Games like Close Encounters

57%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, optimization

50% User Score Based on 796 reviews

Critic Score 64%Based on 12 reviews

The Long Journey Home combines the endless freedom of space with a new open questing system that always leaves you in command. Deliver the stranded Glukkt to his homeworld as he asks, or to your new slaver friends? Attempt to make allies with everyone, or pin your hopes on the tougher races, and hope they never turn on you? Jump by jump, make hard decisions and live with the consequences, in a uni… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to The Long Journey Home.

55%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:gameplay, grinding

53% User Score Based on 125 reviews

Critic Score 59%Based on 6 reviews

A research spaceship reaches an abandoned planet. Nothing is what it seems here and the situation quickly slips out of control. Can the crew manage to survive and get back home? If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to SYMMETRY.

98%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:story, music

98% User Score Based on 96 reviews

You have crash-landed on Notrium. Your food supplies are running low, and a pack of predatory aliens have your scent. You're out of bullets for your pistol, your only weapon a handful of rocks. A freezing night is setting in, and you are desperately looking for firewood. Can you survive? If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Notrium.

44%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:music, optimization

Most mentioned negative aspects:graphics, gameplay

44% User Score Based on 219 reviews

The ultimate space capital ship combat compendium is the evolution of hard core space combat sims. The only game of its kind currently in existence. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Universal Combat CE.

You're alone on Mars.The mission is over. Your crew left you behind. You've got a pressure suit, whatever you can pull out of the ground, and a long way to go before you see Earth again. There's a rocket between you and home. You just have to build it first. Sol One is a first-person open-world survival game that tries to get the science right. It's for people who like grounded, science-driven su… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Sol One.

Terra Crafter is a sci-fi first-person survival colony sim. Mine ore, craft equipment, and build a base. Recruit and provide for humans, robots, and aliens to grow your colony. Raise oxygen, heat, and pressure in order to turn a dead planet into a living one. Defend against enemy attacks and keep the base running. Three companies tried to wake this planet. All three left their people behind. The… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Terra Crafter.

53%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding

53% User Score Based on 15,950 reviews

Osiris: New Dawn is an unforgiving near future space survival game with a cinematic feel and elements of horror. Play as a Mission Specialist in single or multiplayer to build your planetary base, pilotable vehicles, and controllable drones as you explore a dangerous solar system far from Earth. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Osiris: New Dawn.

Mark’s Power — A calm adventure inspired by classic games about a star pilot who crash-landed on a distant planet. People live here too, but their world resembles a distant past: simple towns, strange customs, and a way of life completely unlike the civilization you’re used to. To return home, you’ll need to explore the surroundings, meet the locals, and gradually find everything required to re… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Mark's Power.

64%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:gameplay, grinding

66% User Score Based on 626 reviews

Critic Score 63%Based on 7 reviews

You play ION, a young exploration unit on a mission to secure natural resources. When you crash-land on an alien planet your ship is almost completely destroyed. Not only do you have to survive in a strange new world full of dangers, but to have even a hope of escape you must find a way to contact your home planet for help. With only your ship’s A.I. for company, you set out to explore your new h… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Phoning Home.

53%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:gameplay, replayability

49% User Score Based on 86 reviews

Critic Score 56%Based on 12 reviews

Unveil the truth in a genre-blending sci-fi mystery. Awaken from cryogenic slumber you find your shelter damaged by unknown circumstances. Scavenge your surroundings, repair the shelter and explore the ruins in hopes of uncovering – or perhaps avoiding – the uncomfortable truth of what has transpired. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Breached.

54%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding

54% User Score Based on 354 reviews

Managing a fleet across a dangerous galaxy. Every star and planet holds untold riches and dangers. Each encounter will require skills in trading, diplomacy, and combat. Allocate power to engines, charge all weapons, and take on the worst the galaxy has to handle. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Interstellaria.

81%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, story

Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, stability

87% User Score Based on 1,544 reviews

Critic Score 70%Based on 5 reviews

Atomic Space Age was a blast! Until it became the Post-Apocalyptic Space Age. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to 60 Parsecs!.

