space enthusiasts.

    • “The atmospheric soundtrack is on some kind of interstellar vibe, leaving you with a profoundly enlightening experience as you float around in a world you were born too early to ever experience otherwise.”
    • “I found myself lost in these alien landscapes on different planets, each one with its own crazy features and atmosphere.”
    • “The atmosphere, cloud, and nebula rendering are orders of magnitude better than they were previously.”
    • “The detail isn't quite as incredible as the scope - like if you 'land' on a gas giant or ocean planet you won't feel as though you're in whirling atmosphere or in an ocean in any sense.”
    • “Every time I enter our solar system and then try to view any planets, it's just blank; it has atmosphere colors but other than that, it's empty with no surface texture, even if I load a user-created save that clearly shows a planet's textures.”
    • “Certain atmospheres can use some work for the sake of immersion; Titan, for example, has obvious layer boundaries, but otherwise has a nice steady light scattering transition as you descend/ascend.”
  • optimization
    116 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the optimization of the game is praised for its ability to run smoothly on modest hardware, making it accessible to a wide audience. While many players report impressive performance and beautiful graphics, some users experience stuttering, texture loading issues, and specific optimization challenges with certain GPU models. Continuous updates have improved performance, but there are still concerns about CPU limitations and the need for further enhancements, particularly for high-demand scenes.

    • “Despite its ambitious scope, Space Engine manages to achieve a remarkable balance between detail and performance.”
    • “The game runs smoothly even on modest hardware, making it accessible to a wide range of players.”
    • “Unbelievably well optimized, it'll put most AAA titles to shame.”
    • “It seems to be poorly optimized at present and will drag your system down on higher settings unless you do some finer tweaking of settings.”
    • “The performance is abysmal, the engine can't load textures properly and in a timely manner (unlike its predecessors) and I can't for the life of me get it to look the way I want because the graphic settings that were once there are now gone.”
    • “For example, better optimization would be great because on my system (which is fairly good and meets the recommended spec) still suffers from stuttering and lag.”
  • stability
    102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, crashes, and graphical glitches that significantly hinder the experience. While some players note that restarting the game can resolve minor issues, many express frustration over persistent problems, particularly in VR and with certain hardware configurations. Overall, the game is considered very buggy, especially in its early access state, leading to a mixed reception regarding its stability.

    • “Runs great on lower-end hardware as well as aging hardware, making it perfect for anyone who finds space meditative.”
    • “Runs great on my system.”
    • “Runs great on Linux through Steam Play.”
    • “Please note that the current build is extremely buggy.”
    • “The entire experience was very frustrating and buggy beyond reporting.”
    • “I understand this game is early access, but I do have a problem with game stability; sometimes the game freezes when I exit to the main menu, and I've encountered significant bugs such as stars showing up black, getting close to certain big moons turns them black, or sometimes the entire object altogether is black.”
  • grinding
    70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The reviews overwhelmingly indicate that the grinding aspect of the game is excessively time-consuming, with many players feeling that it requires an unrealistic commitment, likening it to needing a "second life" to manage the grind effectively. This sentiment suggests that the grinding mechanics may detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “I'm looking forward to a lot more time with this program, but I wish that whatever the problem is with subsequent launches wouldn't require the drastic-but-effective method of deleting and reinstalling from scratch, else having to keep the program open indefinitely to avoid the tedious process.”
    • “No more grinding in Elite Dangerous to have great astronomical vistas.”
  • emotional
    30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players report that the game evokes profound emotional responses, often making them feel insignificant and small in the vastness of the universe. Many describe experiences of awe, existential reflection, and even panic, highlighting the game's ability to blend beauty and horror. The emotional impact is so strong that it has led to tears and deep philosophical contemplation, marking it as a unique and transformative experience rather than just a game or simulation.

    • “This isn't a game, it isn't even a simulation, it's a freaking emotional, existential, and phenomenal experience.”
    • “I've never felt so small playing a game before. This simulator is incredible and educational. Genuinely, I felt emotional on the first launch of the game, knowing that this may be the closest I ever get to space. It was incredible and breathtaking.”
    • “Words cannot describe how it made me feel when I swooped to the edge of the observed universe and beyond to look at the universe as we know it from the outside.”
  • humor
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is widely appreciated, with players finding it amusing to explore funny planets and engage in quirky activities like spying on neighbors. The lighthearted puns and playful tone contribute to a fun and entertaining experience, making it a standout aspect of the game. Overall, the humor is described as "out of this world" and adds to the enjoyment of the gameplay.

    • “Such a funny gamer.”
    • “Truly 'out of this world' ha ha funny pun because space, get it?”
    • “So basically you can go to space but you can also go to Earth and spy on your neighbors, and it's really funny.”
  • replayability
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find it offers endless replay value and fosters an engaged community, others feel it lacks sufficient variety for repeated playthroughs. Overall, the experience is enriched by its expansive universe, but opinions vary on how often players will return to it.

    • “☐ lots and lots of replay value”
    • “Still, it offers endless replayability, wonderful overall presentation and does a near perfect job of depicting how insignificant Earth is in the grand scheme of things.”
    • “It's amazing looking at all the planets of the solar system and beyond; however, one thing that I dislike is the fact that it isn't very replayable.”
    • “This not only extends the game's replay value but also ensures that the community remains active and engaged, continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible within the game.”
    • “-- replay value --”
  • monetization
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy of the game has been widely criticized as a cash grab, with players feeling that promised features were not delivered, leading to disappointment and potential backlash on platforms like Steam.

    • “This game feels like a cash grab with a mechanic that was promised but not delivered.”
    • “It's clear that this is just a cash grab, and fans are starting to see it fail on Steam.”
    • “The monetization strategy is disappointing and feels exploitative, leaving players frustrated.”
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4h Median play time
3h Average play time
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*Based on 10 analyzed playthroughs
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