50%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, optimization

50% User Score Based on 1,558 reviews

Have you ever wanted to make a fresh start on an alien world? Eden Star is a survival game that drops you onto the alien landscape of Pharus 7, free to explore and gather resources, but you’ll want to be careful: death is permanent. You need to use resources to construct defences, craft weapons and build up outposts to protect your vital Eden Kit. With physics-based combat, free-form construction … If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to EDEN STAR.

68%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:story, grinding

64% User Score Based on 1,473 reviews

Critic Score 72%Based on 20 reviews

Explore a vast universe in this roguelike, ship building, FPS Genesis Alpha One mixes thrilling roguelike mechanics with a deep ship builder and fast first-person action, putting you in the role of an interstellar pioneer. As the Captain of a Genesis starship, you journey into uncharted space on the ultimate mission. Build and manage a space vessel, farm resources, deal with terrifying alien infes… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Genesis Alpha One.

36%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:story, stability

36% User Score Based on 628 reviews

The Fifth Day is a post-apocalyptic survival game set in the time after mankind's extinction to the machines that it created. Your role, as one of these machines, is to survive in the hostile world left behind by man. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to The Fifth Day.

72%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, story

Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, optimization

70% User Score Based on 337 reviews

Critic Score 75%Based on 3 reviews

A poetic, roguelike space odyssey in a procedurally generated world When home is no more... Resources are sparse. The world is infinite and unknown. The universe is lonely, open and unforgiving. You're drifting, in a big, empty and silent space. Searching for a new home. You know a few coordinates to some random locations; but this is the only information you got. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to RymdResa.

93%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:story, replayability

93% User Score Based on 1,122 reviews

MewnBase is a cute, 2D exploration/survival game. You land on an uncharted world only to realize you didn't bring any snacks and forgot half your luggage. But hey, at least you brought this workbench thing. You'll need to collect resources in order to construct a make-shift base. Craft a variety of different base modules, from airlocks to rain-water collectors in order to make your new home on thi… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to MewnBase.

73%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, stability

75% User Score Based on 759 reviews

Critic Score 65%Based on 1 reviews

Welcome to Soup Co., Astroworker! As an integral part of the Soup Co. family, your mission is to explore the remote planets in search of tasty ingredients to make the galaxies most delicious soups and then rocket them into the gullets of our hungry customers. But this isn't your typical soup kitchen - Astroworkers must battle against the planet's elements, alien plants and animals, and dastardly r… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to PixelJunk Nom Nom Galaxy.

76%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:music, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding

83% User Score Based on 777 reviews

Critic Score 63%Based on 4 reviews

Capsized is a fast paced 2D platformer focused on intense action and exploration. As a intrepid space traveler, your ship has crash landed on a mysterious alien planet. You must navigate through the perilous environment and fight off blood-thirsty creatures to save your crewmates and escape with your lives! If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Capsized.

Sand in your lungs. Scrap in your pack. Storm at your back. The wreck is half buried. Wind's picking up. Your pack's almost full... but there's a sealed compartment you haven't cracked yet. Open it and you might find xenotech worth a week of runs. Or you might find nothing, and the storm catches you carrying a full pack you'll never get home. This is the scavenger's life. A desert planet tha… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Shifting Sands.

A sandbox MMO set on a drowned high-gravity world where you wash up as a crashlander who owes no faction anything. You pilot alien hulls through a neural implant and make your living by fighting, salvaging, crafting, and trading across an archipelago of linked regions. Over time, you turn survival into real power: you band together with other players into enclaves and larger concords, seize the ma… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Praxion-7.

Come chat with the devs! About the GameAs a novice space miner, you have been assigned to work on an unexplored, distant planet. With little local fauna and a poisonous atmosphere, it shouldn't be much of a problem to expand your base and extract valuable resources. It shouldn't... Throughout the day, discover new deposits of raw materials, mine and process them in advanced refineries. From the… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Cosminers.

75%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:graphics, replayability

Most mentioned negative aspects:gameplay, story

75% User Score Based on 77 reviews

Land on an alien world with nothing but your wits, your tools, and your drive to thrive. Build, explore, and automate in this sci-fi resource management game. From humble beginnings to a sprawling space base! Construct your base from scratch using anything you can find - from primitive resources to unknown alien materials. Unlock blueprints, optimize your workflow with automation, and pu… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Prospector.

89%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:optimization, stability

89% User Score Based on 85,786 reviews

Space Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction and maintenance of space works. Players build space ships and space stations of various sizes and utilization (civil and military), pilot ships and perform asteroid mining. Space Engineers utilizes a realistic volumetric-based physics engine: all objects can be assembled, disassembled, damaged and destroyed. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Space Engineers.

59%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, optimization

59% User Score Based on 6,096 reviews

Planet Explorers is an open world voxel based sandbox adventure RPG game set on a distant planet. The game uses a new OpenCL calculated voxel system to allow players to change the terrain in any way, create new objects such as weapons, vehicles, objects, and do it anywhere. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Planet Explorers.

77%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding

77% User Score Based on 1,771 reviews

Submarine is an "Air-Sea-Battle"-style game designed for 1st generation consoles. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Convoy.

43%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:music

Most mentioned negative aspects:graphics, gameplay

50% User Score Based on 56 reviews

Critic Score 10%Based on 1 reviews

You are a liaison on Vega 237 spacecraft. All crew members died and you are all by yourself in the midst of an unknown planet. Your goal is to find out what happened to the crew and establish the signal's nature. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Helium.

88%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:music, grinding

90% User Score Based on 3,658 reviews

Critic Score 85%Based on 3 reviews

Pilot drones into derelict spaceships to find the means to survive and piece together how the universe became a giant graveyard. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Duskers.

94%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, story

94% User Score Based on 172 reviews

An open-world galaxy adventure game about fixing your TV. Explore a procedurally generated universe full of diverse micro-planets, asteroid belts and UFOs. Find new parts for your spaceship and collect resources to craft weapons, tools and upgrades. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to helionaut.

51%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding

51% User Score Based on 770 reviews

Critic Score 50%Based on 1 reviews

A Sci-Fi First Person Shooter with Base Building, Resource Management, and elements of Survival. You play as an AI Overseer sent from Earth entrusted with the future of humankind, and tasked with establishing a habitat that can sustain human life on a mysterious alien world.​ If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Outpost Zero.

68%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:story, grinding

68% User Score Based on 1,070 reviews

Interstellar Rift is an open world starship simulator with an emphasis on ship construction and multi-player interaction. Players will need to survive in a hostile galaxy with their own custom designed and constructed starship. Space is vast but you wont have to face it alone, other players will be able to join your ship and help out, or build their own rival fleet and fight you across the galaxy! If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Interstellar Rift.

86%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:optimization, stability

86% User Score Based on 83 reviews

The first alien beings did not fall from heaven. They come from beneath the ground. They destroyed everything on the earth on their first appearance. THE HIGHRISE is a first-person survival game set in a high-rise building that has been sealed off by an alien monster invasion. Gather resources to make fighting weapons and survival tools. You must find and send a rescue signal at the end of yo… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to The Highrise.

84%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, story

Most mentioned negative aspects:humor

84% User Score Based on 218 reviews

A minimal space exploration and survival game. Pilot the last vessel of a fallen civilization into the vast unknown, in search of a new world to call home. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Last Horizon.

ROBOSCAV is a turn-based extraction RPG where you play a genius engineer that was shot down while exploring the galaxy. You now must lead your remote controlled droid crew into danger to scavenge and rebuild your ship to escape the planet. Crash-landed on a hostile world your ship completely destroyed to scraps, your remaining droid crew has only one path forward: scavenge, survive, rebuild. … If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to ROBOSCAV.

Nightfall You must make crucial decisions and do whatever it takes to survive. You have been stranded on an alien planet, all by yourself. Nothing ever goes your way and you must use your limited oxygen efficiently and effectively in order to gather materials so you can make it to the next day. Unfortunately, your work does not end when the sun sets and the unfamiliar stars rise. A diverse array o… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Nightfall.

62%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:optimization, story

62% User Score Based on 170 reviews

PlanetariesPrepare to dive into a sci-fi open world survival adventure. Set in a time when humanity has expanded its reach beyond the confines of Earth, immerse yourself in a rich galaxy. Craft, build, mine, trade, explore, and fight your way through a living universe filled with alien life, mysteries, pirates, droids, and much more.Progression and MechanicsExplore, gather resources, and complete … If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Planetaries.

82%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, stability

82% User Score Based on 1,661 reviews

Immerse yourself in Astrometica, a space exploration and base-building survival game. After an explosion at a mining space station, you awaken inside an emergency pod adrift in the vastness of space. To survive, you must harness your skills, explore the endless universe, and search for other survivors’ emergency pods or outposts. Space Exploration: Experience the thrill of exploring the vastness o… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Astrometica.

88%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding

88% User Score Based on 7,925 reviews

Jump Space is a mission based co-op FPS for up to 4 players, where you are the crew of a spaceship. Transition seamlessly from crewing the ship to on-foot exploration and space walks. Engage in intense battles both on the ground and in space, and always keep your ship upgraded and intact. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Jump Space.

45%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:graphics, gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:monetization, stability

45% User Score Based on 780 reviews

A new planet awaits! Fast! Ready your warship. Let's establish a landing zone! If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Project Entropy.

62%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:music, story

Most mentioned negative aspects:replayability

90% User Score Based on 20 reviews

Beyond the Chiron Gate is a text-based space exploration roguelike. Explore an endless universe filled with exotic planets, strange life forms, and ancient civilisations. Manage a crew of space explorers and upgrade their ship with new technology. Brave dangerous worlds to gather the data you need to reach the home system of the mysterious Gatebuilders. The middle of the 23rd Century. A space pro… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Beyond the Chiron Gate.

88%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding

92% User Score Based on 44,980 reviews

Critic Score 77%Based on 3 reviews

Interact with strange new worlds in a unique and tactile way, molding the environment itself as if it were clay in your hands. Build your base, master resource management, automate your production lines, and more as you unravel the mysteries of the universe, alone or with friends. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to ASTRONEER.

63%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:graphics, gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:monetization, stability

63% User Score Based on 2,678 reviews

SLG space game. Move around freely to explore the Infinite Galaxy. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Infinite Galaxy.

63%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, optimization

63% User Score Based on 4,640 reviews

A thousand years ago, a cataclysmic event shattered a world into floating islands scattered across an endless skyline. Civilizations tumbled, societies collapsed, and all seemed lost. From the rubble emerged ragtag bands of nomads, who fly cobbled-together skyships from island to island, scavenging for resources to keep moving. These are the players of Worlds Adrift: Explorers of a new world and … If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Worlds Adrift.

79%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, story

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, optimization

79% User Score Based on 20,953 reviews

Get a great start into Empyrion - Galactic Survival with the Complete Edition! It includes the base game plus the Dark Faction DLC, where you must survive a terrible new threat to the galaxy. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Empyrion: Galactic Survival.

58%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding

58% User Score Based on 419 reviews

Ragnorium is a planet recolonization simulator where players are tasked with leading clone colonists in a self-sustainable settlement while attempting to survive the oncoming Holy Crusade. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Ragnorium.

88%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding

88% User Score Based on 2,727 reviews

Fight off the undead while you travel west in this retro zombie survival game. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Organ Trail: Director's Cut.

66%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:optimization, stability

66% User Score Based on 1,802 reviews

A sandbox game of creation and survival. After crash landing on an unexplored planet you are left with nothing but a few tools and your imagination. Make yourself a shelter, secure food and water and start building towards making a spaceship capable of interplanetary travels. Planet Nomads is a true sandbox game with procedurally generated planets, total creative freedom to build all kinds of th… If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Planet Nomads.

73%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay

Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, optimization

73% User Score Based on 718 reviews

JUNKPUNK is a factory management, base building, exploration game where a New World Robotics ship has crash landed. You and any survivors must restore this ruined planet and prepare it for habitable life. Craft, build, explore, discover, and grow to terraform the planet. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to JUNKPUNK.

77%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, humor

Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, stability

77% User Score Based on 3,148 reviews

Critic Score 77%Based on 10 reviews

Star Control is a space role-playing game in which you command Earth's first interstellar starship on a mission to save the Earth from hostile alien empires. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Star Control: Origins.

77%Game Brain Score

Most mentioned positive aspects:story, graphics

Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, optimization

80% User Score Based on 357 reviews

Critic Score 70%Based on 3 reviews

Space Colony: Steam Edition is a remaster of the real-time base builder and strategy game from Firefly Studios, creators of the Stronghold series. In Space Colony you colonize to survive, designing intergalactic bases that keep your crew productive, happy and defended against hostile alien threats. If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Space Colony.